Writer and expert2 years ago

Servings: 9 hot cross buns
Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Honour a tasty Easter tradition, with these golden, fresh, and homemade Maple, Chocolate & Pecan Hot Cross Buns. Indulge yourself in a bake that creates a mouth-watering aroma, with sweet and treacly excellence delivered by Fine Organic Maple Sugar and Lurpak, our classic choice of butter.

Ingredients:

300 g of strong white bread flour
10 g of dried active baking yeast
40 g of BONRAW Fine Organic Maple Sugar
1 tsp + ½ tsp of cinnamon powder
¼ tsp of nutmeg
¼ tsp of ground cloves
A pinch of salt
50 g of Lurpak unsalted butter
1 large egg
180 ml of whole milk
75 g of dark chocolate chips
30 g of pecans

Ingredients for the crosses:

7 tbsp of flour
6 tbsp of water

Method:

In a small saucepan, melt 50 g of Lurpak unsalted butter and then let it cool to room temperature.
Place 300 g of flour, 10 g of yeast, 40 g of Fine Organic Maple Sugar, 1 ½ tsp of cinnamon, ¼ tsp of nutmeg, ¼ tsp of cloves, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a kitchen stand mixer (with the hook dough attachment). Mix briefly to combine.
Once your unsalted butter has cooled, pour it into a measuring jug and whisk it with 1 cracked egg and 180 ml of whole milk. Then pour this mixture into your dry ingredients.
Mix together on a low speed for 2 minutes to form a shaggy dough. Then increase the speed to medium and mix for another 5 minutes until you have a smooth elastic dough that no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and add 75 g of dark chocolate chips and 30 g of chopped pecans. Knead the dough by hand until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Place the dough into a bowl covered with clingfilm. Leave it to rise for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Before returning to your dough pre-heat the oven to (fan) 180˚C.
Return to your dough and start forming it into buns just smaller than a tennis ball. Place these buns on a baking tray (with parchment paper). Cover loosely with clingfilm then allow them to rise for another 30 minutes in the oven.
Remove the tray from the oven and keep the buns warm by covering them with kitchen towels.
Mix together 7 tbsp of flour and 6 tbsp of water. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and pipe the classic crosses on the top of the buns.
Bake at (fan) 180˚C for 30 minutes or until the hot cross buns are golden brown and cooked through.
After baking time, remove them from the oven and immediately brush the top with butter for a picture-perfect golden glaze.
Allow the buns to cool slightly before serving with or without butter.

Tips:

If you like your hot cross buns extra-sweet, you can use apricot jam instead of butter for the glaze.
Store any leftover buns wrapped up tightly at room temperature for 1-2 days. You can also freeze them up for up to 1 month.
You can toast the buns for a couple of minutes and then enjoy your warm hot cross bun with butter.