As we will be away for Easter I decided to make chocolate hot cross buns a little bit early in the month. They were sticky and sweet and a little bit non-traditional.
Head straight on to the Recipe For Chocolate Hot Cross Buns ♥
I recently entered a competition to win a trip to London. The prize is an all-expenses paid 5 night trip, just perfect for us next February. As a thank you for entering I received a R100 gift voucher to spend online with the company sponsoring the prize. I have been looking for a cutlery tray and their store in our local Mall does not stock them. On the off chance that the online store kept the specific one I need I typed cutlery tray into the search box. And there it was, waiting to be added to my cart. In order to get free delivery I had to spend over R500. This particular company has a group of stores and you can add to your cart across all of them for one single purchase. I browsed the other stores for something I needed.
Today’s inspiration ♥ Recipe For Chocolate Hot Cross Buns ♥ can be found on Lavender and Lime Share on X
The purchase was just over R500 which was great. I entered my voucher but this meant that my delivery was no longer free of charge as the voucher is not considered part of the payment, but rather a discount on purchase price. So, I started the process again, this time making my order over R600. After this I tried to enter my street address, but the site kept coming up with a technical error. I finally figured out that it needed a street number to complete the transaction. We don’t use a street number at work as our office is in a complex off the road. Up to this point I had spent 3 days on the site. Just about as much time as I spent making these chocolate hot cross buns, over and over again to perfect them.
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
for the buns
- 50 mls milk, plus extra for glazing
- 30 mls nearly boiling water
- 18 g fructose
- 4 g instant dry yeast
- 170 g bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 10 g cocoa powder
- 1.25 mls ground nutmeg
- 1.25 mls ground mixed spice
- 2.5 mls ground cinnamon
- 1.25 mls fine salt
- 28 g butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 40 g dried cranberries
- 20 g dried blueberries
for the crosses
- 20 g flour
- 25 mls water
for the glaze
- 10 g blueberry jam
Method
for the buns
- Place the milk, water, fructose and yeast into a small mixing bowl and mix to combine
- Set aside to activate the yeast
- Place the flour, cocoa powder, spices and salt into a mixing bowl
- Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and egg
- Mix together until a dough starts to form
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes
- You might need to add more flour to create a dough that is not too sticky
- Grease your mixing bowl with butter and place the dough into the bowl
- Cover with a damp cloth and prove until doubled in size
- Tip your dough out onto a floured surface and gently punch down
- Flatten the dough and add the dried fruit
- Roll into a sausage shape and divide into 6 pieces
- Shape each piece into a ball and place on a lined baking tray
- Cover with a dry cloth and leave to prove for 30 minutes
for the crosses
- Place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl
- Whisk until smooth
- Place the mixture into a Ziploc bag and refrigerate until needed
- Preheat the oven to 230° Celsius
- Once the buns have proved, glaze with milk
- Cut a small hole in one corner of the Ziploc bag and pipe crosses onto the buns
- Bake for 10 minutes
for the glaze
- Heat the jam over a low temperature
- Remove the buns from the oven and brush the glaze on straight away
- Leave to cool slightly on a wire rack and serve warm
Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime April 3:
- 2016 – The Way We Were
- 2014 – Apricot Ice Cream
- 2013 – James’s Desserts
- 2012 – Scrambled Eggs
- 2011 – Bananas, Green Peppers and Fish
You can’t beat a nice hot cross bun. Safe travels, Tandy.
Thanks Liz 🙂
These look lovely Tandy.
Have a super day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thank you Mandy 🙂
Did you end up getting the package of goodies or did you cancel your order? Sometimes I have found prizes have so many clauses that the prize ends up costing you a lot!
I got the order in the end, but with a lot of hassle!
Love this recipe, Tandy. Chocolate hot cross buns is a great idea.
Thanks Robbie 🙂
I love hot cross buns so much, and I love chocolate too! But I’ve never made chocolate hot cross buns. Thank you for the brilliant idea, Tandy! They look delicious 🙂
Thank you and my pleasure Kelsie 🙂
oh que bollos mas deliciosos, y que bien te han quedado
thank you 🙂
OMG you’ve made a classic even better!! These are awe-inspiring. 🙂
Thank you so much 🙂
My daughter loves hot cross buns and I am Very sure she would adore this chocolate version. Thanks for sharing, Tandy.
My pleasure Anu 🙂
Oh, I have never seen a chocolate hot cross bun before, very cool 🙂
Thanks Evelyne 🙂
Gorgeous hot cross bun, love that they look shiny, I know I would adore these.
I am tempted to make more this weekend 🙂
I’m going to try your recipe Tandy. I’m a pretty good baker (if I say so myself lol) but I’ve had difficulty in the past making good hot cross buns.
Let me know what you think of these 🙂