17 March 2008

Easter Baking


This recipe is one of Hanno's favourites. He used to love the time of year when hot cross buns started appearing in the shops. When I started making fruit buns at home, he has never wanted to go back to the store bought variety.

HOT CROSS BUNS - made in the bread maker
(makes about 12)

1¼ cups milk
2 tablespoons soft butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
3½ cups white baker's flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sultanas or raisins - soaked in orange juice or water for 1 hour before baking
3 teaspoons dry yeast

Measure ingredients into bread maker baking pan and set to the dough setting. Turn on.

When the dough is ready, remove from pan and divide into twelve pieces or leave in a large bun shape.

Knead the dough for each bun into a smooth round shape.

Place the buns about 2" apart on a greased or lined baking sheet. If you're baking one large bun, place it in the centre of the sheet.

Place in a warm spot and allow to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake at 190C/375F for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Make a plain icing sugar and butter icing with a little vanilla added and when the buns are coolish, add crosses made with the icing. If you make one large bun, simply ice the top.
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15 comments

  1. I can't wait to try this one! Now...where is that bread maker?
    Mary

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  2. Hello Rhonda Jean
    As always thank you for your inspiraring and interesting posts.
    A question. Is breadmaking flour plain flour or something else. If its something else where might it be purchased.

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  3. Yummo!! I am definitely making these.
    Juanita

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  4. Hi Mary and Juanita.

    hello anonymous, flour for breadmaking is basically plain flour - that is wheat flour that contains no rising agents. However, good breadmaking flour is a high protein flour, sometimes called strong flour. You could make your own bread flour by adding a teaspoon of gluten flour to every cup of plain flour.
    You can generally find bread flour at the supermarket or in bulk food or health food stores.

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  5. I would love to try these - but how does one make "plain icing sugar and butter icing? Sounds yummy.

    Nadege Armour

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  6. Hi Nadege, welcome.

    One cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
    1 tablespoon soft butter
    a splash of vanilla
    Enough water to make the consistency you need - it will only be a spoon full or two.

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  7. How would you change this recipe to be made by hand? I don't have a bread maker...yet.

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  8. Update!!! I just made a batch of these (yes, I found my bread maker). They are the most delicious rolls I have eaten in forever!! I know I will be making many more - all 6 of my children will be home for Spring break this week. Thank you, thank you, Rhonda Jean.
    Mary

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  9. Pulled out the breadmaker today and made my first loaf from a recipe in it. All I had was plain wholemeal flour not breadmaking flour, the loaf turned out wonderful.

    It's not as hard as I thought it was, always bought mixes before. This way is much cheaper.

    Thanks for the inspiration, Rhonda Jean.

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  10. HI everyone!

    Anonymous, to make this by hand:

    Add a little warm water and a teaspoon of brown sugar to the yeast and let sit to froth up.

    Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl, add the fruit and mix together.
    Add the wet ingredients and the yeast.
    Mix into a dough, then knead the dough for at least 8 minutes. Place in a clean bowl to allow to rise for at least 30 minutes.
    Punch down, then knead again for two minutes.
    Form into rolls or a larger bun shape, place onto a baking sheet and allow to rise again. When large enough, bake in a hot oven - 190C until golden brown.

    Good luck

    Thanks for the feedback, Mary. :- )

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  11. I made these tonight, they are absolutely delicious. Had to have one fresh from the oven, shared it with my husband who also liked it (he is really fussy so that is saying something)
    Thank you Rhonda Jean

    Cheryl

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  12. I just made a batch of these, they were so yummy, I wil be making them again for Easter morning. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
    Christina

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  13. Yum - thank you Rhonda. I had been wondering how to provide friends and family with a little Easter gift without resorting to buying chocolate eggs (seem to be enough of them around without me buying any). I made up a batch of these today for giving tomorrow - had to sneak one to try ;). They are really delicious and an easy recipe too.

    Is this something North American readers usually have, I wonder?

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  14. Hi Rhonda

    Thank you so much for this recipe. I know it is now 3 years old but after recently discovering this blog, I knew exactly where to look when I wanted a recipe for hot cross buns - a tried and true recipe from Rhonda. I had a trial run yesterday and apart from choosing to use more spice it is perfect. I will have house guests from overseas at Easter and am looking forward to serving fresh, home-made buns. Thank you, once again.

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