It’s Easter and yesterday I had a strong craving for hot cross buns. These spiced fruit buns are common in the UK and traditionally eaten on Good Friday.
This recipe creates a crusty hot cross bun, a bit different to the normal soft variety you buy in supermarkets across the UK, and more like the old-fashioned traditional bun.
I started with this recipe from Tesco, but the first batch didn’t rise very well so I made a few tweaks with the milk to get the right fat level, added more yeast and allowed more time to help the rise. Also check your bread flour mix – if it doesn’t contain xantham gum, you will need to add 1/2 tsp to the mix.
Enjoy. Happy Easter!
Ingredients
- 200ml unsweetened soya or almond milk.
- 100ml full fat coconut milk (the stuff from a tin that is 15-20% fat)
- The zest of 1 orange,
- 50g margarine – I used Stork
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus extra for greasing
- 500g gluten free bread flour blend – I used Doves Farm. (Add ½ tsp xantham gum – if not included in your bread flour mix.)
- 80g caster sugar
- 4 tsp instant yeast – I used Doves Farm
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 100g sultanas
- 25g sweetened dried cranberries
For the topping
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp gluten-free plain flour.
Directions
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and grease lightly with oil.
- Put the milk in a medium pan with the orange zest and butter. Gently heat until the margarine starts to soften.
- Remove from the heat and stir until the margarine dissolves.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and oil.
- In a large bowl, mix together the bread flour, sugar, yeast, salt, spice and dried fruit.
- When the milk has cooled a little, so it is warmer than hand hot (if you have a thermometer it should be around 45-55C), pour it into the dry ingredients, add the egg and oil mix and stir everything together well.
- Oil your hands and form the mix into 10 balls. You may need to stop and wash your hands and re-oil them part way through – the mix is quite sticky.
- Put the balls on your baking tray and cover with oiled cling-film
- Leave in a warm place to rise for 1½- 2 hours.
- In the meantime pre-heat your over to 180°C
- Brush the buns with the beaten egg.
- Mix the plain flour with 1 tbsp water to make a paste. Place the mix in a sandwich bag and ship a tiny hold in the corner. Use this to pipe cross onto each roll. (This wasn’t easy – you can also leave out this step and pipe the cross on with icing after you’ve cooked them).
- Place the buns in the oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes mins, until golden. Serve warm or cold.
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