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Recipe
Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns!
History of Hot Cross Buns dates back to 1361 in England, where a priest handed them out to the poor of St. Albans. Traditionally served on Good Friday, these have become a sign of spring for me, but are good any time of the year. A delicious treat to give pals because you love them, or bring to a morning meeting when it’s your turn to pick up the donuts. They freeze well and can be refreshed with a short visit to a medium hot oven for 10 minutes or microwaved for a brief time. Also they are delicious split and toasted with butter and jam.
Hot Cross Buns
Yields 2 dozen
This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart.
Ingredients:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for bowl, pan and knife
1 cup whole milk (I mixed ¼ cup heavy cream and ¾ cup of skim milk)
½ cup granulated sugar
4 ½ teaspoons (2 packages) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
Zest of one lemon
Zest of one orange
5 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/3 cups dried fruit (I mixed craisins and currants)
Bun Crossing Icing Glaze
½ cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk
Instructions
Butter a large bowl, set aside. Place milk in small saucepan and heat over medium heat until 110. Pour milk into a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add granulated sugar, yeast, salt, butter, lemon zest, cardamom, nutmeg and eggs.
Add flour slowly and mix on low speed until a soft dough is formed around the hook. Continue kneading, scraping down the sides as kneaded. Knead until smooth, about 4 minutes. Dough will be sticky.
Add dried fruit, knead to incorporate. Then scrape dough out of mixing bowl onto a floured counter. Sprinkle a little flour on the dough so you can knead it easier. You are incorporating evenly the dried fruit in the dough. Do not over mix. Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl with butter. Turn the dough to coat the butter on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled. About 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Turn dough out onto a work surface. Knead briefly and roll into a log. Cut the log in half and then cut each half into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a tightly formed ball. Place on prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Cover baking sheets with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until buns are touching and doubled in size, about 1 ½ - 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375F with racks in upper and lower third of oven. . Bake until golden brown 18-25 minutes, rotating after 10 minutes move the top rack to the bottom rack. When done, transfer to a wire rack.
After buns are cooled, mix and place bun crossing icing in a pastry bag or Ziploc bag and cut to a 1/8 inch opening. Pipe crosses over the surface of each bun.