Orange Cranberry Pumpkin Seeds Hot Cross Buns
After watching the Great British Baking Show, we decided to try our take on Hot Cross Buns. It took us several attempts to perfect the combination of flavors and ingredients. We must say these are bang on and taste amazing with some honey drizzled over it. We hope this recipe is worthy of a Paul handshake!
Ingredients
Buns
- 4 tbsp water warm to about 95 F
- ¼ cup sugar (50 g) + 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp active-dry yeast
- 5 cups all-purpose flour (625 g) sifted
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs beaten
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter (60 g) at room temperature
- 1 cup milk (250 g) warm
- 1 cup dried cranberries (100 g)
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted (100 g)
- 4 tbsp orange zest
Paste
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Mix the 4 tbsp of warm water with the 1 tsp of sugar and once the sugar is dissolved, add the yeast. Set aside for about 5-10 minutes or until the yeast has bubbled up.
- While the yeast proves, mix the flour, the ¼ cup of sugar, salt, eggs, and butter together. Add the yeast and mix.
- Add the milk little by little while kneading the dough. Once all the milk has been added, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. The dough will start out quite wet but will eventually become elastic and smooth.
- Once the dough is smooth, cover the dough with a towel and let it rise for at least an hour or at least doubled in size.
- Add the cranberries, pumpkin seeds, and orange zest to the top of the dough and knead in until they are evenly incorporated.
- Re-cover the dough with the towel and let the dough rest for another hour.
- Fold the dough inwardly until all the air is knocked out from the dough. Roll out the dough into a 2-inch diameter log. Cut the log into 24 evenly sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about ½ an inch of room between each piece. Cover the balls and let them rest for about an hour or until they are at least doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- While the buns are resting, mix the flour and water to create the paste. Using a piping bag, pipe the paste across the buns to create a cross.
- Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Serve warm with some butter brushed over the tops.
