Hot Cross Buns With Icing X Recipe

One a penny, two a penny Hot Crossed Buns. The perfect bun to prepare for the special day coming up.

Ingredients

(Makes 12)
Dough
3/4 cup milk heated to 110F
4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/3 cup dried currants
1/4 cup mixed diced peel (or you can substitute raisins)

Icing
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 Tablespoon milk, plus extra if needed

Directions

Buns

Warm the milk in a small saucepan on the stove top to 110F. Do not make it hotter as it will ruin the yeast if it is too hot. Shut off the heat and stir in the yeast. Set aside for 10 minutes.

To make the dough,use an electric stand up mixer with a hook attachment.

Add the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, flour, lemon zest, and all the spices to the bowl. Add the milk/yeast mixture. Turn onto low speed and mix until the dough comes together and is smooth and elastic type of texture. This will take about 5 minutes of beating time.

Sprinkle some flour onto a clean working surface, place the dough onto the surface and knead, add the currents and mixed peel as you are needed. Form into a big dough ball.

Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with a little oil.

Place the dough ball into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place somewhere warm for an hour to an hour and a half until the dough has doubled in size.

You can place this into the oven and just have the oven light on for warmth.

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter.

Once the dough has risen remove from the bowl and put onto a lightly floured work surface.

Cut the dough in half, again and again with the pieces until you have 12 even sized pieces.Use your hands to form each into a ball, pinch the bottom to hold together. Place the buns onto the prepared baking pan, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Uncover the risen buns carefully. Place the buns into the preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven when golden brown and place onto a cooling rack.

After 5 minutes put the buns directly onto the cooling rack.

Once they are completely cooled make the icing.

Use a small bowl and stir together the confectioners' sugar and the milk. Add the milk a little at a time until you have the consistency for piping. You can add more or less milk and confectioners sugar to get the proper consistency. Place the icing into a piping bag, or small baggie. Cut a small tip off the end so you can pipe the crosses on top of each hot cross bun. Let the icing set before serving.

If you want to make the day ahead that is fine as these will keep a full day if you place them into a sealed container.