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Frosted hot cross buns.

Spiced Hot Cross Buns (Overnight or Not)

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5 from 7 reviews

Description

Notes:

Updated recipe:

  • Replaced 1/4 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup of brown sugar — in other words, instead of using 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, I use a mix of brown and white. 
  • Upped the salt to 2 teaspoons. If you use a digital scale, which I highly recommend, it’s 10 g.
  • Added a pinch of nutmeg. I keep whole nutmeg on hand, so I just swiped one across my microplane grater a few times… be careful, spices such as nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon can overpower quickly. A small pinch is all you need.
  • Upped the butter from 3 tablespoons to 4. I always use salted butter, but unsalted butter here works just as well. 

Warm Place to Rise: If you need a warm spot, preheat your oven for one minute, then turn it off — it shouldn’t get warmer than 100ºF or so and you should be able to press your hands on the grates without burning yourself. Place bowl of dough, covered, in this warm spot until doubled, about 2 hours.

If using active-dry yeast: Boil 1/3 cup of the milk and combine it with 2/3 cup cold milk — this should give you a nice lukewarm temperature. Test with your finger. Add a teaspoon of the white sugar (you can add an additional teaspoon or take from the 1/4 cup of sugar … an extra teaspoon won’t make a difference) and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let stand for 15 minutes or until foamy. You can then whisk the egg into this mixture, and you can whisk in the melted butter, too, so long as it has cooled a bit. Then proceed with the recipe. 

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 3½ cups (450 g) or more unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
  • 1/4 cup (50) brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast, see notes above
  • 2 teaspoons(10 g) kosher salt
  • pinch nutmeg, see notes above
  • 1 cup (100 g) of dried currants, optional
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup (256 g) whole milk or 2%, divided
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan

For the egg wash:

  • 1 egg beaten with 2 teaspoons water

For finishing (See notes below for another option) 

  • 4 ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch flaky sea salt

Instructions

  1. Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and nutmeg, if using. Add the currants, if using, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg with 1/2 cup of the milk. Set aside.
  3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of the milk and heat until warm to the touch, another 30 seconds or so. Whisk this milk-butter mixture into the bowl with the egg-milk mixture. Resulting mixture should be warm to the touch.
  4.  Add the milk-egg-butter mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture. Use a spatula to combine all ingredients until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky. Sprinkle a handful of flour over the surface, and use your hands to briefly knead dough in bowl just until it all comes together—use more flour as needed, but go light. Dough should be on the sticky side.
  5. Let the dough rise: Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a bowl cover. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 to 3 hours. (See notes above for creating a warm place for your dough to rise.)
  6. Portion and proof: Butter a 9- or 10-inch square or round baking pan. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. If dough is especially sticky, knead briefly with a little bit of flour. Divide into 16 pieces. If you want perfectly sized balls, each portion should weigh about 60 grams. Roll each piece into a small ball using flour as necessary — this is a very sticky dough! Place balls equally spaced into pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a cloth bowl cover and stick in fridge overnight; or, if baking immediately, let rise again until rolls have doubled and are squishing against each other, 30 to 60 minutes (or more depending on how cold your kitchen is).
  7. Eggwash and bake: Preheat oven to 375ºF. If you are doing the refrigerator rise, remove the pan an hour (or two if possible) before baking. Ideally the buns should be puffed, filling the pan, and light to the touch but it’s fine if you don’t see much of a change — they will puff in the oven. Brush the rolls with the egg wash. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the rolls are evenly golden brown.
  8. Make the frosting: In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese with the confectioners’ sugar until combined. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of sea salt. (Alternatively, if your cream cheese is very soft, you can mix this with a spatula as opposed to a stand mixer.) Taste, and adjust with more sugar and salt to taste. Transfer to a piping bag or small ziplock bag. 
  9. Frost the buns: Remove the pan from the oven. Let buns cool for at least 15 minutes before frosting: Snip off a corner of the storage bag, if using, and pipe an X over each bun.  Serve immediately.

Notes

If you’ve made these previously and used and liked the confectioners’ sugar frosting, here’s the recipe:

  • 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk or buttermilk
  • pinch sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  1.  Stir confectioners’ sugar, milk, salt, and vanilla to form a glaze.
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Find it online: https://alexandracooks.com/2015/04/02/overnight-hot-cross-buns/