Hot Cross Buns with Cranberries

Name: Hot Cross Buns with Cranberries
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 450 g Strong white bread flour; 1 sachet (7-8 g) Fast action dried yeast*; 2 tsp Mixed spice; 1tsp Ground cinnamon; ½ tsp Salt; 50 g Caster sugar or light brown sugar; 30 g Unsalted butter; 250 ml Milk; Zest of 1 Orange; 75 g Raisins or sultanas; 75 g Dried cranberries; 1 Egg; A little Vegetable or sunflower oil for greasing bowl and cling film; 1-2 tbsp Plain flour for dusting; 40 g Plain flour for the crosses; 3-4 tbsp Cold water for the crosses; 2 tbsp Golden syrup or apricot jam

Love Baking Over a year ago 4,671 views

Cook: 25 mins

British

Ingredients

450 g Strong white bread flour
1 sachet (7-8 g) Fast action dried yeast*
2 tsp Mixed spice
1tsp Ground cinnamon
½ tsp Salt
50 g Caster sugar or light brown sugar
30 g Unsalted butter
250 ml Milk
Zest of 1 Orange
75 g Raisins or sultanas
75 g Dried cranberries
1 Egg
A little Vegetable or sunflower oil for greasing bowl and cling film
1-2 tbsp Plain flour for dusting
40 g Plain flour for the crosses
3-4 tbsp Cold water for the crosses
2 tbsp Golden syrup or apricot jam

Accompaniment

Description

Not traditional, but I love the addition of cranberries instead of mixed peel. My husband's idea! The house smells great when they are ready to come out of the oven!

Method

1
Put the butter in a small saucepan, add the milk and place over a low heat until the butter has melted and the milk is warm. Add the grated orange zest and the dried fruit, then leave to cool to lukewarm (approx. 40 degrees, if you have a thermometer).
Put the flour, yeast, spices, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir together. Make a well in the centre. Add the egg to the lukewarm milk mixture, whisk briefly with a fork, then pour into the well. Stir together. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, switch to a low speed for 5 minutes. Otherwise, stir a bit more until it starts to come together into a soft dough, then tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for 5 - 10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. It is meant to be a fairly sticky dough so don't be tempted to add lots of flour.
Lightly oil a large bowl (the mixing bowl you have been using is fine) and a sheet of cling film. Put the dough in the bowl, cover with the cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, by which time it should have roughly doubled in size.
Tip the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface, prod with your fingertips, then divide into 9-12 pieces (9 will give you giant buns,) and form each one into a ball. Line a large baking tray with baking paper, or lightly grease with butter. Put the buns on the tray, about 2 cm apart. Cover loosely with lightly oiled cling film, or enclose in a large bag that will not touch the top of the buns. Leave to rise in a warm place for 40-45 minutes, until they have grown and are closely nestled next to one another.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.
For the crosses, make a thick paste with the flour and water and pipe crosses on top of the buns using a piping bag with a small nozzle or a freezer bag with the corner snipped off.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
When you take them out of the oven, put the golden syrup or apricot jam in a small saucepan and heat gently to melt, then brush generously over the buns whilst they are still warm.
Eat warm or cool, or toasted, plain or with butter and jam / lemon curd.

Chef's Tips

* Or 15 g fresh yeast - crumble in and rub into flour with your fingertips.
For wholemeal buns, use 250 g strong white bread flour and 200 g wholemeal flour (bread flour or normal). Using a mixture keeps them light.
For tips on rising, see my recipe for Teacakes.
These keep well in an airtight tin for 3 days - best toasted after day 2 (under the grill on day 1 as the toaster may not like the sticky glaze! But the next day, the toaster is fine as the glaze has soaked through).