Hot Cross Buns - Happy Easter!

Hot cross buns are almost as valuable for the smell the generate in the kitchen, as for the buns themselves!
Start by soaking some raisins/currants/chopped figs/chopped dates in some hot water or tea to plump them up.
Then get to work on the dough. When I make any bread, I use a basic ratio of 1% yeast (dried), and just under 2% salt. So for 1kg flour, this would mean 10g yeast and 18-20g salt.
1 kg flour would make a LOT of hot cross buns, so I tend to use 500g..
500g strong white flour, or a mix of white and wholemeal (don’t use more than 50% whole mealunless you like your buns HEAVY!)
5g dried yeast
8g salt
20-100g sugar, depending on your preference
As much fruit as you like, and maybe some seeds or chopped nuts if you’re going off piste?
Full fat milk
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
Tepid water
(You can also add some soft or melted butter if you like a richer dough, and even a beaten egg)
Method:
Weigh out your flour(s), add the yeast, salt, sugar and fruit, then gradually add the liquid until you have a nice sticky dough consistency. If you are using egg and/or butter, add it to your milk and beat before tipping into the flour mixture.
Knead for 10 mins (I use a dough hook on a mixer, but you could go hardcore and do it by hand)
Cover your bowl with a plastic bag or damp tea towel to prevent a crust forming, and leave somewhere warm to rise for at least an hour. The cooler the location, the longer it will take (this can be a good thing if you want to go out and get something done!)
Once the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl and give it another short knead. Then divide it into 16-20 equal pieces, shaping them by tucking the edges underneath (hard to explain - watch the vid!) . Cover these and leave to rise for another hour or so.
Bake at 230-245 degrees Celsius (a reallly hot oven!) until the smell draws you into the kitchen (about 12-20 mins)
NB false marketing- these are just hot buns, no crosses! You can brush them with a mixture of sugar and water as soon as they have come out of the oven, but I’m a sugar dodger, so don’t tend to do that.
These buns freeze really well, and defrost nice and quickly as they are relatively small.

[@MohammadRashidKitchen]

Hello My friend how are you so beautiful and nice Recipe ❤️

[@davescupper5789]

You're brilliant at this

[@floragarveygardening1864]

How kind- thank you!