HOT CROSS BUNS
HOT CROSS BUNS
HOT CROSS BUNS
2014-04-18 19:56:24
PREPARATION 25 MINS TO PREPARE FOR 1st RISE, AND ANOTHER 10-15 MINS FOR 2nd RISE • RISING TIME: FIRST RISE 45-60 MINS, SECOND RISE 30 MINS • COOKING 20-25 MINS • MAKES 16
Ingredients
- 5 cups (750g) plain flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons bread improver
- 60g softened butter
- ½ cup dextrose
- 3 teaspoons dried yeast
- ¾ cup milk
- ¾ cup water
Crosses
- ¼ cup plain flour
- 2 tablespoons water, plus extra to make smooth
Glaze
- 2 tablespoons dextrose
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon powdered gelatine
Instructions
- Sift flour, spices and bread improver into a large bowl and stir to mix.
- Rub in butter with fingertips, then stir through dextrose and add yeast to the top (no need to stir the yeast through).
- Combine milk and water and heat until lukewarm (about 40°C). Add to bowl on top of yeast and combine to make a soft dough.
- Knead until dough is soft and elastic, which will take about 10 minutes by hand or a couple of minutes in a mixer with a dough hook.
- Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until dough has doubled in size. This will probably take about an hour. If you don’t have a warm spot then you can sit the bowl on a heated wheat pack.
- Once doubled in size, punch the dough down and knead again for just a few minutes on a lightly floured bench/board. Divide the mixture into 16 and form into balls. Place the balls onto a lightly greased oven tray and leave the tray in the warm place to double in size again.
- Preheat oven to 190°C.
- While waiting for the buns to rise, you can make the paste for the crosses by combining the flour, dextrose and water in a small bowl until smooth. Pipe the batter onto the buns once they have risen.
- Bake buns in hot oven for 20-25 minutes.
- While the buns are cooking you can make the glaze by combining the dextrose, water and gelatine together in a small pot over low heat until the dextrose and gelatine have dissolved. Brush onto warm buns.
Notes
- You can substitute Rice Malt Syrup for dextrose in both the buns and the glaze using equal quantities. For the buns, include the Rice Malt Syrup with the milk and water when heating it. For the glaze you can omit the gelatine.
Sugar Freedom http://www.sugarfreedom.com.au/
Who doesn’t love hot cross buns. Lucky I don’t have to miss out now. Thanks for sharing
I’ve never used bread improver in my breads before. Is it crucial to the recipe or can I leave it out?
Hi Hannah,
You can leave it out if you want…it just makes the bread lighter and fluffier.
Cheers, Di 🙂