Hot Cross Buns!

Belated Easter wishes to all my "peeps" !! I really should have gotten this recipe up to the blog prior to the holiday, but between a big trade show, a new birth in the family and all the holiday celebrations, I didn't make it to my computer much in the past week. My sincere apologies to all!

First of all, I wish you all the blessings of the season......We wholeheartedly believe that our great God, our Bread of Life, has led us, and is continuing to lead us, on this journey with our business. Our prayer for our friends is that you feel His strong leading and guiding you in all things, too!

Now, back to bread! One of the favorite breads to appear at this time of year is hot cross buns. I'm always up for something new, so I researched hot cross buns on the internet and found SO many different types! Very exciting, but a little overwhelming. I did end up trying a few.....I liked them all, but at Easter dinner, I put out my old stand-by recipe.....tried and true and always tasty. We actually had a few left over after everyone headed home (I had made 3 different kinds of bread ....we also had an immense amount of additional food -YUM!) , so we delivered the few leftover buns to a good friend who runs a local restaurant and who is a HUGE fan of hot cross buns. We found him standing by a campfire in his backyard, recovering from the Easter rush his restaurant had experienced. Beer in hand and dog by his side, he was thrilled to see the rolls. We stayed and visited for a while, then left him in peace to enjoy the quiet......and the tasty buns! 

Here's my very-dependable Hot Cross Bun recipe: 

TRADITIONAL HOT CROSS BUNS

3/4 Cup warm water

1 Tbsp/packet Red Star Platinum yeast  

3 Tbsp. softened butter

1 Tbsp. instant nonfat milk

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 egg white (yolk reserved) 

3 Cups unbleached, all-purpose flour 

3/4 Cup raisins (can substitute dried cranberries, currants, etc) 

1 tsp. cinnamon

Place water in EZ DOH bucket. Stir in yeast to dissolve. Let rest 1 minute. Add 1 cup flour, then remaining ingredients. EZ DOH-it for approximately 3 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic, adding additional flour, if necessary to eliminate extreme stickiness. After dough is formed, remove it from the bucket, smooth the dough, spray the bucket with cooking spray and return dough. Cover and let rise till doubled. 

Remove dough and divide into 12 equal pieces. Form into smooth balls. Place in a 7x10" greased pan. At this point, you can let them rise till doubled, or spray lightly with cooking spray and cover with Saran and let rise in the frig overnight. (If you place them in the frig, I recommend taking them out 1 hr. before you wish to bake them to let them complete their rise). Before baking, you may brush them lightly with the reserved egg yolk, though I often forget this step!  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. When cool,  pipe a cross on the top with a thick confectioners icing. Enjoy!!

(Adapted from Allrecipes) 

Hot Cross Buns!