Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Well we didn’t see that coming did we?! Who would have thought we’d be spending our Easter and the foreseeable future in self isolation. Thanks a lot COVID-19 (insert eye roll here).

I guess if there is one silver lining, many of us are using our newfound time to express love for our family, friends, neighbours and even strangers, by cooking for them (in a safe, socially distant way of course). This is a recipe I came up with at Easter time in 2018. By the time I actually had time to put it on my website, Easter had come and gone so I didn’t bother. Last Easter we were flat out getting our house ready for sale, so I didn’t publish it then either. This Easter….well I have all the time in the world don’t I, so here it is! I’m hoping you have been able to get hold of some bread flour and yeast, as I know it’s in short supply at the moment.

Stay safe, stay well and stay home!!

Mel xoxo

Ingredients

Dough

2 tsp dried instant yeast

425ml milk, lukewarm

1 tsp honey

625g bread flour

110g caster sugar

1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

40g cocoa powder (dutch processed)

65g unsalted butter, very soft

1 egg, lightly beaten

200g dark chocolate chips

Flour Paste

50g bread flour

2 tsp caster sugar

50ml water

Glaze

80ml water

4 tbs apricot jam

Method

Put the yeast, milk and honey in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 mins.

Place the flour, sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice, cocoa powder, butter and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and knead on low speed until flour has been incorporated. Increase speed to med-high for around 5 minutes until smooth & elastic - the dough should start ‘cleaning’ the side of the bowl. Important: don’t leave your mixer unattended as it may start jumping around as the gluten develops.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until it has at least doubled in size.

Line a baking dish with baking paper.

Punch dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. This is a sticky dough however please resist the urge to add more flour. Knead in the choc chips and then roll the dough into a thick ‘sausage’. Cut the dough into 24 equal portions and roll them into balls. Place the balls in the baking dish, leaving a 1cm gap in between each bun. Lightly flour the tops, cover loosely with cling film and set aside in a warm place for another 45mins until they have almost doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

For the flour paste, mix all ingredients together until smooth. Spoon the paste into a piping bag or if you don’t have one, just use a snaplock bag. Snip the end off (just a tiny bit - around 2-3mm wide) and pipe crosses onto the risen buns. Bake the buns for 10 mins at 180C and then reduce the oven temperature to 170C for a further 15 mins. Meanwhile, make the glaze by putting the jam and water into a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until dissolved. Bring to the boil for around 3 minutes, remove from heat and immediately brush glaze over warm hot cross buns.

Serve warm with lashings of good butter.