Easter Hot Cross Buns
Author: 
Recipe type: Festive
Cuisine: European
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16buns
 
Hot Cross Buns are a traditional mildly spiced sweet bread buns, bearing a cross on top, made specially on Easter, the Good Friday.
Ingredients
  • For the Buns:
  • 2 and ¼ tsp Instant Yeast
  • 1 cup Lukewarm Milk
  • 3 and ¾ cup All Purpose Flour
  • ½ cup Granulated Sugar
  • 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • ⅔ cup Currants or raisins
  • 3 Tbsp Candied Orange Peel
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Lemon Zest
  • 1 Tsp Orange Zest
  • ¼ cup Unsalted Butter, melted
  • 2 Eggs
  • Egg wash, one egg beaten with some milk or water.
  • For the icing:
  • 1 ½ cups of Powdered Sugar
  • 1 Egg White
  • Some Whole Milk, if needed
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl add all purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
  2. Also add to the bowl sugar and zest of orange and lemon. Mix well and set aside.
  3. In another bowl or jar take some lukewarm milk. It should not be hot just lukewarm. Add some sugar to the milk.
  4. Sprinkle yeast on top and give it a gentle stir. Let the mixture stand and wait for yeast to bloom.
  5. In another small bowl add melted butter and whisk in some eggs.
  6. Once the yeast has proofed or bloomed and has become frothy, add this to the dry ingredients along with egg and butter mixture.
  7. Mix them well till everything comes together into a sticky dough. Knead well for 6-8 minutes till the dough is smooth and supple.
  8. Add black currants and candied orange peel and mix well into the dough.
  9. Dust your counter with some flour and dump the dough on it and knead well will your dough has developed gluten and is elastic and pliable.
  10. You can slightly poke your finger in the dough to test if its kneaded well or not. If the dough bounces back its ready and if it doesn’t you need to knead a few more minutes.
  11. Grease a big bowl and place your dough in it to rise until it has doubled in size. This depends on the temperature of your kitchen. The warmer the kitchen the sooner the dough proofs.
  12. Once the dough has proofed. Again dust your counter with some flour and punch dough the dough to deflate it.
  13. Divide the dough into equal 16 parts with the help of a bench press or metal scraper.
  14. Roll each portion into a round ball with a smooth top.
  15. Grease a baking tray with butter and place these rolled dough in the tray. Each bun dough should be placed at some distance from each other.
  16. Cover them with a kitchen towel and let them rise till they have doubled up in size.
  17. Give them an egg wash and preheat your oven to 180 degrees C for ten minutes. Once preheated place your buns in the oven for 20-25 minutes on 180 degree Celsius until the top is golden brown.
  18. Place them on a wire rack to cool down. While they are cooling make royal icing.
  19. Pour this royal icing in a pipping bag and snip the end just enough for it come out. Pipe X on top of each bun and enjoy.
  20. Enjoy these hot cross buns with a cup of coffee or tea. My kiddo gobbled two of these while they just got crossed. So tea or no tea you will love them as it is.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Laura In the Kitchen. https://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/hot-cross-buns/
Recipe by The Secret Ingredient at https://www.thesecretingredient.in/easter-hot-cross-buns/