Aah Easter… My absolute favourite holiday, and time of year in fact. I love autumn (if you’re in the southern hemisphere at this time of year), the weather starts becoming milder and everything feels like it’s slowing down a little. It might also have something to do with it being my birthday month.
I love traditional, spicy hot cross buns. They’ve always been a favourite Easter treat (If we’re not talking chocolate). Slightly toasted with a little butter, yum.
This year I decided to get a little creative with my hot cross buns. And here we have it, Hot Cross Bunnies! The same recipe and flavour, just a very different shape. These are a fun addition to any Easter table and I know the kids will love them.
Hot Cross Bunnies
A fun take on the traditional spicy hot cross buns
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Ingredients
Buns
- 1 Tbsp Instant dry yeast
- ½ Cup Brown Sugar I like fine demerara or light muscovado sugar
- 1½ Cups Milk Warm not hot
- 50 grams Unsalted Butter Melted and cooled
- 1 Egg Room temperature and slightly beaten
- 4¼ Cups Bread Flour all-purpose flour will work if you don't have bread flour
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp All Spice
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ Cup Currants Raisins or Sultanas will also work
- Zest of one orange Optional
Glaze
- 2 Tbsp Warm Milk
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Desiccated Coconut for the tails Optional
Instructions
- Melt the butter and set aside to cool
- Place the sugar and warm milk into a large mixing bowl and stir to help the sugar dissolve a little. Sprinkle over the yeast and let it sit for around 5 minutes to bloom
- When the yeast is ready, add the cooled butter and beaten egg to the milk mixture. Now sieve in the flour, cinnamon, all spice and salt
- Mix through, then add the currants and zest. Now thoroughly mix until all the ingredients are incorporated (this can also be done in a stand mixer with a dough hook, but I do this by hand)
- Now cover the bowl with plastic wrap and or a kitchen towel and leave in a warm, draft free, spot for at least 2 hours or overnight (I like to make the dough in the evening and let it rise overnight)
- When the dough has doubled in size, prepare one or two baking sheets and line with baking paper or a silicone baking mat
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for a few minutes until it is smooth and not sticky. This might require adding more flour
- Now divide the dough in half, then in half again, and again, until you have 8 equal sized dough balls (You can keep a little aside for the tails or use the bits you trim off the ears for the tails)
- On your floured surface, roll each ball into a rope/snake shape
- Place on the prepared baking sheet and fold each rope in half creating a loop at the bottom and crossing the ends over each other once or twice to create the ears (in the picture I only crossed them over once as my ropes were too short to double). Try to make the 'bodies' the same size. When you have formed all 8, trim the ears with a knife to make them all the same size. Use the discarded dough bits to form little balls and place inside the open looped end to form a tail. Loosely cover and let rise for around 15-20 minutes while you preheat the oven
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- You may wish to paint the tails with the flour and water mixture that is usually used for the crosses on a hot cross bun. This is usually around ¼ cup of flour and roughly 2,5 tablespoons of water, or until you achieve the desired consistency. Since I sprinkle my tails with coconut after baking, it's not really visible so I skip this step. If you are not using coconut, feel free to do so
- When the oven is to temperature, bake the bunnies for around 20 – 23 minutes or until they starting turning lightly golden
- Prepare the glaze just before you remove the bunnies from the oven. Warm the milk and stir in the sugar until dissolved
- As soon as you remove the bunnies from the oven, use a pastry brush to paint them with the milk glaze. This must be done while they are hot. Do not soak them though. If you wish, sprinkle some desiccated coconut onto the tails while the glaze is wet
- Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool further or serve warm
Tried this recipe?Post your pics and tag us at @my_homemade_kitchen_za or #myhomemadekitchen!
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