How To Make Hot Cross Buns
It is time to get ready for Spring and make some delicious Easter Treats. It wouldn’t be Easter without some Hot Cross Buns!
Please believe me when I say they are so much better when you make them homemade! You will not buy them for your local bakery after you make them from scratch.
These Traditional Hot Cross Buns are so easy to make, soft, fluffy and are so addictive.
I am not quite sure where and why hot cross buns became a thing, but a monk at St. Alban’s Abbey in England named Brother Thomas Rodcliffe likely developed a similar recipe in the 14th century.His creation, called Alban Bun, was distributed to the poor people who lived around the abbey on the Friday before Easter starting in 1361.The first written mention of hot cross buns can be found in the 1773 Poor Robin’s Almanac.
There’s nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked hot cross buns filling your kitchen. They are a favorite around Easter time, but you really don’t need a holiday as an excuse to make these. You can bake them on the weekend or at your next family dinner.
WHAT DO HOT CROSS BUNS TASTE LIKE?
These hot cross buns are a cross between a dinner roll and cinnamon roll. They’re soft, yet dense with a deliciously spiced flavor from cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Ingredient list….
- Milk
- Dry active yeast
- Sugar
- Flour
- Raisins
- Candied lemon peel
- Candied orange peel
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground cloves
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Egg yolk
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Vanilla
LET ME SHARE A COUPLE OF TIPS…….If you are making bread and it needs milk in the recipe you need to scald it. It makes the bread very soft.
CHECK YOUR YEAST expiration date! Most people don’t bake with yeast very often, and yeast expires. Your dough will not rise if this is the case.
If you love chocolate add chocolate chips to the dough to create a chocolate-filled hot cross bun. They are a delicious treat that the entire family will love!
I hope these will become a tradition at your house every Easter. Ready to have your kitchen smell amazing?
Scroll down and lets get started……
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 pkg dry active yeast
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 2 tbsp candied lemon peel
- 2 tbsp candied orange peel
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 vanilla
- 3 tbsp milk
Instructions
- Combine the 1 cup milk, yeast, and the 1 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl and let stand until bubbly. Combine the flours, remaining sugar, raisins, candied peels, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl and mix on low speed. Add the butter, 2 eggs, and the yeast mixture and continue to mix until a sticky dough forms — about 3 minutes. Knead by hand on a floured surface for about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume — about 1 hour.
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Punch the dough down, transfer and divide the dough into 12 equal-sized pieces.Shape each piece into a ball and place the balls about 1 inch apart in three rows of four on the prepared pan. Cover and let rise until the buns double in volume and touch one another — about 1 1/4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake until golden brown — about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla in a bowl and stir until smooth.When buns have cooled slightly, drizzle a horizontal line across each row of buns followed by a vertical line to form a cross on the crown of each bun.
- Adapted from Womans Day.