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Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns are one of those quintessential items that you always see pop up around Easter.  Traditionally the buns are eaten on Good Friday before Easter Sunday, always with a cross made with icing on top.  My family decided to host Easter brunch again this year and the Englishman and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to bring some delicious hot cross buns to share with everyone.

Since we were going to have lots of other treats and sweets at the Easter brunch, we decided to make the hot cross buns with just a simple glaze on top and made the crosses out of wheat dough.  The buns were still plenty sweet and a hit amongst the crowd!  If you wanted to add icing to your hot cross buns, I recommend this recipe.

These hot cross buns were so good that I’m thinking I need to make these more than just once a year.

hot cross buns

Ingredients:

1 cup rye flour

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 cup raisins

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

3 cups warm water mixed with 1 packet of bakers yeast

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix the 1 cup rye and 3 cups all-purpose flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and raisins in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl mix your sunflower oil, brown sugar, and water and yeast mixture.

Slowly add the wet mixture to your large bowl and continue to mix well until your dough is nice and sticky.

Roll the dough into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.  Let the dough balls rest on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.

glazed hot cross bunsTake your maple syrup and lightly glaze the rolls – they should be slightly sticky.  Take your 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/3 cup water and mix together to form a paste.  Put the mixture in a piping bag or a ziplock bag and cut a small hole in the corner (thank you Alton Brown).  Use the bag to draw a cross on the top of each roll.

complete hot cross bunsPlace buns in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Pull from the oven and enjoy warm.

The hot cross buns taste best on the day they were made, but will last 2-3 days after.