Hot Cross Buns

"Hot cross buns!

Hot cross buns!

One ha' penny, two ha' penny,

Hot cross buns!"

For many years I thought that hot cross buns existed only in a child's nursery rhyme and held some sort of weird, archaic symbolism like "Ring Around the Rosie." It wasn't until a couple years ago at my hubby's (then boyfriend's) parent's house that I learned that, in fact, hot cross buns are a real baked good! My hubby's mom had purchased a dozen of them from a local bakery and had warmed them up to serve along side our Easter dinner. After only one bite, I was extremely taken by these little spiced rolls that were decorated so neatly with frosting crosses. The insides were light and fluffy, the spices were delicate yet present and the currents provided a nice burst of sweetness every few bites. I knew right away that these were going to be an Easter staple from then on out. 

We will rise!

It wasn't until this year though that I actually attempted making them. This was for a few reasons. One, there always seemed to be a bakery near my house that carried delicious hot cross buns around Easter. Two, nobody else in my immediate family seemed that taken with this treat and I didn't want to take the time to bake something nobody would eat. And three (the most likely reason!), I have a difficult time baking yeasty treats and they never seem to rise correctly. Overall, it just seemed easier to purchase my buns from someone else.

So what changed this year? My uncle specifically asked that I bring hot crossed buns to our Easter brunch (how could I refuse?) and our next quarter in baking school revolves completely around making yeasty products (I kind of needed the practice).

Basket full of goodness.

I began with Ree Drummond at the Pioneer Woman Cooks' awesome blog page for hot cross buns. She provides a great and easy photo tutorial on making these yeasty buns from beginning to end. I also made sure that I had my trusty kitchen thermometers (yes, I have two: this one and this one) near by to ensure that my liquid was at the perfect yeast growing temperature.

I made my dough, covered it with a tea towel, walked away and waited for all the yeasty things to happen. To my great delight, when I returned an hour later, my dough had risen! I quickly followed Ree's instructions on kneading the dough and laying it with yummy goodness between the folds (I decided to add a few more spices, some golden raisins and some orange zest along with the traditional cinnamon-sugar and currants). I molded the dough into little balls, covered them again with the tea towel, put them into the oven to proof and, again, walked away and waited. This time, for sure I thought, they would not rise. But when I pulled them out of the oven my yeasty balls of goodness had, in fact, risen! I wanted to jump for joy that all my time put into these little buns was not wasted.

Nom. Nom. Nom.

When they were done baking, I was so proud of my success I thrust one at my hubby to eat immediately.

 "I didn't kill the yeast this time," I said.

"That's good, I guess...," he said.

Oh well, not everyone can appreciate my baking successes to the same level that I do. Though he didn't understand my excitement about keeping the yeast alive, he did devour more than one hot cross bun piping hot from the oven...as did I!

Hot cross buns are time consuming to make but completely worth the time you take to make them. The buns I have previously bought at bakeries around Seattle, though good, are nothing in comparison to ones literally hot from the oven.

Our Easter brunch table.

If you are feeling superstitious, hang a leftover hot cross bun in your kitchen to protect against kitchen fires and ensure that all your breads turn out perfectly. Maybe this will help me succeed in my next quarter of classes!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Live. Love. Bake.

Hot Cross Buns
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks' Hot Cross Bun recipe. Yields 36.

Ingredients for Dough

2 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 package Active Dry Yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp.)
4 cups flour 
1/2 cup (additional) flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. Kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup golden raisins
Zest from half an orange 

1 egg white
Splash of milk

Ingredients for Icing 

1 egg white
1/2 lb. powdered sugar
Splash of milk 

Method

1. In a large saucepan, combine 2 cups milk, vegetable oil and 1/2 cup sugar. Stir and heat until very warm but not boiling. Remove pan from stove and transfer contents to a very large bowl. Let milk mixture cool until it reaches a temperature between 105 and 110 degrees F. If the mixture temperature is over 120 degrees F it will kill the yeast when added. 
2. Once mixture has cooled, sprinkle yeast over the top of the mixture. Add 4 cups of flour and stir to combine. The mixture will be very sticky. 
3. Cover bowl with a clean tea towel and let sit in a non-drafty area of the house for 1 hour. Now wait for magical, yeasty things to happen. 
4. After 1 hour, the mixture should have risen to double in size. If it looks as though nothing happened, your yeast may have been expired or your milk mixture too hot. Either way, I would start over to make sure your rolls turn out perfectly.
5. Once the dough has risen, add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the dough. Stir with a large spoon until the mixture is completely combined. It should be less sticky now.
6. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. In another small bowl, mix together currants, golden raisins and orange zest. Set aside.
7. Before folding dough together, heat oven to 170 degrees. Once preheated, turn off the oven. You will use this to proof your rolls. Lightly spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray.
8. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Keep some flour nearby to add to the dough or your hands if it gets too sticky. Fold the dough over itself a couple of times, kneading lightly.
9. Roughly flatten the dough with your hands. Sprinkle about 1/4 of the sugar mixture and 1/3 of the currant mixture onto the dough. Fold the dough over onto itself so that the sugar-cinnamon-currants are totally enveloped. 
10. Flatten dough again and add some more sugar-cinnamon mixture and currant mixture on top of the dough. Fold the dough over itself again. Repeat this process until you have used up all the cinnamon-sugar mixture as well as the currant mixture. 
11. With floured hands, pull off a golf ball-size bit of dough. Fold the edges of the dough down to create a more ball like piece of dough. Place ball on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all dough is used. Make sure to leave enough room between the balls on the cookie sheet to allow them space to rise.
12. Cover cookie sheets with clean tea towels and place into the oven (make sure it is turned off and not too hot!). Let rolls rise in the oven for about 1 hour or until they have doubled in size.
13. Once risen, remove cookie sheets from oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. 
14. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg white and a splash of milk. Brush each roll lightly with the mixture.
15. Bake rolls for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Eat a few rolls now while they are piping hot from the oven. Nom!
16. Remove rolls from cookie sheets and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. It is important that the rolls are not warm at all or the icing will just melt off the top.
17. For the icing: In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 egg white with about 1/2 bag of powdered sugar. Add more powdered sugar to the mixture as necessary until a very thick icing is formed. If necessary, add a few splashes of milk to icing to help create a smooth consistency. The icing should be thick enough so that it can be piped easily and not run off the top of the rolls. Put icing in a small Ziploc bag and snip the corner or use a piping bag with a small round tip.
18. Frost rolls while still on cooling racks so that excess frosting does not pool around the bottoms. Make crosses on each roll by moving the piping bag over the rows of rolls in one direction (bottom to top) and then the other (left to right). This is easier than trying to make individual crosses on each roll.
19. Let frosting dry and enjoy!