Breadmaker Hot Cross Buns

Easter weekend is the perfect time to enjoy a lazy couple of hours in the kitchen. These beautiful fresh hot cross buns contain no preservatives like their supermarket counterparts so they don't keep. But that's not usually a problem as they get snaffled up pretty quickly!

Recipe By: Sunbeam
Serving Size: 12
Yield: 12 Buns

Summary:
Fill your kitchen with the aroma of sweet, spicy bread. Although the recipe takes about 2 and a half hours to complete, really there are only mere minutes of actual work. The hardest part is waiting!

Ingredients:
Dough

• 1 Egg, 60g
• 150 ml Water, warm
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 280 g baker’s flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 cup mixed dried fruit
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast

Crosses

• 2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar

Glaze

• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon powdered gelatine

Directions:
1. Beat egg and water together and put into bread pan (the "mixing bowl" of the breadmaker). Add butter

2. Combine flour with brown sugar, salt and Allspice. Stir in dried fruit. Add to bread pan. Make a small pocket in the top and fill with the yeast. Wipe any spills from the outside of the pan.

3. Place the pan in the bread maker and close the lid. Set to "Dough" program and start. In my bread machine this is 1hr and 15min.

4. When the bread maker indicates that the program has finished, remove the dough from the bread pan and knead lightly on a floured surface. Divide the dough into 12 pieces (I like to weigh mine to ensure even sizes) and shape each piece into small buns. Place close together in a lightly greased baking tray (a 26cmx16.5cm lamington tray works well). Cover with lightly oiled cling wrap and then a tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

TIP: Spray a piece of plastic wrap with Olive Oil Spray before covering your dough. This keeps the environment inside nice and moist, but the oil stops the plastic from sticking to the dough when it is removed.

5. CROSSES: Combine plain flour with water and sugar to form a smooth paste. Pipe paste to make crosses on each risen bun. Bake at 200℃ for 25 minutes. Turn the tray about half way through the cooking time to achieve a nice even colour.

 TIP: You don't need a piping bag to make your crosses. Just place the paste into a zip lock bag, push into the corner and snip off the end!

6. GLAZE: Place water, sugar and gelatine in a small bowl and stir until dissolved. Brush over buns whilst hot.

 Enjoy with a slathering of butter and a great coffee while still piping hot.