Easter is just around the corner! Regardless of one’s religious orientation, in Australia, we look forward to Easter every year because it is an extra-long weekend! Neither Soy nor I have ever been huge fans of traditional hot cross buns with the dried fruit and spices, however, a few years ago we tried the chocolate chip version and fell in love. We spent Easter that year with Soy‘s sister and brother-in-law in an apartment right on the water in Jervis Bay and ate copious amounts of these cinnamony chocolate chip buns.

Unfortunately ever year after that, I felt more and more disgruntled at having to buy these treats as the prices rose, and thought to myself that there has to be a recipe out there for buns as good as the ones you can buy in the shops. And finally, I found it! Initially I was daunted, but making hot cross buns aren’t as hard as I imagined, and believe it or not, they actually taste better than those store-bought ones, because the flavour is much more intense, and the buns are extremely moist. I usually zap the baked hot cross buns in the microwave for 10 seconds before eating so the chocolate is gooey inside and the bun is warm. No need for any extra butter!

As an aside, I’m sure you have noticed our absence in cyberspace. Unfortunately, life has been getting in the way of blogging, and with competing demands of work and study, we won’t be able to blog as often as we have or would like to. But we’re still here and will share more of our recipes and food finds when we can. The best way to keep updated is by subscribing to our feed, so you will be notified by email when there’s a new post up!

Happy Easter everybody!

Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

150 ml milk, warmed

8g dried yeast or 16g fresh yeast

1 tsp caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I add much more than this as I love cinnamon)

50g butter, chopped

1 cup milk or dark chocolate chips

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg

Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease a 22cm cake pan.

In a medium jug, combine milk, yeast and sugar. Leave in a warm place for 5 min until the mixture is frothy.

Sift flour and cinnamon in a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir through sugar.

Whisk egg into yeast mixture. Add to flour mixture and mix until a soft dough forms. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 min until the dough is smooth and elastic (I use an electric mixer so I leave the dough in to knead). Add the choc chips and knead lightly until the choc chips are evenly distributed.

Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel or cling wrap. Leave to rise for 40 min or until the dough doubles in size.

Punch down once. Knead lightly. Divide into pieces. Knead each piece until smooth, then shape into rounds. Arrange in pan. Cover again and leave to rise for another 20 min until doubled in size.

Crosses:

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp water

Mix ingredients to make a paste, then pipe crosses over the buns. Bake the buns for 12-15 min until they sound hollow when tapped.

Glaze:

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp caster sugar

Combine water and sugar in saucepan. Stir over low heat then simmer until syrup thickens. Brush over hot buns when you take them out of the oven.