The Tastiest Hot Cross Bun Recipe

After last weeks' delightful Biscoff Cheesecake Recipe - that even Mary Berry would be proud of - I decided to set myself a little task of making and documenting one bake a week. Now, please don't hold me to this, but I thought it might be a nice way to a) pass some time and b) inspire you to get your pinny on and get baking. As I said in my last post, I'm by no means a baking extraordinaire nor do I have all of the fancy equipment, so if I can do it, you certainly can too!

Considering Easter is literally just around the corner, Hot Cross Buns were of course the only suitable bake for this week. I used this BBC Good Food Recipe and slightly adapted it, and am so happy with how they turned out! Honestly, by the end of lockdown I think I'll be considering a career change because who knew I could make things that taste this good...

Before I start, I'm just gonna be honest and say that these are a bit of a faff to make. The dough needs to rise three separate times for an hour and there are all sorts of other little fiddly steps, so, if you're tight on time or patience I'd head down to your local Asda and pick a packet up for a quid. That being said, I can 100% guarantee they won't be quite as good as these!

The Tastiest Hot Cross Bun Recipe

INGREDIENTS 

For the Buns:

300ml milk

50g butter 

500g strong bread flour 

1 tsp salt 

75g caster sugar 

7g sachet yeast

1 egg

75g sultanas 

50g mixed peel 

1 orange

1 tsp mixed spice 

½ tsp ground cinnamon 

½ tsp ground ginger

For the Cross 

75g plain flour

For the glaze 

3 tbsp apricot jam

METHOD

1. Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. 

2. Leave to cool until lukewarm. 

3. Put the bread flour, salt, caster sugar, and yeast into a bowl and make a well in the center. 

4. Pour in the warm milk and butter, then add the beaten egg. 

5. Mix with a wooden spoon, then bring everything together with your hands until you have a sticky dough.

6. Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 mins until smooth. 

7. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for an hour. 

8. With the dough still in the bowl, tip in the sultanas, mixed peel, zest of the orange, cinnamon, ginger, and mixed spice.

9. Knead into the dough, making sure everything is well distributed. 

10. Leave to rise for another hour covered by well-oiled cling film.

11. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces and roll each into a smooth ball.

12. Place on baking trays lined with parchment, leaving enough space for the dough to expand. 

13. Cover with more oiled cling film and set aside for another hour.

14. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. 

15. Mix plain flour with about 5 tbsp water to make the paste for the cross – add the water gradually. 

16. Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle - I used a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off - and pipe a cross on each bun. 

17. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

18. Gently heat the apricot jam to melt it, then brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.

Will you be trying out this Hot Cross Bun Recipe?

What was the last thing you baked?