vegan hot cross buns

It’s Easter! Hot cross buns are one of the essential Easter treats. Don’t get me wrong, they are good any time of the year but just taste extra good in April.

I made these yesterday for Good Friday but I was slow in getting it posted. They came out so well and can quite easily be modified to every taste. I know a lot of people don’t like the fruit in the buns so it’s quite easy to swap out the fruit for chocolate chips. Play around with flavours, you’ll never know what hits a home run.

What you’ll need:

500 g                     white bread flour

80 g                        castor sugar

2 tsp                      cinnamon

2 tsp                      mixed spice

1 tsp                      salt

1 small                  lime, zested and juiced

10 g                        instant yeast

80 g                        vegan butter or margarine

300 ml                  soy/almond milk

150 g                     sultanas

150 g                     raisins

For the toppings:

60 g                        bread flour

40 ml                     water

1 tsp                      lime juice (from above)

½ cup                    golden syrup

How to do it:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, spices, lime zest and yeast. Stir together briefly to combine.
2. In a microwave proof bowl, melt the butter. Toss in the plant milk and stir through. Leave to cool until it is just warm.
3. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixer. Using a dough hook, mix for 10 minutes until the dough has come together.
4. Cover the mixing bowl with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place to prove for about an hour. It’s should double in size.
5. Put the bowl back on the mixer, and using the dough hook, mix in your fruit. Do this on a low speed until it is mainly incorporated. You don’t want to over mix, just distribute the fruit throughout.
6. Scrape the dough out onto a clean work surface. It’s time to portion the rolls. It’s easier to weigh your dough and then divide that by how many rolls you want. I had 1.2 kg of dough and divided mine into 120 g rolls. These make a nice big bun, perfect for teatime.
7. Shape each portion into a boule and place on a lined baking tray about 2 cm apart.
8. Cover loosely with a tea towel or clingwrap and leave somewhere warm to prove again for another hour. (What I do is preheat my oven at this time and leave the tray in warming drawer below the oven.)
9. If you haven’t already preheated your oven, do it now and set it to 200°C.
10. While you are waiting for it to preheat mix the paste for the crosses.
11. In a small bowl add the flour, water and lime juice. Mix until a soft paste forms.
12. Put this in a small piping bag or if you don’t have one then put it in a Ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the corner.
13. Pipe a cross over each proved bun and put them in the oven for 20-30 minutes. They should have a lovely golden colour.
14. It’s best to add your glaze while they are still hot. Heat the syrup in the microwave for a couple seconds until runny. Using a pastry brush, coat the top of your hot buns with the syrup.
15. Leave to cool. These are great toasted and slathered in vegan butter and jam.

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did! Don’t forget to drop me a message if you give them a try and let me know what improvements you made and how they turned out! Or tag me in your creations on Instagram @ninarlasvegas.

If you’re looking for something a bit different, have a look at some other recipes I’ve made:

Vegan Banana Bread

Orange and Cranberry Muffins

Chewy Choc chip cookies

Love and health to all of you!

xx

N