Mini hot cross buns tear and share

Chocolate orange hot cross buns tear and share, with a milk and white chocolate sauce. A great way to enjoy a sticky bun or two with friends this Easter!!

Hot cross buns and Easter

I wouldn’t say I’m a massive fan of hot cross buns. Its never been a thing for me – Easter treats are all about the mini eggs and the cream eggs and the little cakes with said eggs on top and maybe just a tonne of chocolate in general. Why would I want bread?

However, give me chance to put my own twist on good old hot cross buns and you might find that Ive changed my mind.

What do you reckon?? Fancy a mini hot cross bun tear and share??

Mini hot cross buns tear and share

So I made this massive wreath of mini hot cross buns filled with chocolate chips and mixed peel last week. Since then I’ve spent the whole week nibbling on each little bun and thoroughly enjoying every little bite. Ive also really enjoyed the sticky glaze of apricot jam on top – its really very nice

How to make mini hot cross buns tear and share

From afar making hot cross buns can seem like a complex process. There is a fair number of steps involved in any hot cross bun recipe, but its basically just like making bread with a few extra fancy bits.

My tips:

• Activate the yeast in half of the liquid (milk) that will be used to make the dough. This is mainly because you may not end up adding all of the liquid to the dough and you don’t want any yeast left in the liquid that isn’t added.
• Warm up the milk to blood temperature (and no more) and add a teaspoon of sugar to provide the right environment for the yeast to activate
• Knead the dough for at least 15 minutes and leave to rise for at least an hour and half – it should double in size as in the step by step photos below
• Add the dried fruit and chocolate chips after the first rise. Stretch out the dough into a long strip and place the fruit in the middle. Then roll up so the fruit is well mixed in.
• Divide the dough evenly by halving each piece until you have enough even pieces to make the 32 small balls.
• Position the dough balls into a tear and share shape leaving enough space for a second rise and for a dipping bowl in the middle
• Pipe on the cross in lines across multiple buns. In my design this meant that I piped two circles over the buns and then lines from the centre outwards.
• Give yourself plenty of time – this is definitely a job that will take up a full afternoon.
• seal any left overs in an air tight container for up to one week.

Share your hot cross buns this Easter . . . or not . . .

Friends and family round this easter? Why not present them with this wonderful mini hot cross buns tear and share? Or even if you aren’t having anyone round – make it anyway. Its so good and sometimes its nice to treat ourselves isn’t it. Plus these buns keep really well in a sealed container – and – and, and, and, – they also make a wonderful ice cream!

Hot cross bun ice cream

Yes – I know! Hot cross bun ice cream! I made my first batch of hot cross bun ice cream this weekend with the few remaining hot cross buns that I had. Recipe for this amazingly good ice cream to follow shortly.

SO . . . definitely get cracking with this tear and share. Share it out, or nibble on it throughout the long weekend, safe in the knowledge that any leftovers can go into a fabulous batch of hot cross bun ice cream.

Whats not to love – get baking, get tearing, get sharing.

Click here for nutritional info for this recipe

Mini hot cross bun tear and share

3 hours, 25 minutes

20 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Category: Dessert, Easter, Breakfast

Cuisine: British

32 mini buns

Serving Size: 1 mini hot cross bun per serving (without dip)

Calories per serving: 118kcal

Fat per serving: 3.5g

Saturated fat per serving: 2g

Carbs per serving: 20g

Protein per serving: 2.8g

Sugar per serving: 7.6g

Chocolate orange mini hot cross bun tear and share, with a milk and white chocolate sauce. A great way to enjoy a sticky bun or two with friends this Easter!!

Ingredients

• 200ml whole milk
• 20g fresh yeast or 7g sachet of dried yeast
• 80g coconut sugar
• 450g strong white bread flour
• 3 cardamom pods (crush pods and remove seeds – discard the pods)
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• Pinch sea salt
• 75g unsalted butter (fridge cold)
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 60g dried mixed peel
• 70g currants
• 70g chocolate chips

For the cross
• 100g plain flour
• 7 tbsp whole milk

For the egg wash
• 1 egg beaten
• ½ tbsp. whole milk

For the glaze
• 150g Apricot jam

For the chocolate dip
• 100g milk chocolate
• 100g white chocolate

Equipment
• Large mixing bowl
• Baking tray
• Piping bag (for the crosses)
• Pastry brush for the egg wash and glaze
• Small pan for the apricot glaze

Instructions

First activate the yeast:

Measure out 100ml of the milk (leaving the other half of the milk set to one side for later). Heat in a pan or in the microwave until it just about feels warm to the touch (37 degrees - blood temp). This should literally take 20-30 seconds in the microwave. Make sure the milk isn’t too hot otherwise it will kill the yeast. Add 1 tsp of the coconut sugar to the warm milk (this feeds the yeast) and then add the yeast. Dissolve the sugar and yeast and set to one side. After about 15 minutes the yeast should have activated and the milk will appear frothy.

Make the dough

Whilst the yeast is activating, start to make the dough. Sieve the bread flour into a large mixing bowl. Prepare the cardamom seed by removing from the pod then finely crush using a knife or pestle and mortar. Add the crushed cardamom seed, 1 tsp mixed spice, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp ground ginger and pinch of sea salt to the flour. Mix together with a wooden spoon.

Next use a cheese grater to grate the cold butter into the flour mix. Grating helps to easily combine the butter with flour. Use your finger tips to rub the butter and flour together, to a breadcrumb consistency.

Make a well in the centre of the flour and butter mix. Pour the beaten eggs, the coconut sugar and the milk/yeast mix into the well. Use your fingers to gently stir and bring together. Once combined begin to gradually add the remaining 100ml of the milk to the dough. Add just enough milk to make a fairly sticky dough (this should pretty much be all of the milk).

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and begin to knead. As the dough is quite sticky it will stick to your hands to begin with. The more you knead the less sticky it will become. Knead for 10-15 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Oil a large bowl and carefully transfer the dough to bowl. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Knock back and add the fruit and chocolate

After an hour and 30 minutes the dough should have doubled sized. Turn out onto a floured surface and knock out the air. Grab the dough on either side with both hands and stretch out into a long strip. Add the currants, peel and chocolate to the centre of the strip of dough. Fold all the sides in and then roll up the dough into a sausage shape from one side to the other. This should allow for the fruit and chocolate to be fully combined into the dough.

Form the dough balls.

The dough can now be divided up into small dough balls. There is enough dough to make 32 small buns. I divided mine into 26 small buns for the tear and share and then made 4 separate larger buns. Lay out the dough balls into your tear and share design on a large baking tray. If you would like to serve with a small dipping dish in the middle place this into the centre now to measure a large enough gap. Also leave a small gap in-between each ball to leave room for further rising. Remember the dough balls will also slightly increase in size during baking. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave for another hour to rise.

Make the flour mix for the crosses

Meanwhile mix together 100g flour with 7 tbsp of milk to form a smooth paste. Transfer to a piping bag ready to pipe on the crosses.

Bake!

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees C. After an hour, remove the tea towel from the dough balls. Mix together the egg and 1/2 tbsp milk to make the egg wash. Use a pastry brush to glaze the dough balls with the egg wash. Next pipe the crosses onto the buns, try to pipe in one line over multiple buns where possible, just to make it easier. With my circular design I piped around in one circle and then across in a star shape.

Place the buns in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

The sticky apricot glaze.

5 minutes before the buns come out of the oven, melt the apricot jam in a small pan. As soon as the buns are removed from the oven paint over the heated apricot jam and then leave to cool.

Chocolate dip

Once the hot cross bun tear and share is fully cooled, heat up the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts until melted. Mix the melted white and milk chocolate and serve with the tear and share.

4.26

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