I’m on a roll with these hot cross buns! Having so much fun making them and adding my favourite ingredients into it. I adapted this recipe from Donna Hay but made a few adjustments to suit my liking. Traditionally hot cross buns included sultanas, dried fruits such as apricots but I am not a fan of any of those things so I added orange zest, walnuts, chia seeds and dried cranberries into my own rendition of hot cross buns.

I had a few dramas this morning making the hot cross buns. I forgot that I left the dough in the oven to rise and I happily turned on the oven to preheat it for the cupcakes that I was making concurrently. After 20 minutes, I smelt this fragrance coming from the oven and then I remembered that my dough was sitting in there! It was too late… the cling wrap had melted all over the dough so I had to throw the whole thing away – what a waste! Fortunately, I decided to make another batch and I’m so glad that I did that because these hot cross buns were delicious!

Nutrition per serve (serves 16)

Ingredients

1. 7g dried yeast
2. 100g caster sugar
3. 375ml lukewarm milk
4. 200g whole meal flour
5. 435g plain flour
6. 2 tsp mixed spice
7. 2 tsp ground cinnamon
8. 50g unsalted butter (melted)
9. 1 egg (lightly whisked)
10. 50g dried cranberries
11. Zest 1 orange
12. 50g walnuts
13. 2 tbsp chia seeds

Ingredients for the crosses

1. 50g plain flour
2. 1 tbsp caster sugar
3. 60ml cold water

Ingredients for the glaze

1. 2 tsp gelatine powder
2. 2 tbsp caster sugar
3. 80ml boiling water

Directions 

1. Place the yeast, 2 teaspoons sugar and the milk in a large bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will start to foam, indicating that the yeast is active.
2. Add the flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, remaining sugar, orange zest, walnuts, chia seeds and cranberries into a large bowl and mix well
3. Make a well in the middle and add in the yeast mixture, melted butter and egg and mix until a sticky dough forms
4. Turn onto a floured surface and knead the dough for 10-15min or until smooth and elastic (the dough should be sticky so avoid using too much flour)
5. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean, damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size
6. Grease a 20x30cm cake pan
7. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it returns to its original size
8. Divide into 16 portions and roll it into balls and place it side by side in the prepared pan
9. Cover it and set aside for 30min or until it doubles in size
10. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
11. Combine the flour (50g), sugar and 60ml cold water in a bowl to form a smooth paste
12. Using a piping bag and round tip, pipe the crosses onto the bun
13. Bake for 10min at 200 degrees then reduce the heat to 180 degrees and continue to bake for 15-20min or until golden brown
14. To make the glaze, stir gelatine, sugar and boiling water into a bowl until dissolved
15. Leave the loaf to cool on a wire rack and brush the top with glaze

There you have it – the classic hot cross buns ready to be served!