Hot Cross Buns

MY RECIPE, ADAPTED My friend Anne, aka the pastry whisperer, wrote after making Hot Cross Buns. "Have you ever read a recipe and just had to rush into the kitchen to make it? That happened to me today when I read about Hot Cross Buns. I had not made them in twenty years and they are delightfully yummy. The dough is a butter-egg rich dough — like a brioche — flavored with currants and spices, then iced with a powdered sugar cross. I was intrigued by the liberal use of spices in this recipe (1 teaspoon per cup of flour) ... now I understand why hot cross buns are full of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, mace, and cloves. Those aromas perfumed my kitchen while the buns were baking and they are intoxicatingly delicious." Anne soaked the currants in warm brandy, then used part bread flour and her own spice mix, all good options. Check her variation on my hot cross buns. (2008)
YEAST I typically move back and forth between rapid rise and regular dry yeast. This year, I used rapid rise yeast and the buns were particularly light and airy. (2008)
FLOUR For more whole-grain buns, I used 1 cup King Arthur whole wheat flour and 3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour (which itself has more gluten than other all-purpose flours). The buns had a lovely pale-brown color but remained light and easy to eat. I would definitely do this again. (2009)
DRIED FRUIT A 50:50 mix of currants and dried cranberries is a nice variation. If the cranberries are large, snip them into smaller pieces otherwise they sort of take over. (2008)
RISE TIME When allowed to rise properly, these hot cross buns are as light and airy as pillows. For both the first and the second rise, judge when the dough is risen by its size, which should be doubled, not by time passed. The cooler the temperature, the longer the rise time. Some people have good luck letting bread rise in an oven with the oven light on. In my cold winter house, I let bread rise in a 'proofing box' -- just a large cardboard box on its side with a small space heater blowing warm air into the open side. This year I learned that during the first rise, a double layer of towel sloooooows down the rise time, where a single layer of towel lets in just the right amount of warm air. (2008) My latest favorite way to let bread dough rise is to use a heating pad, see Armenian Easter Bread for details. (2009)
FORMING THE ROLLS When forming the rolls, make sure that no currants stick out from the dough because they'll either get hard or burn while baking.
EGG WASH If the egg/sugar mixture brushed on at the end seems a little thick and hard to brush on smoothly without glops or drips, just whisk in a couple of teaspoons of water. (2008)
ICING I use only about 1/4 the icing but intentionally list the ingredients for more so that it can be distributed into bags for delivering to friends and neighbors. But good news: this also drops the calories to 164 per roll with 3 Weight Watchers points.
Originally published in 2006, republished online in 2008.