Cinnamon apple hot cross buns
Spiced hot cross buns with a delicious apple twist, what a perfect Easter treat!
- Skill Medium
- Prep time 25 + rising mins
- Cook time 20 mins
- Servings 12
Ingredients:
- 3 Weet-Bix™ wheat biscuits, finely crushed
- 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup hot water
- 1 cup So Good unsweetened milk
- 1 packet dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp, 7 g)
- 2 tsp honey or maple syrup
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for bowl
- 2 cups plain wholemeal flour (280 g)
- 2 cups plain white flour (280 g), plus extra for kneading
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup finely diced apple (approx. 1 medium apple)
- 1/4 cup plain white flour, extra
- 2 - 3 Tbsp cool water
- 1 - 2 Tbsp honey, or strained jam, warmed
Method:
Combine Weet-Bix and 1/2 cup boiling water in a small bowl. Stir to make a porridge, and set aside. Combine So Good milk and 1/4 cup boiling water in a large bowl – the liquid should be room temperature, not hot. Add honey and sprinkle over yeast, stirring well. Set aside 5 to 10 minutes until foamy – this means your yeast is alive.
2. Add Weet-Bix porridge and oil to the yeast mixture. Stir, with a large spoon or scraper, then add the white flour, wholemeal flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, and salt. Mix well, using clean hands if necessary, to create a shaggy dough with no visible dry ingredients.
3. Cover bowl and rest for 10 mins, to allow the dry ingredients to hydrate – this makes the dough much easier to knead. Dust bench-top lightly with a bit of extra flour and turn dough out of bowl. Knead 3 mins, adding a pinch or two of extra flour if necessary. The dough should be smooth and elastic.
4. Flatten dough into a rough round, sprinkle over remaining 1 tsp cinnamon and the diced apple. Roll to enclose apple in the dough, and knead a further minute or two to evenly distribute.
5. Drizzle about a teaspoon of extra oil into the mixing bowl, add dough, and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic or a damp tea towel, and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, roughly 1 hour.
6. Punch down dough, divide into 12 even pieces and form into balls. Line an oven tray with baking paper and arrange buns on the tray, leaving about 1 cm between each. Cover tray with plastic or a damp tea towel and leave buns to rise until nearly doubled, 30 - 45 mins.
7. During the last 15 minutes of rising, preheat oven to 180°C (355°F). In a small bowl, combine flour and water for the crosses and stir to create a thick, smooth, paste. Spoon paste into a small piping bag and pipe crosses onto buns.
8. Bake 22 - 25 minutes, until golden. Cool slightly on tray, then transfer to a rack and brush with warm honey, if using.
Tips:
- Blooming the yeast first (Step 1) confirms it’s fresh and alive before adding the other ingredients. If you’re not used to working with yeast, blooming in a narrow jug instead of a wide bowl can make it easier to see activity.
- Rising time of dough can vary based on the temperature of your kitchen and temperature of ingredients used. Dough will rise more quickly in warmer weather, slower when it’s cooler.
- The need for extra flour will depend on a range of factors including brand used, and humidity in the air. It’s better to have dough that’s a bit sticky or tacky after kneading, than one that is dry and too firm! Flour will continue to absorb liquid as it rises.
Nutritional information:
-
Per Serve
-
Energy (kJ)1070
-
Energy (Cal)256
-
Protein (g)6
-
Fat (g)6
-
Saturated Fat (g)0.9
-
Carbohydrate (g)42
-
Sugars (g)7
-
Dietary Fibre (g)4.4
-
Sodium (mg)118
-
Potassium (mg)164
-
Iron (mg)1.5
-
Calcium (mg)44