Hot Cross Buns

Wednesday night i was reading through everyones blog, and realized i am one of the few that have not done an Easter recipe. I decided i wanted to do a traditional recipe, and something i had not seen on any of the blogs yet. Out of nowhere, hot cross buns popped into my mind. A quick internet search gave me many recipes, a lot needed a bread maker. The one i found that was made by hand took rum, i figured i could pick some up Thursday and so i copied the recipe and saved it to my desktop.

Thursday morning i woke up and found on my blog list someone had posted hot cross buns overnight. Her recipe looked so much easier and the pictures looked better, i decided to go with it instead; and so i stole another recipe from One Perfect Bite.  Since i did not have to be at work until noon, i decided i would get up early and make the buns today. It looks daunting with this list of ingredients, but they were really quite easy.

Hot Cross Buns.


Buns.

1/4 cup water - at room temperature or slightly above.
1/2 cup lukewarm milk.
1/4 cup melted butter.
1 egg, lightly beaten.
3+1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided.
1/4 cup sugar.
1+1/2 tsp active dry yeast.
1 tsp cinnamon.
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg.
pinch each of ground cloves and allspice.
1/2 tsp salt.
1/2 cup raisins.
1/4 cup mixed candied fruit, finely chopped..
Glaze
Mix together 2 Tbsp sugar and 2 Tbsp water.
Icing
Mix together 1/2 cup icing sugar and 2 tsp water.


Mix yeast, 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and other spices in a bowl.
In separate bowl, combine milk and water.
Add milk & water to dry ingredient mixture, along with melted butter, Beat for 2 to 3 minutes at medium speed. Add egg and beat 1 more minute.
Stir in raisins, fruit, and enough of remaining flour to make a firm dough.(i needed 1+1/2 cups at this time)
Knead dough on a floured surface for about 5 to 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Use additional flour as necessary. Place in a lightly greased bowl, Cover and let rise in a warm place.
After about 15 minutes, test dough to see if it has risen enough to be shaped. To test, gently stick two fingers into risen dough up to your second knuckle. Remove fingers. If indentations remain, dough is ready.
Divide dough into 12 pieces. Shape pieces into balls and place 3 inches apart in a lightly greased dish. Cover and let rise in warm place until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until light brown on top, at 375 degrees F.
Spread glaze over the warm buns.
Let buns continue to cool on baking sheet. When completely cool, pipe a cross on each with icing.

It was the first sunny day all week, i had to take a picture of my buns sitting in the sun on my Easter Bunny plate. They turned out absolutely delicious! I have never had hot cross buns before, and i think i will be making them again!

After the initial mixing, i added the rest of the flour a half cup at a time. After the second half cup, i changed the paddle for the dough hook, and the third seemed to be a bit to much. It would not mix in, so i gave it a sprinkle of water, literally a sprinkle, i don't even think it was a teaspoonful, and it went together nicely. No more flour was needed while it kneaded in the bowl. I skipped the candied fruit because i did not have time to go over town yesterday to get it, and nothing was open today (except Tim Horton's and McDonald's and they do not sell it :-P )

It didn't look like much, but it raised quickly in the promised 15 minutes. I gave it a poke and it was ready to go, so I rolled it into a log and cut it into 12 (almost) equal pieces.

I pinched a bit from the bigger ones to make up for the smaller ones. I covered them up and stuck them back into my warm room (this time of year, i only have heat on in the room that i am in the most, my office). One episode of Bones later, they were ready for the oven. While they were baking, i mixed up the glaze and the icing. I wanted to save some time since it was already 10 am and i wanted to take some of the buns to work for my team mates to try. 

I left them in the pan for 15 minutes to cool, then moved them to a rack for 30 minutes and finally to the refrigerator for another 30 minutes so i could quickly ice them. They turned out delicious, and this is definitely a recipe i will use again! 

Now, i am listening to Game 1 of Round 3 of the QMJHL Playoffs. The Seadogs are down 3-2 but there is still one more period to go! So while i listen to that, i have to go get some potatoes going for a salad, and start packing. Tomorrow morning I am going home for a celebration BBQ and then staying the night for Easter Dinner Sunday. I plan on making some Bunny Bait tomorrow with my nephew if we have time, I will probably post it Sunday since my parents live so far out in the country they can only get dial up...and it is not co-operative when uploading pictures. 

Hope everyone has a great Easter, travel safe if you are out!!