Recipe: Hot Cross Buns
Dairy Free Hot Cross Buns
This is my first ever attempt at hot cross buns dairy free or otherwise. They didn’t turn out too bad, they taste delicious if I say so myself but my shaping and piping skills need some work. There’s always next year.
You will need:
- 300 ml unsweetened dairy-free milk – we used soya. (Rice/Oat/Almond would be fine also)
- 30g raw coconut oil
- 25g honey
- 500g strong white flour
- 1/4 teasp salt
- 7g yeast
- 1 large egg
- zest of 1 orange
- 120g mixed fruit/raisins
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- Oil to grease bowl
To make cross:
- 60g plain flour
- 4 tablesp. water
Steps:
- Pour the milk, honey and coconut oil into a saucepan on medium heat. Bring to the boil and set aside to allow to cool. Measure out the flour, salt, yeast, mixed spice and cinnamon into a bowl.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add in the milk mixture and the beaten egg. Mix together to make dough.
- Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead for about 5 minutes. Place into a well oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling film. Set in a warm place to rise for about an hour. It should have doubled in size. [I went off to the cinema with the boys while this was happening so it rose a bit more than it probably should].
- Preheat oven to 200C (190C fan oven).
- Mix the zest and mixed fruit into the dough until well distributed. Turn out the dough onto floured board again and cut into 16 even pieces. Shape into rounds and ensure they are smooth.
- Place the buns on baking trays lined with baking paper giving each enough room to rise.
- To make the paste put the flour into a cup and add the water tablespoon by tablespoon until it makes a thick paste. Put into a piping bag or a freezer bag with a tiny hole in one end and make the crosses.
- Bake for 18-25 minutes. Mine were a little overdone on the outside at 20 minutes so keep an eye if you’ve a fast oven.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of honey with about 1 dessert spoon of boiling water. Brush on to glaze the buns.
