Wholewheat Hot Cross Buns

Easter is here, and personally, I don’t know of anything better than the smell of homemade hot cross buns during this time. There is just something about these soft spicy treats that makes you feel right at home!

We adapted this recipe slightly to still get the satisfaction of a warm hot cross bun, but with the added benefit of some extra fibre to promote gut health.  Enjoy it with a cup of freshly brewed coffee or tea and savour every bite of these annual Easter treats.

Ingredients:

For the buns:

• 10 g Instant Yeast
• 3 ¼ cups Whole wheat flour
• ¼ (64 ml) cup Caster sugar
• 1 cup (250 ml) milk, warm
• 150 ml Canola oil
• 1 Egg
• 5 ml Vanilla essence
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• ½ Teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup golden sultanas
• Zest of 2 oranges

For the crosses:

• ½ Cup white flour
• 75 ml water

For the glaze:

• 1 Tablespoon apricot jam
• 2 Teaspoons boiled water

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °
2. Soak the raisins and sultanas in boiled water to soften them.
3. Place the whole wheat flour, yeast, sugar, spices, and salt in a bowl and mix until combined.
4. Add the milk, oil, egg, vanilla essence, orange zest and soaked raisins and sultanas to the flour mixture and start mixing until a dough is formed. You can add a bit of extra flour or water if needed.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a work surface dusted with flour and knead by hands for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
6. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a cloth or cling wrap. Leave in a warm space until doubled in size.
7. Line a baking tray with baking paper, and grease with cooking spray.
8. Remove the cloth/cling wrap from the bowl and punch a hole in the dough to deflate.
9. Dust a work surface with flour and form the dough into a log shape. Cut into 12 equal pieces.
10. Take each piece and roll it into balls. Place the balls with the smooth side up in the baking tray and cover again. Leave in a warm space for about 45 minutes to double in size again.
11. Mix the white flour and water until a thick paste. Spoon the paste into a piping bag / zip-lock bag and cut the corner. Slowly pipe crosses on the buns.
12. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
13. Once the buns are almost done, mix the jam and boiled water together. Remove the buns from the oven and brush with apricot mixture.
14. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy.