Before I left DC, I visited a relative I don’t see often, and who had told me before her favorite baked good was hot cross buns. I’d never had them before, so I can’t really tell you how these compare to other ones, but they were tasty, and have frosting, so… that’s cool. I guess they’re Easter-related, so… now is the time to get baking!

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons or 2 packets yeast
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Dough:

• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 – 1 cup raisins (optional) – I didn’t put raisins in mine, because I know some people who are weird about fruit in things
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• egg wash (1 egg mixed with 2 teaspoons milk)

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons milk

Combine all the sponge ingredients in a large bowl, stir, and let sit 10-15 minutes until bubbly.

Add the cup of warm milk and the brown sugar.

Beat in the eggs and the whole wheat flour.

Stir in the butter, salt, spices, and the raisins if you’re using them. Add the all-purpose flour and stir together until the dough starts to hold together in one lump.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3-4 minutes. Clean, dry, and grease your large bowl, then knead the dough another 3-4 minutes until smooth and satiny.

Place the dough into the greased bowl and rotate to grease on all sides. Cover and let rise 1 1/2-2 hours, until you can stick a finger in it and it doesn’t spring back.

Punch down the dough. It goes down a lot!

Divide your deflated dough into 2 pieces, and roll each out into a 16″ ‘snake.’

Cut each snake into 16 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball.

Grease two 9″ cake pans and put 16 pieces in each pan.

Cover, and let rise 45 minutes to an hour. When there are 15 minutes left in the rise, preheat the oven to 350.

Using a sharp serrated knife or razor blade, cut crosses in the top of each bun, being careful to press very lightly so you don’t deflate them. Brush the surface of the buns with the egg wash.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

When the buns are cool, stir together the vanilla and powdered sugar. Add just enough of the milk to create a drizzle-able consistency. Draw crosses on the top of each bun with the glaze, tracing the crosses you cut if possible.

**If you want to use more of the frosting up, and don’t want crosses, just drizzle the glaze over the tops of the buns while they’re still warm, and the glaze will run down and cover them more completely. The recipe makes plenty of glaze.

As I said, I have no idea if these are standard, but they were tasty! I’ll be submitting this to yeastspotting.

Hot Cross Buns

From The King Arthur Flour Cookbook.

Sponge:

• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons or 2 packets yeast
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Dough:

• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 – 1 cup raisins (optional)
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• egg wash (1 egg mixed with 2 teaspoons milk)

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons milk

Combine all the sponge ingredients in a large bowl, stir, and let sit 10-15 minutes until bubbly.

Add the cup of warm milk and the brown sugar. Beat in the eggs and the whole wheat flour. Stir in the butter, salt, spices, and the raisins if you’re using them. Add the all-purpose flour and stir together until the dough holds together.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3-4 minutes. Clean, dry, and grease your large bowl, then knead the dough another 3-4 minutes until smooth and satiny.

Place the dough into the greased bowl and rotate to grease on all sides. Cover and let rise 1 1/2-2 hours, until you can stick a finger in it and it doesn’t spring back.

Punch down the dough and into 2 pieces. Roll each piece out into a 16″ ‘snake.’ Cut each snake into 16 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball.

Grease two 9″ cake pans and put 16 pieces in each pan. Cover, and let rise 45 minutes to an hour. When there are 15 minutes left in the rise, preheat the oven to 350.

Using a sharp serrated knife or razor blade, cut crosses in the top of each bun, being careful to press very lightly so you don’t deflate them. Brush the surface of the buns with the egg wash.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

When the buns are cool, stir together the vanilla and powdered sugar. Add just enough of the milk to create a drizzle-able consistency. Draw crosses on the top of each bun with the glaze, tracing the crosses you cut if possible.

**If you want to use more of the frosting up, and don’t want crosses, just drizzle the glaze over the tops of the buns while they’re still warm, and the glaze will run down and cover them more completely.