Nick's Community Kitchen: Hot Cross Bun Recipe (2024)

hot cross bun recipe

To keep a smile on our followers’ faces and to boost our own morale, we’ve launched a new online series with our Executive Chef Nick Hodges – “Nick’s Community Kitchen”. Every few days via our Facebook page, Nick will be demonstrating some simple but delicious and fun dishes for you all to try at home.Please click here to view our Facebook videos.

Today we bring you – Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter! How about making your own hot cross buns? The basic dough, an enriched bread dough, is easy to prepare and incredibly cheap compared to the store equivalent. They can be made by hand or on a machine. Bread making is always a family favourite – add the sweet factor and the whole family will love the results from this hot cross bun recipe.

YOU WILL NEED:

The basic enriched bread dough

• 300ml milk – 250ml in a saucepan / 50ml in a small microwavable bowl
• 70g butter
• 500g strong flour /bread flour
• Twist of salt
• 80g castor sugar
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 tsp oil
• 7g packet of dried yeast /or 21g fresh yeast

Easter spices

• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 80g raisins
• 1 lemon or orange zest

GETTING IT DONE:

Making the dough

• Gently warm (not hot, just warm) the small amount of milk in the microwave, crumb in the yeast
• Heat the milk in the saucepan – once simmered remove from the heat, add the butter and melt, then cool to room temperature
• Sieve in the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl or the bowl of your mixer
• Pour both milk mixes into the flour and add the egg
• Mix by hand until you have formed a smooth dough or beat slowly with the bread paddles on your mixer
• Tip the dough onto a floured worktop. Knead well for a good five minutes. Call it a workout but the buns will benefit from the extra kneading, you’ll get a better prove, better bake and lighter end bun
• Pop the dough back into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and walk away for an hour or two. The dough will prove, doubling in size
• Remove the cling film when proved and knock back the dough (knock the air out of it!)
• Pull a lump of the dough away from the main mix, roughly the size of a golf ball
• Add the spice mix to the main dough mix and blend well again. Re-cling film then prove for another hour
• Remove the dough for the last time. Cut the dough into even size pieces, each roll approximately 70g each

At this stage, pre heat your oven to 180 degrees.

• Shape into even balls then place on a baking sheet, leaving room for each to rise when baking
• Egg wash, then roll out the remaining small ball of dough, roll thin and cut small strips of dough. Place over the top of the bun, creating the cross. Leave to rise for a further hour in – don’t cover
• Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown
• Remove from oven and cool

The last stage – the sweet glaze

• Pop 2 tbsp of marmalade or apricot jam in a small saucepan
• Add 2 tbsp of water, bring to the boil
• Brush the glaze over the cooling buns
• Allow the glaze to settle and the dough to relax

We’d love to see how you’ve been getting on in your own home kitchen. Please send in a photo of your creations to marketing@greenbank-hotel.co.uk, for your chance to be crowned our “Community Kitchen Champion.” Our winner will receive a gift voucher for the Water’s Edge restaurant, to be enjoyed when we’re back on our feet.