Hot Cross Buns

Rhonda O's Note:

Easter Tradition

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 45 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 30

Yield: 30.0 Buns

• 2 (¼ ounce) packages active dry yeast
• ½ cup water (110 to 115 degrees)
• 1 cup warm milk (, 110 to 115 degrees)
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup butter or ¼ cup margarine , softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 6 ½-7 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup dried currant
• ½ cup raisins

GLAZE AND ICING

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 4 teaspoons milk
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water.
2. Add milk, sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, nutmeg and 3 cups of flour; beat until smooth.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
4. Stir in the currants, raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
5. Turn onto a floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes.
6. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease top.
7. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
8. Punch dough down; shape into 30 balls.
9. Place on greased baking sheets.
10. Cut a cross on top of each roll with a sharp knife.
11. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
12. Beat water and egg yolk; brush over rolls.
13. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
14. Cool on wire racks.
15. For icing, combine sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth; drizzle over rolls.

Reviews

[Sackville]

These are just perfect! I was looking at hot cross buns in the store today and thinking how they must be easy to make. This recipe proved it. I even forgot the salt but it didn't seem to affect the recipe. They taste so much better fresh out of the oven than the store-bought ones. I baked them for 15 minutes at 170 C in a fan oven (it would be about 190 C in a normal oven) and they turned out a beautiful dark brown.

[Whinyard]

I made these for a bake sale that a friend of mine was doing for the Cure for Cancer. I made an extra one so I could taste them--delicious!. I did add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cloves to the dough since several other recipes called for them. I also only used raisins as I didn't have any currants. Will be making these for my family for Easter this year. Thank you for sharing! Update: I cut the recipe in half and made these in my bread machine for my family for Easter. They were even better than the batch I made for the bake sale!

[PeeGee]

Rhonda, this is just what I was looking for. I did add some cinnamon (1 tsp), cloves (1/4 tsp) and peel (1/4 cup). The result was terrific. This recipe is in my permanent collection.