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What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit burrow?
…
Hot cross bunnies.
*manic laughter*
…
…
Admit it, that was funny.
My friends, it’s Easter again and whether you are religious or just worship the altar of food, there’s no denying one thing – much eating of the hot cross bunnies buns must be had. I absolutely die for these buns and there has been many moments where I would pick up a bag of hot cross buns and just sniff it before carrying on, be it at the supermarkets or my kitchen. Seriously, I’m a hot cross bun predator and I need to be locked away.
Let me tell you why I love them. It’s the spices – the warmth of cinnamon, the fire of allspice and the earthiness of nutmeg. It’s also the scattering of plump, chewy sweet raisins and how they work like a symphony with a soft bread and a generous knob of butter.
Oh baby, I just want more. More. MORE!
Tick this off my never-ending list of ‘Things I have to make for myself before I cark it. I have to admit, this recipe from Fresh Living is pretty good. Personally I’d add a little more sugar and spices but thank goodness, they didn’t come out as stone weaponry. Sadly these get stale rather quickly (as in the next day!) but a quick zap in the microwave will soften them up again. Luckily in our house, a dozen buns don’t last past a few hours.
But do give it a try because buying it from the store just doesn’t allow you the pleasure of punching down risen bread dough or basking in the emanating aromas from the oven. If anything, you’ll have people clamouring for your tasty buns (hahaha geddit?).
Buns and bunny jokes in one post – I’m on fire!
Hot Cross Buns
2013-03-02 00:54:23
Yields 12
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Prep Time
1 hr 35 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
2 hr
Ingredients
310ml warmed milk
60g caster sugar
16g / about 4 tsps of dried yeast (or if it's easier to measure, use 2 x 7g satchels)
600g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
60g butter, softened
1.5 cups of raisins / sultanas (375ml) – or to taste
2 eggs
To finish
60g plain flour
60ml water
2 Tbl apricot jam, warmed in a pan over low heat and strained
Instructions
In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, milk and yeast together until sugar has dissolved. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes or until it becomes frothy.
Mix the flour, salt and ground spices in a large bowl. With your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until mixed and crumbly. Stir in the raisins/sultanas, egg and frothy yeast mixture until combined.
On a lightly floured surface, knead the bread dough for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Lightly grease another large, clean bowl, place the dough in and turn to coat the surface with grease. Cover in clingwrap and leave in a warm, draught-free place for 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
When ready, remove the clingwrap and use your fist to punch down the dough (one of life’s greatest pleasures). Give it a quick knead until smooth and divide into 12 rounds.
Place the buns into a greased 20 x 30cm baking tray, cover with clingwrap and leave in warm place to rise for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Whisk together the plain flour and water to a smooth paste. Pipe crosses on top of the buns and bake at 200°C for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 180°C bake for a further 15 minutes. Buns are ready when it sounds hollow when you tap the tops.
Brush with warmed apricot jam while the buns are still warm.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Fresh Living
Citrus and Candy http://www.citrusandcandy.com/
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Okay, i'd like to be the ditzy Alice in 'Vicar of Dibley' for once, I get the “hot” bit, and the “bunnies” bit… but what about “cross”??? I don't get it…. maybe the rabbits should be crossing the road….LOL
but your “buns” are so perky and soft ;)
Hehe, cross = angry.
And why thank you. Your buns aren't too bad yourself (are we still talking about the bread?) ;P
Yum – that picture with the butter looks delicious. But guess what – I've never had a hot cross bun in my life! I am thinking of picking up one now for breakfast after reading your post Karen!
Oh no really? You must definitely have one freshy baked bun pronto! If you like spices and bread, then you'll love these :)
Oh my gosh these seriously look like they came from a professional bakery! You go girl!!! Beautiful photos to!
Oh thank you so much :D They were easier than I thought to make so phew!
Dear Karen, your hot cross buns are so perfect I might cry, love Steph xx
awwwww Steph… xx
Your buns look fabulous. lol. Love the super neat piping.
I find that all homemade yeasted products tend to go stale quite quickly but that's because there are no preservatives? That's why you have the perfect excuse to eat as many as you can straight from the oven. Gloriously good!
That's what I was thinking too. Commercially made bread always have extra things in them to make them last. I wonder if bread provers would help? But I like your thinking, perfect excuse for gluttony indeed :)
Oh they're lovely! They look a lot fluffier than the recipe I tried out (probably because it only had one rise).
I have to admit, I've heard the bunny joke before. But you know what? It's funny a second time too :)
Tsssss.. on fire indeed, and there's no putting you out! Great hot cross buns too. I just baked some yesterday and am baking more today :)
Oh Karen! Hot Cross Buns are one of my favourite bread items, and I saw your tweets and they look so delicious I could even be forced to trek to your place and eat them all!
Ha ha. I thought it was funny!
Omg, I love Hot Cross Buns… best thing about Easter for sure!
Oh man, I am SO glad I have some (shop made) hot cross buns downstairs so I can have one now after looking at these. Top marks for Easter baking! And extra bonus points for silly joke!
Wowwww, these look incredible! I can't ever go past a HCB at Easter time and these look very pro. Mmmmm.
heh nice buns dude :D
Hot cross bunnies indeed lol.
They look fab karen.
Oooo hot cross buns. I love mine with choc chips.. I've been making them for the last 2 years but unfortunately don't have time this year.. :( Your buns look scrumptious.. YUMMO!
Dammit >_< suze beat me to it >_
Those buns LOOKs fab. I must have some.
So perfect when freshly cooked – mmmm.
all right, i'll admit it–i chuckled at your horrible joke. :)
your buns looks great, and i mean that in the least perverse way possible.
This is beautiful !! I love this hot cross buns..
Haha, I really liked the bunny joke. But joke aside, these buns look so, so good. I'm a sucker for hot cross buns too and hope to find some time this week to try this recipe out.
Gorgeous, gorgeous pictures. Now hand over those buns:-)
They look awesome! Thanks for the inspiration… going to make these for easter too…!! :)
These look amazing. I made some last weekend and I agree that they get stale way too fast! I need to find out what Marks & Spencer put in their hot cross buns coz they stay soft for ages!
You just made my day, I was looking for a hot cross bun recipe and found one that was.. okay. Then after making my shopping list I was browsing online and found this one.
My husband laughed at me I was stroking the screen (does anyone else do that? No.. *wanders away trying to look inconspicuous*) declaring that I >needed< this recipe.
Your buns (*snigger*) look gorgeous and I'll be making them this week!
I would love to wake up to these on Sunday!
They look great! The recipe from this month's Easter Gourmet Traveller is also delicious – bit of a twst from the ordinary (they're apple and cinammon flavour). If I made them again I would add a few more raisins/sultanas than they recommend, but maybe that's just cos I like mine chock full of bits!
woah so perfect!! I'm giving your recipe a go for sure!!
I am making these buns RIGHT NOW… as in I'm actually staring at the oven which has six minutes left on the clock!
I'll let you know how they turn out. They smell amazing! :)
They came out perfectly! Thank you!
I blogged about these buns over at TeaCupCake Girls! They were a hit. Thanks for the recipe!
http://teacupcakegirls.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/h…
Thank you for the recipe!
I made them last friday for my Norwegian bf, here in Norway they dont make hot cross buns- and he really liked it! I did too. Great recipe! (I also plan to make it plain with only cardamom as Norwegian buns) :)
These look perfect! I absolutely love your photos. They're wonderful!
I would love to make this this Easter. I've had trouble with piping bags before though. I wonder where you buys yours from?
Hi Jessica,
Mine are plastic disposable piping bags available in the baking section of the supermarket :)
Yum yum these look utterly delicious. I’ve been looking through all my baking books for a hot cross bun recipe but this is so much better – I love having all the steps laid out with photos so I can check each step along the way. Thanks for a fabulous post.
thelittleloaf recently posted..Rocket & Basil Pesto
You’re absolutely welcome! Hope you enjoy the recipe :)
I made these yesterday & I agree – I would probably add more spices. The inside was nice & fluffy though. Not bad for a first attempt at baking bread. :)
Ummm nothing beats a really spicy hot cross bun but these are definitely keepers. At least we can make them all year round :D
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new feedback are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get 4 emails with the same comment. Is there any manner you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
Hi there, apologies for the inconvenience. All comment subscription are enabled and controlled by the readers themselves so check the bottom of your emails and there should be a link that you click to unsubscribe. Cheers!
Hi there,
I don’t have any scales at the moment I don’t suppose you have a “cup” version of this recipe please, i’m itching to make these hot cross buns
Thanks karen
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
This is a great recipe! I love the texture, and it is so delicious when it is warmed and with a pat of butter.
I posted about it on my blog, if you are interested you can check it out! http://aroundleglobe.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/hot-cross-buns.html
Yii-Huei recently posted..Hot cross buns
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