Hot crossed yum.

I know we are still a while away from Easter, but with the cooler days over the past week I decided we needed a little warming and tried my hand at baking hot crossed buns. I had never made these before, but figured it couldn't be that different to making bread or pizza dough. Some flour, milk, yeast, and a LOT of kneading!

These were so yummy and pretty cheap to make. I think these will be a regular feature of my baking repertoire.

Here's the recipe:

(taken from Modern Classic's 2 by Donna Hay)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk

4 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted

2 teaspoons mixed spice

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

50g butter, melted

1 egg

1 1/2 cup sultanas

1/3 cup candied mixed peal (optional)

1/2 cup plain flour, extra

1/3 cup water

1 quantity glaze*

Place yeast, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and all of the milk in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will start to foam, indicating that the yeast is active.

Add the flour, mixed spice, ground cinnamon, butter, egg, sultanas, mixed peel, and the remaining sugar to the yeast mixture and mix using a butter knife until a sticky dough forms.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for 8 minutes or until it feels elastic.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and allow to stand in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Divide dough into 12 pieces and roll into balls.

Grease a 23cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.

Place the dough balls in the tin, cover with a clean tea towel, and set aside for 30 minutes, or until they rise.

Preheat an oven to 200C (400F).

Combine the extra flour and water, place in a piping bag, and pipe crosses on the buns.

Bake for 35 minutes or until browned and springy to touch.

Brush with the warm glaze while the buns are hot.

Serve warm with butter.

Makes 12

* Glaze: Place 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add 2 teaspoons powdered gelatine sprinkled over 1 tablespoon water and cook for 1 minute. Brush warm glaze on buns.

Sam xox