In The Kitchen: Easter Hot Cross Buns

Since we discovered that Little One enjoys baking so much, we have started making a regular thing of it when we know we are going to have a bit of a lazy day in the house. Today was Good Friday and Mr F was off work. It was too wet and windy outside to go anywhere and I really wanted to do a bit of Easter themed baking with Little One, so what better excuse to bake some tasty treats for the weekend? 

Seeing as we are already overrun with Easter eggs, I wanted to steer clear of any chocolate related baking, and felt like trying something a bit different; something we haven't made before! So I found this fabulous recipe for Hot Cross Buns. Perfect for Good Friday and a tasty treat for our breakfast on Easter Sunday. 

They were actually really easy to make and Little One was able to help out with most of it.Here are the ingredients, which came from the BBC Good Food recipe I linked above.

Ingredients:

500g strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 heaped tsp mixed spice

50g butter chopped into cubes

200g mixed dried fruits (we opted for cranberries, figs and apricots)

7g sachet of dried yeast

200ml milk

2 eggs

For the crosses and glaze:

3 tbsp plain flour

golden syrup or honey, for brushing

1. Tip flour into a bowl. Stir in the salt, mixed spice and sugar. 

2. Rub in the cubes of butter with your fingertips.

3. Stir in the dried fruit. We aren't overly keen on raisins and sultanas, so we opted for cranberries, figs and apricots. 

4. Sprinkle the yeast into the bowl and stir in. 

 5. Gently warm the milk in a pan so it is hot, but not too hot (cool enough for you to be able to put your finger in for a couple of seconds). If it's too hot the eggs will scramble when they are added. beat the milk with the eggs then pour into the dry ingredients. 

6. Using a blunt knife, mix the ingredients to a moist dough. Leave to soak for 5 mins. 

7. Shape the dough into buns on a floured surface. Space apart on a baking sheet and cover loosely with cling film. Leave in a warm place until the dough balls are half again in size. This takes 45 minutes to 1 hr 15 minutes. 

8. When the buns are risen, heat oven to 220C/Fan 200C/gas 7. Mix the plain flour with 2 tbsp water to make a paste. Pour into a plastic food bag and cut off the corner to make a piping bag. Pipe crosses across the top of each bun. 

9. Bake for around 15 minutes until risen and golden. Brush with golden syrup or honey. Enjoy!

Recipe from BBC Good Food website.