Hot Cross Buns

Home-baked Hot Cross Buns

When I was much younger, the only thing I looked forward to during Holy Week were the Hot Cross Buns, sold at the Chin Mee Chin Confectionery. Church-goers from the Holy Family Church (i.e. my family) would flock there like bees to honey, snapping up the delicious soft buns marked with a cross.

It always amazed me how these simple buns became so popular just for a week and then never to be seen again until the next year. Perhaps, that’s why it made it such a coveted commodity.

Since then, I’ve always wanted to learn how to make hot cross buns. But somehow, the thought of making my own bread brought back bad memories of when I attempted to make my own loaf one day – without a stand mixer – or mixer of any kind for that matter.

I had followed the cookbook instructions dutifully and I recall even working out a sweat just kneading the dough. But when I opened my oven in excitement, expecting to find a loaf of bread akin to those I saw in bakeries, the excitement quickly dissipated as I realised my loaf looked more like a burnt stone.

But 2020 happened and we all knew that half the world became bakers as a result, as most worked from home. So did I.

I came across the now famous Soft Milk Bun recipe from Tan Su-Lyn and decided to put aside my bread-baking scars and try it out. To my surprise and delight, the buns came out perfect! I CAN BAKE BREAD!!!

With that confidence, I tried more variations, feeding friends and family with my experiments.

This Holy Week, instead of popping into a bakery for my hot cross buns, I decided to make my own. Drawing from a few references but using Su-Lyn’s recipe as a base, I made my very first batch of hot cross buns. Mum gave the thumbs up and devoured almost all of the 9 buns over 2 days, causing me to have to bake 2 more batches to last the week.

So this Holy Week, I’ve got my own hot cross buns. And the best thing is that I can also have it any time of the year now. 🙂 I hope by sharing this recipe, you can have your own too!

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Makes 9 buns

Ingredients

• 250g Bread Flour
• 30g Brown Sugar
• 3g Instant Dry Yeast
• 3g Fine Salt
• 2tsp Cinnamon Powder
• 1tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 185g Whole Milk (or you can use unsweetened soya milk too!)
• 20g Softened Unsalted Butter
• 65g Mixed Citrus Peel
• 3 tbs Plain Flour
• 3 tbs Water
• 1 egg for glazing

Method

1. Place all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
2. Set up your stand mixer the the dough hook.
3. Add milk and combine at low speed. You may need to push down the dry ingredients to the centre to ensure it mixes well. Stop when a shaggy dough is formed (i.e. all the dry ingredients have been mixed with the milk).
4. Using a spoon or spatula, make a well in the dough and slide in the soften butter. Wrap the butter with the dough and continue to combine using the dough hook at medium-low speed (I use 6 on my Kitchen Aid).
5. Continue to combine for about 10 minutes. The dough will begin to get smoother and will slap the sides of the bowl.
6. Ensure dough passes the windowpane test – pinch the dough and stretch it out to form a membrane. If it doesn’t break, you’ve passed the test! If not, continue to combine on the dough hook for about 2 to 3 minutes more.
7. Add in the mixed citrus peel and combine further for another 2 minutes until all the citrus peel is well spread throughout the dough.
8. Remove dough from mixing bowl and shape into a round tight ball using your hands or a dough cutter.
9. Lightly oil the mixing bowl (you don’t have to wash it!) and return the tight round dough ball into the mixing bowl.
10. Cover with cling wrap and place in a warm spot for about an hour. The dough should double in size during this time.
11. Line a square baking pan with baking paper (I am a lazy baker and don’t like to grease my pans!)
12. Remove cling wrap and gently take out the dough from the mixing bowl
13. Divide the dough into 9 equal parts.
14. Shape each part into rough tight balls and place them neatly into the baking pan.
15. Cover with cling wrap and place in a warm spot for about 45 minutes to an hour. The dough should double in size and fill up the whole pan.
16. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
17. Glaze the buns lightly with egg (mix the egg white with the egg yolk). You can use a milk wash too if you prefer the buns to be lighter in colour. I prefer using an egg wash as I like my bun shiny!
18. Mix the flour and water in a cup, ensuring it’s not too watery or not too thick. The consistency of the mixture should be smooth enough for you to pipe out. Add more flour or water if needed. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag (or a plastic bag where you can cut the tip) and pipe across the buns to form a cross on each bun.
19. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes.
20. Let the buns cool on a cooling rack outside of the pan (to prevent condensation) or be like me – eat them hot out of the oven!