Hot Cross Buns, you don't need to wait till Easter or Christmas, no, you need to make them NOW and I have developed the perfect recipe. You're welcome, go make them now, go

I love hot cross buns.  I always have.  It sort of bugs me that I only seem to eat them at Easter.  I think I need to start a revolution and say it's OK to eat them anytime.  They are sweet and savory and spicy and not and soft and tender and absolutely delicious.

OK, I combined some old and some new recipes and this is what I came up with.  I've made it a couple of times and it keeps working and they are so wonderful. I think you need to make them now.  You don't need a kitchen aid to make it but it makes it easier.  If you don't have one, put it all in a bowl, mix till it's tiring then take the dough out and knead.  I've made them by machine knead and I've done them by hand.  They work either way.  I am doing this as a drive by because it's a dump and run, truly, only one rise, how easy is THAT?

I will devour this batch and make another with better play by play pics but for now, this is the drive by recipe, you can do it!

DRIVE BY RECIPE:  TRACY'S HOT CROSS BUNS

INGREDIENTS

Dry:  dump in the bowl of a Kitchen aid mixer

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
(you'll need extra for adding if needed and for the bench when you form the balls
1 Tb yeast (you can also skimp and use a packet which is 2 1/4 tsp which is close enough)
2 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon sugar (or plain cinnamon if that's all you have)
2 tsp mixed spice (recipe below)
1/4 cup currants (these are small raisins, I don't like bit raisins but if you do, have at it :) add more or less depending on how much you love/hate dried fruit

Wet:  No need to mix these separately,

1 cup very warm tap water
1 TB butter
1 egg
splash vanilla (if you feel the need)

METHOD

Dump all the dry ingredients into the bowl of your Kitchen aid mixer or a large bowl.  Mix to combine, add the wet ingredients, no need to premix...

Use dough hook and let it mix on medium until it's a smooth lovely dough.  Add little bits of flour at a time, after 5 minutes if the dough needs it to clear the sides and become a smooth tender ball

Remove hook from dough in bowl, leave it there and cover with a plastic bag.  Let it rest about 10 minutes.

Divide the dough in 12 equal balls and place on a parchment lined sheet pan.  Spray the tops of the rolls, cover the whole thing with a gigantic plastic bag and leave to double.  It should be about 1-2 hours.

Spray with milk or brush with milk.  Add a cross if you want, I make a thin paste of water and flour and draw on with the side of a spoon.

Bake in a PREHEATED 375 oven for 20-30 minutes, spin half way through.

Remove to a rack immediately and leave to cool for as long as you can stand it.

ENJOY!

here's a few beauty shots.  These are before they went into the oven

 LOOK! at these beauties.  The crumb is amazing, tender and flavorful, yeah, I delight myself sometimes

   

So I broke in to one, butter and golden syrup.  Usually I toast them but that'll be later, I had to show you the crumb after a bite, it doesn't collapse into a goo, no, look at it! WOW!  so tasty, fabulous crumb, are you running to make them yet?

 

MY MIXED SPICE RECIPE

1 TB of each of the following: 

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Allspice

1 tsp of each of the following: 

Cloves

Coriander

Ginger

2 tsp of 

Mace

Combine all the spices in  jar and mix, it lasts a really long time because you only need a little bit.  Be sure to go to the bulk area to get the spices, you'll save a FORTUNE doing it that way. 

Make these rolls, I'm dying to know what you think

/enjoy

tracy

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