Hot Cross Buns of Brioche

Guess what?  This is the exact recipe for Too Easy Brioche, but with a few exciting additions to turn it into Hot Cross Buns.  Hot Cross Buns are deeply associated with Easter week, and specifically Good Friday and the end of Lent for many people.  I will confess, I didn’t grow up eating them or making them, but I do love to celebrate with food more than, well, pretty much anything, so I had to give them a go.  I was pretty delighted when I discovered that most recipes really are an enriched dough, similar to a brioche, and while maybe most don’t have quite as many eggs or a little less butter, I figured that it wouldn’t necessarily hurt anything.  And it doesn’t.

A note on the dried fruit and spices that make these into hot cross buns.  This is really where you can show a lot of personality and individualize your buns.  Stick to the general amounts, but have fun.  I used cherries and the spices mentioned below when I was testing them, but golden raisins, regular raisins, currants, and maybe even finely chopped dried apricots are all good options.  For the spices, I would encourage lots of experimentation.  I used mace instead of nutmeg, but feel free to swap that out, or go for cardamom, or another favorite spice.  The idea is to have a spiced, sweet yeast bun studded with dried fruit and topped with a cross.  Can’t be bad right?  In fact, they are lovely and would taste great with a steaming mug of milky tea.

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Hot Cross Buns of Brioche

Ingredients

For the Buns:

  • 3/4 cup water warm, but not hot to the touch.  Under 110 degrees F if using your instant-read thermometer.
  • 1 3/4  teaspoons yeast
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt I use Morton salt–and it tends to be saltier than diamond
  • 4 eggs at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3/4 cup 1.5 sticks butter, melted and cooled to room temp or slightly warmer
  • 1 cup of dried fruit of your choice rehydrated in hot water for about 10-15 minutes and then drained.  You can use a mix, or all one type.  I used dried cherries.
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice rounded
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground mace rounded
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves rounded
  • 1 teaspoon zest of orange or lemon optional I skipped this with my cherries/spice mixture, but am sure it would have been lovely.
  • 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

For the Sugar Water Brush

  • 2 Tablespoons of sugar disolved into 2 Tablespoons of water

For the Icing

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-3 teaspoons water or milk, stirred until a very very thick icing can be stirred. You may need to adjust your amount of powdered sugar, as you want it barely stirrable, but smooth.

Instructions

  1. Mix everything but the flour together in a larger bowl until the eggs and honey are well incorporated. Dump in the flour and stir together. It will look kind of lumpy and a lovely dark yellow color from the eggs and the honey, and dotted with the dried fruit as well as spices. Make sure the flour is fully incorporated and the bread is fully together, albeit very sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temp for about two hours. After two hours, put the covered and now puffy dough in the fridge. As soon as the dough is chilled, it is usable, but you can leave this dough in the fridge for up to 3 days.

  2. When you are ready to bake your buns, you simply take out the dough and make dough balls, about the same size. I measured mine about 2 oz each, and it will make about 18-20 that size, but the amount you end up with depends on the size. Place them on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet for the second rise. I left mine near the stove while I was cooking dinner and preheating the oven to 350 degrees F and gave them a good hour, till the dough no longer felt cool, and the buns had risen up and were puffed.

  3. Bake your buns till they are golden brown. My 2-ounce buns took about 20-25 minutes till they sounded a bit hollow when tapped on the bottom. While warm, brush them with the sugar water mixture (simple syrup) for a lovely glossy look. When cool enough so it will not melt, add a cross on top of the bun with the powdered sugar icing. Enjoy!