Hot | I Can Cook That

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:

1/2 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

Icing:

2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon finely gated lemon zest
1 teaspoon almond extract

Continue reading Hot Cross Buns

It’s that time of year again! I signed up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again this year and got some great ideas for what to bake for Christmas!

In its third year, the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap helps raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. The swap raised $13,778.40 this year, raised through blogger participants donations and matching donations from OXO, Dixie Crystals, Gold Medal, and Grandma’s Molasses. The goal was $10,000, so to get nearly $4,000 more in donations is amazing!

So here’s how the actual swapping part of this works: I was assigned three food bloggers and made one dozen cookies for each of them. In return, I received three different boxes of cookies from other bloggers.

Last year, I received a batch of hot cocoa cookies that were SO good I was craving them again this year. So I decided to make some myself! The chocolate cookies are topped with mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and a touch of grated chocolate. I based my recipe off of Rachel Ray’s Hot Cocoa Cookies recipe.

Ingredients (get all ingredients here):

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of unsalted butter
1 (12 oz) package of semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 oz of milk chocolate chips
1 package of mini marshmallows
1 dark chocolate bar, for garnish (optional)

Continue reading Hot Cocoa Cookies