Hot Cross Buns!

40 mins
Serves 12
https://www.janespatisserie.com/2019/04/10/hot-cross-buns/

Directions

  1. 1Warm your milk in a pan until it's just steaming.
  2. 2In a bowl, add the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, sugar, and orange zest.
  3. 3Add in the butter and rub it between your fingers so the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
  4. 4To the bowl, add your warmed milk, eggs, and raisins and mix it all together.
  5. 5Knead for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is smooth, elastic, and springy to touch.
  6. 6Transfer to a clean but lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with clingfilm.
  7. 7Leave to rise until doubled in size (usually 1-2 hours).
  8. 8Once risen, remove from the bowl and knead lightly on a floured surface to 'knock it back'.
  9. 9Split evenly into 12 balls (mine weighed 98g each).
  10. 10Add the balls onto a lined tray with about a centimetre gap between them.
  11. 11Cover with lightly oiled cling film, and leave to rise whilst your oven preheats to 200ºC/180ºC fan (usually 45-60 minutes).
  12. 12Once the oven is at temperature, whisk together the flour and water.
  13. 13Carefully pipe the flour and water mixture onto the buns to form the crosses.
  14. 14Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden.
  15. 15Once baked, brush lightly with apricot jam if you like them sticky and shiny.
  16. 16Leave to cool fully.

Ingredients

  • 225 ml whole milk
  • 500 g strong white bread flour
  • 65 g caster sugar
  • 8 g dried active yeast/fast action yeast
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp ginger
  • 0.5 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 Zest of 1 orange
  • 50 g unsalted butter (cold)
  • 200 g raisins
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 30 g flour
  • 30 ml water
  • 1 tbsp apricot jam

Equipment

panbowlclingfilmlined trayoven

Tips

  • These are best on the day of baking, but can be fine for a couple of days and may need reviving in a toaster.
  • They will freeze for 3+ months.
  • The spices are optional and changeable (e.g., nutmeg, all spice).
  • You can switch out some of the raisins for mixed peel or sultanas.
  • You can add in 100g of chocolate chips for a chocolatey version.
  • Check if your yeast needs activating before using; if so, add it to the warm milk first.