Easter Egg Brownie
2021-02-12
On the hunt for an excellent Easter treat. Well, we might just have what you are...
Whole Wheat Hot Cross Buns
Prep 2 hours
Cooking 15 - 20 mins
Serves Makes 9
What better way to celebrate Easter than with homemade, warm and fresh hot cross buns. You will never believe how amazing these buns taste and they are healthy too. They are made with a blend of our Natural Herbs and Spices to give each bun an exceptional flavour. Marked with a traditional cross to give them their classic look.
Since Easter is over a long weekend there is no reason why you can’t whip up a batch of these buns for your family.
What you will need
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup brown bread flour
- ½ tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Coarse Sea Salt
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- ½tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Ground Nutmeg
- 2tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Ground Cinnamon
- 1½tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Ground Ginger
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1½ tsp instant dry yeast
- FOR THE TOPPING
- ¼tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup white cake flour
- ¼ cup butter, margarine or coconut oil (melted)
- ½tsp Natural Herbs and Spices Coarse Sea Salt
- 1/3 cup milk (warm)
- 1tsp canola oil
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 egg (beaten)
- Lukewarm water
- Water
- ½ cup dried fruit (mixed raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries or mixed dried fruit)
- Glaze - Jam (flavour of choice)
Method
Let’s start off by mixing together our flour, Natural Herbs and Spices Sea Salt, sugar, Natural Herbs and Spices Ground Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Ground Ginger and orange zest. Add in the yeast and baking powder and mix well. To the dry ingredients pour in your butter, milk, eggs, vanilla and enough water to form a soft pillowy dough.
Dust your work surface with some flour. We suggest using cake flour or all-purpose flour for this step. Knead your dough by hand for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place the beautiful fragrant dough in a lightly greased large glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to proof/ raise for 1 hour. (The dough must double in size.)
Meanwhile, grease a medium square pan with some butter and generously dust with flour. Sprinkle over some flour onto your work surface. Knock your dough down and work the dried fruit in whilst kneading the dough. Then, take a sharp knife and roughly divide your dough into 9 pieces. We like to use a scale to make sure we get equal pieces. Each bun should be about 80-100g depending how big or small you like your buns. Now, roll each piece into a ball and place onto your prepared baking pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and leave to proof/ rise in a warm place for 1 hour. (Again, the dough must double in size)
While we wait for the dough to rise we can prepare the topping/ the cross for the buns. Simply mix together flour, Natural Herbs and Spices Sea Salt, oil, half of the beaten egg and enough water to make a thick runny paste. The batter for the topping should be thick enough to pipe and hold its shape. Pour the batter into a piping bag or into a small plastic bag and snip of the corner. Reserve the other half of the egg for later.
It is almost time to bake the buns, so preheat your oven to 180°C. Brush the top of your buns with the reserved egg and pipe a cross over each bun. Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes until deep golden brown. Meanwhile warm the jam with a few tablespoons of water in the microwave. This will make a syrup that will glaze the buns. Using a pastry brush, brush over the warm glaze over the buns as they come out of the oven. Allow to slightly cool before enjoying.
Recipe by food stylist and blogger of everything wholesome & tasty, Yena Mgobhozi: www.kitchennewgym.com
Photographer: Elsa Vermeulen www. Elsavermeulen.co.za
