Hot Cross Buns

Last year, I discovered Hot Cross Buns at Panera. They were so freakin' good that I craved them all year long. A week or so ago, I headed back to Panera during morning traffic (and I mean in the restaurant - the line was uber long) just to snap a couple buns. Man, were they worth it! I had decided last year I wanted to make some myself and as Easter was yesterday, I decided that would be the perfect time to try.


For some reason, I thought the HCB at Panera had dried strawberries, but when I had them this year they didn't. I had snagged some dried strawberries at the store, but realized I've had dried currants in my pantry for quite some time now. I decided to be more authentic and use those with a little bit of orange zest.


Fun note, the recipe called for candied orange peel, which I attempted.. disastrously. It was hilarious and gross. I think I did it wrong.

Hot Cross Buns
(from BHG??)

• 4 - 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• dash of ground cloves
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup currants
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
  
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 tbsp water

In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups flour, yeast, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

In a medium saucepan, heat and stir milk, sugar, and butter until warm and butter is mostly melted (120-130F).

Add eggs and milk mixture to flour mixture. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and beat for 3 minutes. Stir in currants and orange zest. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as possible.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead 3-5 minutes, until you have a moderately soft dough. Shape into a ball. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and place in a warm area to rise until doubled (about 2 hours).

Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.

After two hours, punch down the dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 20 pieces. I did this by roughly shaping the dough into a square, then cutting it up. To get equal sized buns, I combined little pieces with trimmed excess from larger ones.

Shape the dough into buns by slightly pulling the dough and tucking the ends undernneath to create smooth tops. Place on baking sheets, cover, and let rise until doubled (about an hour).

Preheat the oven toe 375F. Mix together the egg white and water to create an eggwash. Brush the tops of the buns. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from pan immediately to cool on wire racks.

After the buns have cooled quite a bit, mix up some powdered sugar icing by combining approximately 1 cup of powdered sugar and tablespoon or two of milk. You'll need to play with the proportions a bit until you get a thick enough icing to create a sort of piping across the top. Put the icinig in a ziplock bag and cut off a corner edge. Create cross on the top of the buns.

Enjoy!