Easter Hot Cross Buns

Makes 15 buns

These buns are traditionally served for breakfast on Good Friday. The cross on the buns reminding us of the cross on which Jesus died. You can make them the day before and toast them the next morning, or just serve them hot out of the oven.

Ingredients

3 cups of bread flour, plus a little extra for dusting

1/3 cup of caster sugar

1 ½  teaspoons of salt

1 Tablespoon or packet of dried yeast

2/3 cup of warm milk

2/3 cup of warm water

1 cup of sultanas (raisins)

Zest of two small oranges

1/3 cup of mixed peel (this is a mix of lemon and orange peel, its okay if you don’t have this)

2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

For the cross piping

1/3 cup of plain flour

1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

1/2 cup of water

Directions

Sift the bread flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl then mix in the yeast. Mix together the milk and water (make sure it is warm). While stirring, slowly add the milk and water mixture until it forms into a ball of dough. Lightly flour your work surface and knead the dough for 5-6 minutes until smooth. Place back into the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1 hour somewhere warm.

After 1 hour, knead in the peel, orange zest, sultanas and ground cinnamon into the dough and make sure they are evenly distributed (it does take a little effort, but smells great!). Then leave to rise in the bowl for another hour in a warm space.

Lightly grease a baking sheet and then pull off pieces of the dough and make 15 balls. They should be about 1/3 a cup big. You can use a scale and measure out to about 2 ½ ounces. Place the balls onto the baking sheet, cover, and allow to rise in a warm spot for another hour. At this point you can also store covered in the fridge till the next morning. 

Preheat the oven to 430F.

Make the flour piping by combining the plain flour, tablespoon of powdered sugar and water and mix until the mixture is smooth. Pour into a piping bag and with a small plain nozzle and pipe a cross over the top of the buns.

Bake the buns for 10 minutes at 430F then turn the oven down to 400F and bake for a further 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Place buns on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving them warm. The buns can also be sliced in half, toasted and served with butter and coffee. I would recommend a citrus coffee like from Kenya or Columbia. Enjoy!