Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Breadtopia Blog Recipes
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I usually make hot cross buns for Easter morning. I like to make them Saturday night and let the buns rise in the pan in the refrigerator overnight. Then I can bake and serve them warm on Easter morning. Do you think that would work with this recipe?
Thanks

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I think that would work fine. You could make a test batch to be safe too.

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You had me at Chocolate! :wink:

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What an easy recipe! It’s the first time I’ve made hot cross buns and they turned out perfect, and what’s more, baked on this Good Friday! Thank you so much for another excellent recipe.

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First try vs. second try! :joy:

Thank you for this recipe.

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@Lambert I’m glad you found the recipe easy to follow and enjoyed the hot cross buns. They look beautiful.

@beckwhits Nice! The learning curve with a new recipe can be so satisfying. What changed from batch one to two? Hydration? Degree of rising?

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I had hoped to make these for Easter morning, but ended up eating one of my frozen panettone instead. Yesterday I finally made a batch in honor of my daughter’s birthday, and here is the result.

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For this batch I substituted whole grain spelt flour for the yecora rojo flour and decided to add some lemon and orange zest as well. Then I substituted allspice for the cloves, since I worried the cloves might overpower the citrus. They ultimately came out fine and my wife greatly appreciated that they were not overly sweet.

However, I had a few issues and made a few missteps. I initially only used half of the water which led to a much longer mixing time as I incrementally added the rest of the water. Then I actually had to add more water, possibly since my egg was pretty small for a “large” egg and/or the spelt may have been more thirsty.

Things went okay after that, until piping the chocolate cross on top. I cut the end of the piping bag to about 1/4 inch wide, but that made an overly bold cross and used up all the chocolate before I was done, so I had to mix up more to finish the job. :confounded: Next time I’ll cut the piping bag for a 1/8 inch opening!

Despite not coming out as perfectly as I would have liked, we are never the less enjoying them for breakfast, warmed up in the microwave. Next time I think I’ll try a sourdough version armed with the lessons I just learned. Thanks for the recipe!

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Those look lovely, and the thicker chocolate crosses are probably a tasty asset to the overall experience :drooling_face: but good to know that a 1/4" bag opening needs more chocolate. I’ll edit that into the recipe. I’m also surprised that your spelt was more thirsty than yecora rojo!