Figure 1 Hot Cross Buns Image Source: Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns have more or less become an Easter food standard and the biggest surprise of all is that they are amazingly easy to make. I shall present a number of different hot cross bun recipes over the coming days but first up let’s keep it simple. So here is a basic no ultra frilly hot cross bun recipe that you can always rely upon.

Basic Bun Ingredients:

• 5 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup of Warm Milk
• ½ Cup each of Butter, Sugar and Raisins
• ¼ Cup each of Sultanas and Currants
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
• ¾ Teaspoon each of cinnamon, mace, nutmeg and allspice
• ½ Teaspoon of Freshly Ground Sea Salt

Yeast Ingredients:

• 2 Sachets of Traditional Yeast (not the instant type)
• ½ Cup of Lukewarm Water
• 2 Teaspoons of Sugar

Method:

1. Let the butter warm to room temperature and do likewise with the flour. I generally leave some out overnight if I am going to be making buns later the next day. Note I did not say first thing in the morning. I wait until the room has warmed up first as it makes things go a lot more smoothly in regards to yeast activation and dough rising times.
2. Now let us get that yeast started by dissolving the contents of the 2 yeast sachets in ½ a cup of lukewarm water which already has 2 teaspoons of sugar dissolved in it. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. In a small mixing bowl add 1 cup of flour then add in the cinnamon, mace, nutmeg and allspice. Give this a quick mix (you don’t have to be overly particular at this point).
4. Take another mixing bowl and add in 1 cup of flour. Then add in the raisins, the sultanas and the currents. Give this a quick stir. Once again you don’t have to be too particular as the idea is merely to get the fruit covered in flour prior to mixing into the batter proper as this will make your mixing and kneading of the full dough considerably less bothersome.
5. Lightly beat the eggs and lightly grease the bowl in which the first part of proving (rising) will take place with butter then cover and set this bowl to one side
6. In a medium large mixing bowl combine the warm milk, the room temperature butter, sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Then mix in the lightly beaten eggs. Now beat in the yeast mixture. Give it a minute or two to rest and then thoroughly beat one cup of flour. Follow this by adding and thoroughly beating in a second cup of flour. Now beat in the flour and spices mixture followed by the fruit and flour mixture and mix well.
7. It is now time to start kneading with both hands. You may need to add some of the fifth cup of flour if the mixture is overly sticky but only just enough to prevent it from being too sticky to work with. You may need to do this on a couple of occasions as you are kneading the dough. Continue kneading for at least five minutes.
8. With that part of the kneading done place your dough into the lightly buttered bowl and sprinkle lightly with flour then cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm draft free location until it has doubled in size
9. Once the dough has doubled in size punch it down then sprinkle a little more flour over the top and recover with a damp cloth. Return the covered bowl with the dough in it to its warm hidey-hole and leave it for 30 minutes to rise.
10. Lightly grease a glass baking dish or baking pan. After the 30 minutes rising time is up it is time to portion and shape the dough. You will get four rows of four buns in a 9 x 13 dish if you want them to be a little rounded. If you want the buns to be taller than they are wide make it four rows with five or even six dough balls per row.
11. Cut the dough into chunks that are roughly half the size of what you want the intended finished buns to be. Work the dough into nice smooth round balls and place into your baking dish as per the preceding instructions regarding how many to place per row. Once all the dough has been portioned, rolled and put into its baking dish cover and set buns out to rise. You want to let them to double in size prior to baking.
12. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
13. Once your buns have doubled in size they are ready for baking. If you wish to cross them then use a very sharp knife to mark the buns with a cross before you put them into the oven.
14. Put your buns into the preheated oven (350F) and bake until lightly golden brown (approximately 20 to 25 minutes depending upon your oven). To test if the buns are done simply tap on the top of the buns with a pencil and if they light brown in color and sound slightly hollow when tapped then they are done.
15. Once baked remove the buns from the oven and brush with a sugar and hot water glaze. You might like to ice each bun with a vanilla butter frosting, by making a cross on each bun with the icing using a pastry bag or icing tool.
16. You could also include some candied fruit or fruit peel and add that at the same time and in the same way as the raisins and currants

Storing:

Hot Cross Buns freeze well (before icing), so you can always make a few batches and store them frozen without the icing. Defrost and ice them immediately prior to serving, if you are going to ice them at all that is.

Serving:

Makes 20 to 24 buns that are really great served warm cut in half and buttered with jam or honey and even just as they are.

Making ahead of time and storing frozen is one way of ensuring that golden scrumptious hot cross buns are guaranteed without the fuss, panic or fear that they won’t turn out right as can so often happen when making something for the first time and in a rush the night before.

You can even nuke them for 10 seconds to warm them up a bit. Once defrosted ice them if you are going to, serve as per usual and enjoy!!!