One thing I love about Easter has to be the food. When I say food I don't just mean the chocolate eggs! I love simnel cake, I love lamb, I love fish and I love hot cross buns!
I find hot cross buns to be such a satisfying enriched bread to make. It is a harder dough to work with, but when you have worked through the sticky phase it is a lovely dough to handle. When baking they leave your house smelling of cinnamon and Easter scents.
This is what I did...
This is what I did...
Ingredients
500g strong wholemeal flour
300mls milk
50g butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
7g yeast
75g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1tsp cinnamon
100g sultanas
100g dried apricots, chopped
75g plain flour
Method
1 - Gently heat the milk, coconut oil and the butter until warm to touch
2 - Place the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon and beaten egg in a large mixing bowl
3 - Pour in the milk and melted butter and using a wooden spoon start to mix into the flour
4 - As the dough starts to come together stop using the spoon and start using your hands to get a rough dough together
5 - Remove the dough from the bowl and on a lightly floured worktop start to knead the dough. The dough will be very sticky, but keep working through it and continue to knead, adding a little flour if needed, until you have a smooth finish to the dough
6 - Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size
7 - Remove the dough from the bowl and flatten out
8 - Evenly distribute the dried fruit over the top and fold into the dough
9 - Knead the dough until the fruit is evenly spread throughout the dough
10 - Roll the dough into a long roll and cut into 16 rolls and roll them into balls
11 - Place the flattened balls on 2 lined baking trays, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30 minutes
12 - Pre heat the oven to 200C
13 - Once the rolls have roughly doubled in size again, prepare the mixture for the cross by mixing the plain flour with about 55 tablespoons of water and mix until you have a smooth batter
14 - Place the flour mixture in an icing bag and pipe over the crosses on the buns
15 - Beat the egg and brush over the top of the buns to glaze
16 - Place in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for 20 minutes
Method
1 - Gently heat the milk, coconut oil and the butter until warm to touch
2 - Place the flour, sugar, yeast, cinnamon and beaten egg in a large mixing bowl
3 - Pour in the milk and melted butter and using a wooden spoon start to mix into the flour
4 - As the dough starts to come together stop using the spoon and start using your hands to get a rough dough together
5 - Remove the dough from the bowl and on a lightly floured worktop start to knead the dough. The dough will be very sticky, but keep working through it and continue to knead, adding a little flour if needed, until you have a smooth finish to the dough
6 - Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size
7 - Remove the dough from the bowl and flatten out
8 - Evenly distribute the dried fruit over the top and fold into the dough
9 - Knead the dough until the fruit is evenly spread throughout the dough
10 - Roll the dough into a long roll and cut into 16 rolls and roll them into balls
11 - Place the flattened balls on 2 lined baking trays, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30 minutes
12 - Pre heat the oven to 200C
13 - Once the rolls have roughly doubled in size again, prepare the mixture for the cross by mixing the plain flour with about 55 tablespoons of water and mix until you have a smooth batter
14 - Place the flour mixture in an icing bag and pipe over the crosses on the buns
15 - Beat the egg and brush over the top of the buns to glaze
16 - Place in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for 20 minutes
These really are delicious buns that are full of flavour from the cinnamon and the fruit. If you do not like fruit, or have children who don't you can substitute the fruit for chocolate drops.
Keep an eye out next week, as I will be sharing a great recipe for leftover hot cross buns and leftover chocolate!
Enjoy x
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
These sound like a delicious idea :-) Thanks for linking #CookBlogShare
ReplyDeleteI love hot cross buns but the only time I've made them they weren't nice and soft. I'm definitely going to have to try again! I love the addition of the dried apricots to your recipe.
ReplyDeleteThese look a great bake - I'm so pleased you didn't include the dreaded mixed peel! Happy Easter to you #BakeoftheWeek
ReplyDeleteI do love a hot cross bun and I like the idea of adding apricots! Thanks for joining in with #BAKEoftheWEEK !
ReplyDelete