Treat your family, friends and yourself to these warm, delectable hot cross buns.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- freshly grated nutmeg to taste
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons milk
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- To make the sponge, place milk in microwave on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar, yeast and flour. Stir and let sit 15 minutes until bubbly.
- In separate bowl, whisk butter until fluffy and smooth. Add milk, brown sugar, eggs, cinnamon and nutmeg, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the sponge and stir until smooth. Add flour and stir until stiff dough forms. Turn dough out onto work surface and knead for 4 minutes, adding only enough flour to prevent dough from sticking to surface.
- At this point, if you wish to add raisins, divide the dough into two equal portions. Flatten one of the portions and sprinkle 1/4 cup raisins over it. Fold dough to enclose the raisins, then knead for 4 more minutes until raisins are evenly dispersed. (Note: If you wish to add raisins to all of the dough, add 1/2 cup to whole ball - do not divide the dough - and knead for a total of 8 minutes.)
- Place dough in greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour or until almost doubled in bulk.
- Knead remaining portion of dough and place in separate greased bowl also covered with plastic wrap.
- Grease two 8-inch square or round baking pans with butter. Punch one of the dough balls down, and turn out onto floured work surface. Roll ball into a 12-inch log. Divide into 8 equal portions and shape each into a ball. Place balls in pan, evenly spaced. Repeat with remaining dough ball. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rise overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove pans from refrigerator and with a very sharp knife or razor blade, make a cross through each bun. Beat egg with the two teaspoons of milk, brush buns with the mixture, place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the confectioners' sugar with milk to make the glaze.
- Let buns cool five minutes before drizzling glaze overtop. After the buns are topped with glaze, serve immediately.
- Serves 16
Notes
The glaze is optional; they are delicious spread with softened butter as well.
For step-by-step instructions for this recipe and more, visit Alexandra's Kitchen.