Dates and Orange Peel Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon all-spice
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup nonfat milk, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 8 medjool dates with orange peel, chopped
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips for the hot cross
- Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons nonfat milk
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, all-spice, yeast and salt. Mix well and set aside.
- In another bowl small bowl, beat the egg, butter and milk. Pour in the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well until a soft dough starts to form.
- Put the stand mixer and on low speed, using the dough hook, knead for 5-7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Knead in chopped dates and citrus peel and place the dough into a large bowl. Cover with a dry cloth and let it rest in a warm, draft-free spot for 30- 60 minutes.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper.
- Once the dough has nearly doubled in size, turn it out on to a lightly floured surface. Punch it down and cut it into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a bun. Place them all into the prepared baking pan in a single layer leaving space between each bun. Cover again and let rest for 15-20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Combine the sugar, milk and water together to make the glaze and set aside.
- Bake the buns for 15 minutes and remove them from the oven. Gently brush the glaze over top each bun and return the baking pan back to the oven for another 5 minutes until they are golden.
- Remove the buns from the oven and brush the remaining glaze over top.
- Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and remove the buns to cool on a rack.
- You can melt your white chocolate chip in a microwaveable bowl and then transfer it to a piping bag to make the cross on top of the buns. What I did was put the white chocolate chips in the piping bag and microwaved it into 10 second increments until it’s smooth.
- Cut the tip off of the piping bag and pipe a cross over the top of each bun.
- Serve warm and with butter on the side
Notes
Adapted from Emma Eats
Find it online: https://www.thepeachkitchen.com/2014/04/hot-cross-buns/