YOU WILL NEED:HOT CROSS BUNS
- ¾ cup to 1 ¼ cups milk, luke warm
- 3 tablespoons meted butter, cooled
- 1 large egg, room temperature
YOU WILL NEED: ICING RIBBON
- ½ to 1 ½ teaspoons milk or cream
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix together milk (start with ¾ cup) and melted butter. Remove clear pouch found inside your package and set it aside
2. Empty contents found inside your pouch and blend your wet and dry ingredients together (for your hot cross buns). Using a large stand mixer with a dough hook, knead dough for 6 minutes until your dough is elastic and slightly sticky. If your dough is slightly dry after 3 minutes of kneading, add extra milk – 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting 1 minute between additions to reach a slightly sticky dough. If you do not have a stand mixer, once your dry and wet ingredients are blended together, turn your mixture out onto a parchment lined surface and knead your dough with your hands for a minimum of 8 minutes (by hand takes longer kneading process). Add extra milk if needed to bring dough together and create a lightly tacky elastic dough.
Tip: You want a slightly tacky and sticky dough. When a dough is too dry, it has a hard time rising and will result in dense buns instead of light and fluffy buns. Add just enough milk to create a lightly sticky yet smooth dough. The dough should not come off in wet pieces onto your hands but should be sticky to the touch.
3. Heat the oven to 160F and turn off heat. Open door for 2 minutes.
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap, snuggly over the top of the bowl (this is a must do for hot cross buns as it helps create a moist environment to promote rising) and place in oven for 1 hour or until just about double in size.
5. Remove dough from oven and punch your dough down. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish (we prefer metal for better baking). Pinch pieces of dough off into your hands (about 2 to 3” in diameter) and form into a ball. Arrange your dough balls onto your baking dish with ½ to 1” space in between each ball to allow for spreading and rising (the dough will make 12 large or 15 medium hot cross buns). Brush the tops of your dough balls with a little melted butter, add a piece of plastic wrap lightly to the top of the baking dish and place your buns back into your oven (Remember to heat the oven to 160F, turn heat off and open the door for 2 minutes before adding your baking dish)
6. Preheat oven 350F
7. Place pan in center of oven. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes until tops are golden brown (12 large buns will take longer). Remove from oven and cool completely in your baking dish. They must be fully cooled before adding your icing crosses
8. Empty contents of clear bag removed in your first step into a small bowl. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon of cream or milk to your mix and blend well. Your mix should be a super thick paste icing. Spoon your icing into a small zip top bag. Squeeze icing to one of the corners of your bag and snip off the small pointy end. Using your zip top bag pipe crosses on each of your buns.
Enjoy!
