Hot Cross Buns

Submitted by ChrisMc

"One a penny, two a penny...This is my family's traditional recipe; we use mashed potatoes to change the texture and flavor. I don't care for citron (candied fruit), so I make my HCB with raisins alone."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 20mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Yields: 32 buns

ingredients

• Buns

• 2 package yeast
• 118.29 ml water
• 118.29 ml warm milk
• 177.44 ml mashed potatoes
• 118.29 ml sugar
• 6.16 ml salt
• 118.29 ml butter
• 2 eggs
• 9.85 ml cinnamon
• 4.92 ml nutmeg
• 4.92 ml ground cloves
• 354.88 ml raisins (or 1 1/2 cup mixed raisins and citron)
• 1064.65 ml flour
• 1 egg yolk

• Icing

• 236.59 ml powdered sugar
• 14.79 ml milk
• 2.46 ml vanilla

directions

1. Combine yeast, water, and milk; stir well.
2. Mix with, potatoes, sugar, salt, butter, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and raisins.
3. Beat in flour by cups.
4. Knead 5 minutes.
5. Let rise 1 1/2 hours.
6. Punch down and divide in half 5 times, for 32 pieces of dough.
7. Fold the corners in to make balls.
8. Snip a cross onto the top of each ball.
9. Let rise for 40 minutes.
10. Brush with egg yolk and water.
11. Bake 20 minutes at 375.
12. While the buns are baking, combine milk, sugar, and vanilla to make icing.
13. When buns are cool, drizzle icing over cross.

Reviews

[Catherine Robson]

Thank you for sharing your family recipe. I thought I would give it a go because I had never used mashed potato for making bread. I made a 1/2 batch and was very happy with the result. They were crusty on the outside and soft and fluffy inside. Although not a sweet a bread as I am used to, the mix fruit and spice make a lovely bun. They didn't get a chance to cool as the family ate them all warm with butter.

 

[Shepardess]

I made this recipe last year and it was a great sucess!! I sent a batch to the "old folks" home in town and we sang the song about "Hot Cross Buns". The old ladies had never had them, but had jumped rope to the jingle. They are a wonderful treat for the Easter season - or any season - for that matter!!!

 

[mianbao]

These are very nice spicy sweet rolls. The spice mixture and amount of sugar are well matched, and also the amount of raisins to dough is appropriate. So why not 5 stars? Well…I cut back the yeast to 1 tablespoon, and 1 tablespoon yeast was definitely sufficient. It is true that it is very hot and humid here now, so the 1 1/2 tablespoons (2 packages) of yeast might be fine when the weather is cold. I also would have liked to have had clearer instructions on how to shape the buns more attractively. I often make yeast breads and can make balls of dough with no problem. But when I snipped the tops with scissors in a cross, the balls opened out and ended up almost squared-off on top. Another small item is the amount of water to mix with the egg yolk. 2 teaspoons? 1 tablespoon? This, I can guess, but I think inexperienced cooks might have trouble with it. (And might not use any water, because it is not listed in the ingredient list.)