Hot Cross Buns – the Choc-chip Edition

In response to numerous requests (no more vocal than my own children!) we’ve developed a choc-chip version of our delicious hot cross buns!

This recipe is an adaptation of our tradtional hot cross bun recipe but substituting sultanas for dark chocolate chips, and adding a little organic cacao to the dough. You can purchase the kit for this here.

Ingredients – makes a dozen buns

For the buns…

A MAD Wholefoods Chocolate Hot Cross Bun Kit comprising three bags;

1. 1. Dry yeast (10g)
   2. Organic dark chocolate drops (180g)
   3. Flour/sugar/spices (748g)

375ml (1½ cups) warm milk (tepid is good; too hot and you’ll kill the yeast!)

50g (3½ tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

A free range egg at room temperature (we recommend the free range eggs available at Two Fat Butchers!)

The zest of an orange (optional)

For the crosses (optional)…

75g (½ cup) of white flour

5 tbsp water

For the glaze…

1 tbsp of jam (we used Drunken Sailor’s Strawberry & Rose Jam)

2 tsp water

Method

1. Pour the yeast into a small bowl and add the warm milk. Give a little stir, then allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until you see a few bubbles starting to appear.
2. Put the chocolate chips in the fridge to cool.
3. Empty the bag of flour/sugar/spices into a standing mixer bowl* with the dough hook, and gently mix for a few minutes before adding the butter, milk (with yeast), orange zest and egg. *If you don’t have a standing mixer, you can combine the ingredients in a large bowl, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes (I made the buns pictured using this method) then roll into a ball and put back into a bowl before resuming at step 5.
4. Mix slowly for about 5 minutes until the mixture comes together to form a nice, smooth, elastic dough (i.e. it should stretch easily without tearing/breaking). If it looks a little wet, sprinkle in a little extra flour and mix for a further minute or so.
5. Cover with a stretch lid or beeswax wrap and set aside somewhere warm to rise. It should double in size in around 40-60 minutes.
6. Line a large baking tray (about 32 x 25 cm) with some baking paper (no need to grease the pan), leaving an overhang of paper so you can easily lift the buns out later.
7. Turn out your risen dough on a lightly floured benchtop and knock down to deflate. You’re now ready to add the chocolate chips. Roll the dough out flat to about a 1-2cm thickness, and sprinkle about a quarter of the chilled chocolate chips on top. Carefully roll up the dough to incorporate the chips, then turn, and roll out again. Repeat until all the chips have been incorporated into the dough. Then shape into a long, thick sausage, and cut into thirds, then each third into quarters to give you 12 evenly sized slices of dough.
8. With each slice, fold in the edges to the middle (like making a little purse), then turn over and turn in the hands to tighten the top into a dome-shaped ball of dough. Place, dome up, in the baking tray. The result should look something like this…
9. Cover with a clean, damp tea-towel and place somewhere warm for another 30-40 minutes for a second rise. About halfway through, preheat your oven to 180C. At the end of the rise, they should have swollen into each other.
10. (Optional) Mix up the flour and water for the crosses into a small bowl. You want a consistency that is smooth and not too runny. If you have a piping bag, use this to pipe the crosses across the buns. If you don’t, you can simply dribble the mixture off the end of a teaspoon. It might not look perfect, but the baking process sorts it out.
11. Bake in the oven for 22 minutes, but keep an eye on them after 15-20 minutes as ovens vary.
12. Meanwhile mix up your jam and water and zap in the microwave for 20-30s to make a nice, sticky glaze mixture. Careful, the jam will be hot!
13. When the buns are ready, take them out, lift them onto a cooling tray, and, using a pastry brush, glaze the tops with the jam mixture.

Allow to cool, then gently tear them apart and devour with lashings of butter. N.B. It is impossible to eat these without making a big chocolate mess of fingers and mouth!