Hot cross buns are simply the best, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like them. Lucky for me my husband loves baking bread. This is his hot cross bun recipe.
The use of organic Khorasan flour gives an extra dimension of flavour and goodness. Khorasan wheat is significantly higher in protein, magnesium, zinc, vitamin E and selenium than modern day wheat, unfortunately it is still high in gluten. You can substitute with rye for a reduced gluten version.
INGREDIENTS
200ml milk, plus a little more for glazing
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp allspice
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
1 vanilla pod (scraped) (or vanilla paste/essence)
20g fresh yeast
50g Muscovado sugar (plus extra to glaze)
225g Khorasan flour
225 organic flour
100g butter
½ tsp salt
3 eggs
150g currants
50g mixed peel
METHOD
Pre-heat the oven to 200C
1. Scrape the vanilla pod into the milk and gently heat milk in a pan, set aside to cool.
2. Finely dice or grate the butter into a bowl with both flours. Mix using a dough hook at low speed until well combined. Add sugar salt and spices.
3. In a separate bowl beat together 2 eggs. Add eggs and yeast to the flour mixture, pour in milk slowly combine to from a soft dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
4. Put the dough into a greased bowl and cover with a damp clean tea towel. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size (this should take a couple of hours)
5. Tip the dough onto a floured work bench and punch back, knead by hand for a minute or two.
6. Stretch out to a flattened disc and sprinkle mixed currants and dried peel. Bring together and knead for a few more minuets until the fruit is evenly distributed through dough
7. Separate dough into 16 pieces and roll into buns
PASTE
Beat together the last egg with a little milk for the paste.
Mix 3tps of plain flour with a pinch of salt. Add a little cold water to make a stiff paste.
Paint the top of each bun with egg glaze, then pipe a cross on the top
Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until golden.
If you want a sticky top, brush the buns with 1 tbsp caster sugar dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling when they bun come out of the oven.
Enjoy!
