I have to admit that I'm one of those people who gets really excited when hot cross buns start showing up on the shelves in the supermarkets. Yep, I know. I'm a sucker for commercialism. But seriously, my love of hot cross buns by far outweighs anything else! To be honest, before I bought my Thermomix, making hot cross buns was a bit of a drag. I'd make one or two batches each year, but then just resort to buying them. But the Thermomix really does makes the whole Hot Cross Bun baking thing a breeze.
Well actually, that's probably a bit of an overstatement! It's still a little bit of mucking around waiting for the dough to rise, piping the crosses on and glazing the buns, but really... it's sooooo much easier!
I love the EDC recipe for Hot Cross Buns. However, I usually replace the mixed spice with nutmeg and leave out the cloves - but that's just personal preference! When I made these super delicious Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns, I used the original EDC recipe but replaced the sultanas and currants with 1 and ½ cups of mini chocolate chips and made a few other little changes too!
In the past I've made my Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns using normal sized chocolate chips, but I actually much preferred the mini ones. They look nicer and you seem to get a much more even spread of chocolate throughout the buns. But, it's totally up to you! Either way, they'll be delicious.
Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
- 250 g milk
- 1 tbs dried yeast (or 40g fresh yeast)
- 500 g plain flour
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 70 g softened butter
- 50 g caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 ½ cups mini chocolate chips
Piping
- 60 g plain flour
- 30 g cocoa
- pinch sea salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 100 g water
Syrup
- 2 tbs water
- 2 tbs caster sugar
Instructions
- Place milk and yeast into the Thermomix bowl and heat for 1 minute, 37 degrees, Speed 1.
- Add flour, salt, softened butter, sugar, egg, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix for 6 seconds, Speed 7.
- Knead for 2-3 minutes, Kneading Function.
- Add the chocolate chips and combine for 10 seconds, REVERSE, Speed 5.
- Work the dough into a ball on a lightly floured board.
- Place in a bowl and cover with a tea towel.
- Keep in a warm place for 30 minutes to allow the dough to prove (it should double in size).
- Divide the dough into 12 portions.
- Roll into balls.
- Grease and line a baking tray (I find it easiest to use 2 x 20cm square baking tins) and place the dough balls 1cm apart in the tray.
- Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
- To make the piping, mix the flour, cocoa, sea salt, olive oil and water in the Thermomix bowl for 20 seconds, Speed 4.
- Scrape down the sides and repeat for a further 20 seconds.
- Place the mixture into a piping bag (or a sealable ziplock bag with the edge corner snipped off.
- Pipe crosses onto the buns.
- Place the tray into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
- Meanwhile, heat the sugar and water in the TM bowl for 2 minutes, 100 degrees, Speed 4.
- Brush the syrup over top of the warm buns.
- Leave to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dayna says
Mine didn’t rise and were dense once baked. Where did I go wrong?!?!
Tash says
I'm sorry they didn't work out 🙁
If they didn't rise, my guess would be that your yeast isn't active or a bit stale. You can check this by adding 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast to 1/4 cup of warm water and waiting 10 minutes. If the mixture bubbles and develops a yeasty aroma, the yeast is still good. If it doesn't, you need to replace it.
The other thing might have been the ambient temperature where you proofed your dough. If your yeast is fine, it may not have been warm enough for the dough to double in size prior to shaping.
Holly says
Great recipe! Worked perfectly and tasted amazing while still warm
Lucy says
Fantastic! We're so glad you enjoyed them!