Hot Cross Bun

I’m sorry, y’all. I meant to post this earlier in the week — definitely didn’t intend to wait until Good Friday. But, life happened, time passed, and my week zing-zanged right on by.

Every year that I make hot cross buns, I always wonder, “Why do I only make these once a year? They are so good, I really should make them often.”

And, then, I proceed to eat three in one day and realize why I don’t make them more often.

To make these rolls, you will need to get the recipe for Barbie’s Yeast Rolls which I found on the blog, The Church Cook.

I just love this roll recipe. You can use the dough to make wonderful dinner rolls. You can also use the dough to make great cinnamon rolls and hot cross buns. The dough is super easy to work with, too. It makes a ton, too, so you can have rolls for dinner for a week or more from this recipe.

So, after you’ve made and refrigerated the roll dough, prepare your work surface with a bit of flour. Take out some dough, about 3 orange-sized balls worth, and roll the dough out. Sprinkle on half of a cinnamon sugar (1/2 T. cinnamon stirred into 1/4 cup white sugar) mixture and a handful of raisins. Fold the dough over and roll it out again. Sprinkle on the sugar and another handful of raisins. Fold it over again and then knead the dough a few times. Pinch off golf ball-sized bits of dough and roll them into balls. Place on a greased pan and cover. Allow to rise until doubled. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk an egg white with a splash of milk in a small bowl. Brush the rolls with the egg wash and bake until medium golden brown. Remove from the oven and from the pan. Cool on a rack. Prepare a powdered sugar glaze by whisking powdered sugar with tablespoons of milk until you have a thick glaze. Add a squirt of lemon juice, if you want, to make the glaze glossy. Whisk that in. Spoon the thick glaze into a plastic zip bag and squeeze out the air. Cut a tiny hole in a corner of the bag to pipe the crosses onto the buns.

These are great at room temperature or (my favorite) zapped in the microwave to warm them a bit.

Enjoy!