Hot Cross Buns

I made this recipe about 5 years ago, these days I cannot eat dried fruit so I have amended this to only have the apple. So it is good for people who have #crohns

However, you can add sultanas if you like, just add 200g instead of the apple, or 100g with the apple.

Ingredients

500g strong white flour

75g sugar

1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 a whole nutmeg, grated

1/4 tsp. sea salt

200ml milk

50ml water

2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast

55g butter

1 large egg whisked

1 apple, peeled cored and finely diced

Zest of an orange

For the Crosses

2 Big Spoonfuls Flour

2 Tbsp Water

For the Glaze

Runny honey

Method:

Sift the Flour above a large bowl from a height, stir in the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan warm the milk and the water, do not boil just warm. Pour into a bowl and stir in the dried yeast.

In another small pan melt the butter.

Make a well in the flour mix and pour in the butter then the milk and then the whisked egg.

Mix together with a fork until it forms a dough, it will be fairly sticky. Once it has come together empty onto a floured surface. I used my kitchen aid with dough hook on low.

On a floured surface knead well for 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy and smooth.

Place the dough into a floured bowl and cover with a damp cloth, leave in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

After it has risen, empty back onto a floured surface knock the air out of it a little then pour over the apple and zest. Knead all of this into the dough.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Cut this into 12 even pieces, I did this by cutting into 4 quarters then each quarter into 3 wedges.

Then roll each wedge into a ball and place on the baking tray in rows.

Once again cover with a damp cloth or muslin and let rise. Approx 45 minutes or until it again doubles in size. You could warm the oven then turn it off, then place them into there, it is pretty cool inside my house so I needed to do this.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.

In a bowl make the paste for the cross on the top by mixing the flour and water together until it makes a thick paste. Pop this into a piping bag (if you don’t have one you can use a sandwich bag and snip off the end, or just make the crosses with a spoon)

Pipe the crosses onto the buns.

Place into the oven for 15 minutes or until they are golden.

Remove the buns from the oven once golden and brush with honey.

You can serve these warm, cool, toasted or however you like them.

Happy Easter Folks xxxx

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