Easter Hot Cross Buns - in a breadmaker.

I bought some hot cross buns from a specialty shop - they were terrible, what I discovered is if you have about 3-4 hours, you can make hot cross buns at home that are delicious.  This is an adaptation of a recipe I found on Panasonic.  (Panasonic make a great bread maker by the by).  You obviously cannot make buns from beginning to end in a breadmaker, but you can get it to do the kneading and 1st proove.  The result is a light fluffy, perfectly kneaded bun mix.

Use a tin that has sides at least 3 cm high.  I use a tin that used to be referred to as a lamington tin.          Use any fruit you enjoy, I just use sultanas myself.  You can put in choc chips if so inclined, or apple, or go really exotic with dried cranberries and white chocolate.  You can also leave out the orange zest and/or liqueur if you like, I would put in some vanilla in this case.

The amount of spice is up to you also, add more or less according to taste.  According to my son this recipe has just enough spice so you can taste it but it doesn't overpower the mix.  Personally I love cinnamon, so may add more.

Now, about the flour.  There are different protein (and therefore gluten) levels in flours.  For this recipe use only flour sold as BREAD FLOUR.  Not the usual plain flour or 000 or pizza flour!  This will give you a lovely light bun, but also a bread bun.  Please trust me on this, I tried it with other flour, it is just not as good.

My wholemeal ones were very dense, so I asked an AI bot how to adapt the recipe, for the health conscious, here is what it suggested:

1. Replace the white flour in the recipe with an equal amount of wholemeal flour. Keep in mind that wholemeal flour absorbs more liquid than white flour, so you may need to adjust the amount of liquid in the recipe accordingly.

2. Add more liquid: As mentioned, wholemeal flour absorbs more liquid than white flour, so you may need to add more liquid to the recipe to achieve the desired texture. Start by adding 1-2 tablespoons of extra liquid per cup of wholemeal flour used in the recipe.

3. Use honey or molasses instead of white sugar. Wholemeal flour can be denser than white flour, so using a sweetener like honey or molasses can help lighten the texture of the bread. Use 1-2 tablespoons of honey or molasses for each cup of wholemeal flour in the recipe.

4. Wholemeal flour takes longer to rise than white flour, so you may need to increase the 2nd rising time for the dough. Allow the dough to rise for at least an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

5. Add gluten: Wholemeal flour contains less gluten than white flour, which can make the bread dense. Adding gluten to the recipe can help improve the texture of the bread. Use 1-2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten per cup of wholemeal flour in the recipe.

6. Adjust oven temperature: Wholemeal flour can bake faster than white flour due to its higher protein and fibre content. Therefore, you may need to adjust the oven temperature slightly and bake the bread at a lower temperature for a longer time.

Ingredients

Bun Dough

• 350 ml milk
• 40 g unsalted butter melted and cooled
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 orange, zest only
• 620 g  white bread flour
• 80 g caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp all spice
• 1 tsp fresh nutmeg
• 14 g (two packets) dried active yeast
• 150 g mixed dried fruit
• 2Tablspoons Orange Liqueur 

Flour Paste

• 75 g plain flour
• 5 tbsp water

Glaze

• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp boiling water

Method

Pour the Orange Liqueur over the dried fruit & leave to steep.

Measure out milk & put about 1/2 the milk plus the butter into a saucepan and melt butter.  Put this mixture into the cold milk and mix.  This means it will cool down faster.

Once the milk is cool beat in the egg to the liquid mixture.

Place all dry ingredients into the bread maker, pour over liquid mixture and set bread maker to the DOUGH setting, turn it on.

Depending upon your bread machine, you can add the dried fruit after the first mix,  or into the special fruit holder and it will add them automatically.

Once the dough has had the first proove and is finished in the machine, turn it out onto a lightly floured board, then divide into 12 equal bits.  Roll each one into a round ball and place into a lightly oiled tin aprox 12 x 18 inches.  They should be just slightly touching each other.

Mix the flour paste in a cup and then place into a small plastic zip-lock bag.  Use this as a piping bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner.  Pipe on your crosses.  

Leave the dough to prove about an hour.

Put the oven onto 160C FAN FORCED  or 180C otherwise.  Make sure it is heated up before you put the buns into cook.

Once the buns are about double in size place in the oven and cook for 24 minutes, they should be lightly brown.

Mix the hot water and dissolve the sugar., brush this glaze over the buns as soon as they come out of the oven.  When cooled down a little, place the buns onto a cooling rack.

Enjoy.