Olive Oil Hot Cross Buns

INGREDIENTS

·         4 cups flour (plain white or a mix of white and wholemeal)

·         14g dried yeast (not that expired stuff you found at the back of the pantry from last lockdown….)

·         ½ cup raisins

·         ½ cup dried diced apricots

·         1 tsp cinnamon

·         1 tsp mixed spice

·         ½ tsp nutmeg

·         300ml milk

·         2 eggs

·         2 tbsp Olive oil

·         ¼ cup apricot jam

 Cross Paste

·         ¼ cup flour

·         ¼ cup milk

·         1 tsp icing sugar

You can make the dough in a bread maker, if you are going to do this make sure to follow the instructions with your machine and add the ingredients into the machine in the order they suggest, this is important to getting a smooth dough. Pick back up at step 8 if using a bread machine to make your dough

1.    Combine flour, yeast, fruit and spices in a large bowl

2.    Heat milk until Luke warm

3.    Add warm milk, eggs, olive oil and jam into the flour mixture

4.    Cut together with a butter knife until the dough starts to form together then mix together with your hands into a uniform dough

5.    Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured bench and knead for 10min until elastic and smooth.

6.    Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Place in a warm spot until doubled in size.

7.    Knock the dough back by lightly “punching” the middle.

8.    Divide the dough into 12 even sized balls. Roll each ball lightly then flatten slightly onto a lined baking tray 1cm apart in a 3x4 pattern.

9.    Cover with a damp towel or cling film and place somewhere warm to double in size

10. Whisk the “cross” ingredients together until smooth, pour into a piping bag (or a plastic bag and cut the corner off)

11. Pipe your cross’s or other decorations onto the buns

12. Bake at 180 deg for 20min

13. Whisk some extra apricot jam with a little boiling water and brush over the buns and bake for another 5 min for a slightly darker stickier bun or just continue baking for another 5 min for a more “bready” bun

I love hot cross buns. I refuse to buy them in January however, which is when I first saw them for sale this year. You can put whatever fruit you like in them (or chocolate chunks) and because they are bread you can eat them for breakfast…. (Probably good I don’t start buying them in January)