Chocolate and Peanut Butter Hot Cross Buns

  

  

I promised my son that I would make him some chocolate hot cross buns.  I'm a woman of my word.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Hot Cross Buns

slightly adapted from here

Makes 16

For the Buns:

1 sachet (7g) dry yeast

435ml lukewarm milk

90g caster sugar

635g baker's flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

Pinch salt

50g cocoa powder

75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 egg, lightly beaten

150g peanut butter chips

For the Crosses:

50g baker's flour

1/2 tablespoon caster sugar

50ml water

For the Glaze:

100ml water

100g caster sugar

Make the Buns:

Butter and line the base of a 30cm cake pan.  Set aside.

Put the lukewarm milk, 1 tablespoon of the caster sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Sprinkle the yeast in, whisk with a fork and set aside for 10 minutes to become foamy.

Add the flour, sugar, spices, salt, cocoa powder, butter and egg and mix on low for 8 minutes.  You should have a silky smooth dough.

Put the dough into a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm spot to double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 1 minute.  Add the peanut butter chips and knead to incorporate them into the dough.  I few will escape while you are working, just push them back into the dough at the end.

Divide the dough into 16 even portions (about 100g each) roll them into balls and place them into the prepared cake pan, leaving some room around them to rise.  Leave to rise for 45 minutes.  They will join into each other, which is a good thing.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Make the Crosses:

Put the flour, sugar and water into a bowl an whisk until it becomes a smooth paste.  Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip.

Once the dough has risen, pipe the paste on top of the buns to form crosses.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 170C and bake for a further 25 minutes.

Remove them from the oven, leave them in the pan and place the pan on a wire rack.

Make the Glaze:

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan.  Bring to boil, do not stir.  Boil for about 2 - 3 minutes, until syrupy.  Immediately brush the syrup onto the hot buns.  Leave in the pan for a few extra minutes, then remove them from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack.  Eat warm.