Today is Good Friday, which means it’s about time I shared a recipe for Hot Cross Buns!
Hot Cross Buns are a sweet slightly spiced bun with dried fruit. A cross made of icing is piped on top. They are traditionally made and served on Good Friday as a way to break the fasting associated with Lent. There are a bunch of superstitions surrounding hot cross buns. My favorite is that gifting a hot cross bun on Good Friday guarantees friendship between the recipient and gift giver for the year.
Hot Cross Buns aren’t exactly the easiest recipe; it took me most of the day to make them because you need time to let the dough rise. But these tasty little guys are worth it.
Bob’s Red Mill hooked me up with some of their awesome products to help make these hot cross buns, including active dry yeast, all-purpose flour, and currants.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 tablespoon whole milk, for brushing
Icing:
So baking from scratch using active dry yeast is as much an art as it is a science. Everyone’s baking conditions are different, so things make take more/less time to rise. Just be patient and try to check on the progress from time to time.
Add the water and milk to a medium side pot and warm over low heat. Bring to about 100 degrees F without going above 110 degrees F (a thermometer will be hugely helpful here).
Remove from heat and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Sprinkle some sugar and flour over the surface as well.
Set aside until foamy, about 30 minutes. (mine took closer to 45 minutes. the temperature of your kitchen as well as the freshness of your yeast will affect the timing; mine was a temperature issue.)
While waiting for the yeast to activate, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom in a large bowl.
Make a well in the center of the flour and set aside.
Add 1/2 cup currants to a bowl. Pour boiling water over the currants until covered and let sit for 5 minutes.
Drain and set aside.
Melt your butter and let cool. Whisk together the butter, egg yolk, and vanilla. When the yeast mixture is ready, whisk the butter egg mixture into the yeast mixture.
Pour this mixture into the well of your flour mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is slightly sticky and kind of shaggy.
Stir in the drained currants.
Add the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and smooth, about 5-8 minutes. Shape into a ball.
Brush the inside of a large bowl with melted butter.
Add the dough to the bowl, turning to coat in the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 90 minutes. (this is another time to check on it maybe every 10-15 minutes from an hour onward.)
When the dough has doubled in size, grease a baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle, about 16 by 8 inches. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, about 2 ounces each.
Take the portions and roll into a ball in your hand. Add to the prepared baking sheet, leaving space in between each roll. Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside until the rolls have more than doubled in size, about another 45 minutes.
When ready to bake, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the tops of the buns with the mixture.
Bake the rolls until golden brown and puffy, about 25 minutes.
While they bake, make your icing. Stir together the confectioners sugar, milk, lemon zest, and almond extract until smooth.
Add the icing to a zip bag or pastry bag and make a small cut in the corner of the bag. Ice buns in a thick cross shape over the top of the warm buns.
Let the icing set before serving.
Hot cross buns are slightly sweet , and have a lovely warm spice flavor to them. Â They are so tasty!
I wouldn’t mind if someone showed up on my doorstep with a few of these 🙂
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 1/2 teaspoons Bob’s Red Mill active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more as needed
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill unbleached all-purpose flour (13 ounces)
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill black currants
- 1 egg beaten, for brushing
- 1 tablespoon whole milk, for brushing
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon finely gated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- So baking from scratch using active dry yeast is as much an art as it is a science. Everyone’s baking conditions are different, so things make take more/less time to rise. Just be patient and try to check on the progress from time to time.
- Add the water and milk to a medium side pot and warm over low heat. Bring to about 100 degrees F without going above 110 degrees F (a thermometer will be hugely helpful here).
- Remove from heat and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Sprinkle some sugar and flour over the surface as well.
- Set aside until foamy, about 30 minutes. (mine took closer to 45 minutes. the temperature of your kitchen as well as the freshness of your yeast will affect the timing; mine was a temperature issue.)
- While waiting for the yeast to activate, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the center of the flour and set aside.
- Add 1/2 cup currants to a bowl. Pour boiling water over the currants until covered and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Drain and set aside.
- Melt your butter and let cool. Whisk together the butter, egg yolk, and vanilla. When the yeast mixture is ready, whisk the butter egg mixture into the yeast mixture.
- Pour this mixture into the well of your flour mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is slightly sticky and kind of shaggy.
- Stir in the drained currants.
- Add the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until soft and smooth, about 5-8 minutes.
- Shape into a ball.
- Brush the inside of a large bowl with melted butter.
- Add the dough to the bowl, turning to coat in the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 90 minutes. (this is another time to check on it maybe every 10-15 minutes from an hour onward.)
- When the dough has doubled in size, grease a baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle, about 16 by 8 inches. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, about 2 ounces each.
- Take the portions and roll into a ball in your hand. Add to the prepared baking sheet, leaving space in between each roll. Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside until the rolls have more than doubled in size, about another 45 minutes.
- When ready to bake, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the tops of the buns with the mixture.
- Bake the rolls until golden brown and puffy, about 25 minutes.
- While they bake, make your icing. Stir together the confectioners sugar, milk, lemon zest, and almond extract until smooth.
- Add the icing to a zip bag or pastry bag and make a small cut in the corner of the bag. Ice buns in a thick cross shape over the top of the warm buns.
- Let the icing set before serving.
What do you think?