Nothing compares to the smell of homemade hot cross buns in the oven – an Easter must have! Below we have our favourite hot cross bun recipe from one of Australia’s favourite chefs, Maggie Beer.
Makes: 12
Ingredients
For the dough
4 ½ cups plain flour
2 x 7g dried yeast sachets
¼ cup caster sugar
1 ½ tspn mixed spice
Pinch of salt
1 ½ cup currants
40g butter
300ml milk
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 tbspn water
For the glaze
1/3 cup water
4 tbspn apricot jam
Method
1. Combine 4 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice, sale and currants in a large bowl.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the milk. Heat for 1 minute or until lukewarm. Add warm milk mixture and eggs to currant mixture.
3. Use a flat bladed knife to mix the dough until it almost comes together, then using clean hands, finish mixing to a soft dough.
4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth.
5. Place into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, draught free place for 1 – 1.5 hours, or until dough doubles in size.
6. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Punch dough down to its original size. Knead for 30 seconds on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 12 even portions and shape each portion into a ball.
7. Place balls onto the lined tray, about 1 cm apart. Cover with oiled cling wrap and set aside in a warm draught free place for 30 minutes, or until buns double in size.
8. Preheat fan-forced over to 170C
9. To make the flour paste, mix ½ cup plain flour and 4 tablespoons of water together in a small bowl until smooth, adding a little more water if paste is too thick. Spoon into a small snap lock bag and snip off one corner to create a piping bag. Pipe flour paste over the tops of buns to form crosses.
10. Place into preheated oven and bake for 20 – 5 minutes or until buns are cooked through.
11. To make glaze, place water and jam into a small saucepan over a low heat and stir until jam dissolves. Bring to the boil for 3 – 4 minutes, then remove from heat. Immediately brush glaze over warm hot cross buns.
12. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter!