Heritage Hot Cross Bun Recipe
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Ingredients
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1/2 - 1 Cup dried fruit of choice (raisins, currents, or craisins are common)
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1 Cup Boiling water
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1 Cup warm milk
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2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
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1 pinch white sugar
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1/4 Cup white sugar
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1/4 Cup light brown sugar
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5 Tbsp butter, softened
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2 tsp vanilla extract
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1/2 tsp salt
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2 large eggs, beaten
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4 Cups Heritage Bread Blend or Heritage White Flour
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1 tsp cinnamon
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1/4 - 1/2 tsp pinch of nutmeg
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¼ -½ pinch of cloves (if desired)
Directions
Combine dried fruit with 1 cup of boiling water. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain the water well and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
Combine milk and yeast. Add the pinch of sugar to encourage yeast to activate. Stir well and let sit for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl combine brown sugar, white sugar, softened butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt
Add eggs, and mix well
Slowly add yeast mixture and mix until well blended
Slowly mix in flour until combined.
On a well-floured surface, knead the dough for 10 minutes. The dough should be slightly tacky but not stick to your fingers. If the dough seems too wet, add small amounts of flour until you have reached the desired consistency.
Mix in the drained dried fruit.
Oil a large bowl. Transfer the bread dough to the bowl to proof. Turn the dough in the bowl to cover with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel. Put in a warm place to rise. Let dough rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Place dough on a dry surface and cut into 12 equal parts. If you have a kitchen scale, weigh the total dough and divide by 12. Round into balls and place in a greased baking pan. They should touch each other in order to support the sides. Let rise again for 20-30 minutes. (Optional, If you have a pan that is slightly too big, you can make a block of foil to place at the end to take up the extra space.)
Heat the oven to 375F
Egg Wash and Bake
Beat together one egg white and 1 tsp water. Brush the top of the buns with egg wash.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375F, then reduce the temperature to 350F. Bake for 30 minutes or until the tops of the buns are golden with an internal temp of 190. If they start to get too brown, cover with foil.
Let cool until slightly warm to the touch.
Glaze:
Mix powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl. To make them traditional hot cross buns, pour glaze into a decorator’s bag (or a sandwich bag with the corner snipped) and pipe a cross-shape over the tops. Otherwise, spread the glaze over the top of the buns.
Serve warm and enjoy!
