Healthy Hot Cross Buns

I made these glorious hot cross buns! I made them all more healthy!!!

They are a real treat & 2 really fill you up! MMMMM! They make an ideal food gift too! :)

They are also glazed, just coming fresh hot out of the oven, with a combo of heated cooked down unsweetened soy milk + dark agave! Yummy Yum! They are very yummy eaten warm or cold the next day, sliced open & smeared with only vegan butter! So good, So delicious! I gave these tasty beauties to my parents-in-law on Easter!!

Recipe: For 12 buns:

Ingredients:

For the buns:

60 gr currants from Corinth

25 gr sultana raisins

250 gr (French organic white) T 65 flour

130 gr (French organic 3/4 whole grain) T 110 flour

120 gr (French organic 100% whole-wheat flour) T 150 flour

1 sachet of 9 gr dried yeast

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons ground mixed spice (in Dutch: koek kruiden) My mix had in it: a combo of ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground pimento & ground cinnamon)

2 tablespoons dark agave

1 teaspoon ground table salt

50 gr of unsalted butter, straight from the fridge

25 gr small candied orange pieces

250 ml lukewarm unsweetened soy milk

1 medium egg, beaten

For the crosses: (you must make 24 strips of dough to make 12 crosses!!)

120 gr T 65 flour ( white organic flour)

60 gr butter

6 teaspoons dark agave

To add in:

1-2 tablespoons of ice-cold water

For the glaze:

4 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk

3 tablespoons dark agave

Begin by soaking your raisins & currants in a fitted bowl. Cover them with just boiled water. Leave them to stand for 30 minutes. Drain all the water. Your raisins are now soft, big & juicy! And that is what you want!

Take a fitted bowl & add 3 flours. Mix together with a spoon. Now, add yeast & grated nutmeg & mixed spice too. Mix it all in. Also add agave & mix it in. When you smell into your bowl, it has a nice fragrance & it has a brownish color because of the 2 wheat flours, mixed spice & nutmeg! Yummy! Finally, add the salt & mix it in.

Now, with help of your fingers, break the butter into smaller pieces & mix it all into the flour – spice mix. Add soaked & drained raisins & currants to the mix. Mix with a spoon. Also, mix in the candied orange pieces. Add in your beaten egg. Mix well. Now, add your lukewarm soy milk to the bowl, all of it! Slowly mix in the flour with the soy milk. You can do this with your hands, if you like. You will end up with a soft, eggy sticky dough! If your dough sticks to your fingers, just add about 1 tablespoon of flour, but not too much! If your dough is more dry, just add some lukewarm water to it, but not too much though!

Scatter some T 65 flour onto your work surface & knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Knead it well in all directions to stretchen the gluten! It is very important to do this right! Some people prefer the stretch & fold method, it is up to you! I have good end results with both methods! Place your dough into a bigger bowl & place it into a plastic bag. Close the ends & place into a hot spot for the 1st rise. I placed my bowl in a plastic bag, on top of the gas heater in the basement. Leave the dough until it doubles in size. This took my dough about 1 hour & 40 minutes. In this time, you can make the dough for the crosses. You can also shape the crosses into the fitted size because I am all new to that, it took me a while,…

So, we will be making the stripes for the crosses now, while the dough is rising for the 1st time. You can also do this, when your dough is rising for the 2nd time but this rise is much shorter! Take a bowl & add the T 65 flour & agave. Mix with a spoon. Now, add cold butter. Crumble it between your hands into smaller pieces. With your hands, add 1-2 tablespoons of cold water to the dough & mix it all together. You end up with a sticky yellow sweeter dough. Knead it for a bit with your hands. Flower your rolling-pin & roll your dough out to about 0.5 cm wide, 0.5-1 cm thick & into long lines about 10 cm long. Place them, spaced apart onto a Silpat to prevent sticking to each other.

After the 1st rise of the dough & it has doubled in size, take it out of the bowl with help of a dough scraper, if you like. With your hand, slap the dough back a few times, to release the gasses formed into the dough. Push it down with your fingers & divide it into 12 equal sized balls.

My dough was 1118 grams so divided into 12 was 93 gr per bun. So, I did that. I took a large oven plate & smeared it in with sunflower oil. I took a piece of 93 gr sized dough & rolled a ball out of it. It is easily done with using your both hands. Space them well apart so they don’t touch each other. Place them into the same big plastic bag to let them rise for the last time. This is the 2nd rise! My buns took 1 hour. Now, they are way bigger then before.

Preheat your oven to 200°C (395 F) for 10 minutes. Now, take a small bowl & fill with water. With a pastry brush, brush the bottom of each pastry stripe with water & then, place it on top of each bun. Brush the bottom of that other stripe too & place it crosswise on top of the other stripe so that it all will stick to the bun!

So, brush the bottom of each stripe with that water & then push it on top of each bun. Then crosswise horizontally from left to right on top of that other strip until there are no strips left. So, you will use 24 strips to make 15 crosses! You see?

Bake in the lower end of the oven at 200°C for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown & cooked through. When they are baking, make the shiny glaze. Take a small cooking pot & heat up unsweetened soy milk & agave. Whisk well. Cook this down for about 5-10 minutes. It is a more sweeter glaze. When you think, the buns are well-baked, turn them over & tap each bottom. It must sound hollow. Now, with that same pastry brush, brush the top of the buns, inclusive the crosses with that yummy glaze. You will end up with a bit leftover glaze. Place the warm buns on a wire rack to cool down a bit,….Then, eat them warm sliced open with the same butter as used above. Keep them into a cake box. The next day, they are also very delicious the same way. The flavors have mellowed really well together this way! Yum! The 3rd day, they are not yummy anymore!!! Enjoy, sweeties!

You can read this recipe also here on my blog: http://sophiesfoodiefiles.wordpress.com/2017/05/27/hot-cross-buns/