A gluten-free diet needn’t mean missing out on one of Easter’s favourite treats. These hot cross buns are traditionally flavoured with mixed spice and sweet raisins, but with a gluten-free bread mix as a base, so everyone can enjoy them on Easter morning.
Ingredients:
80 g butter
200 ml milk
500 g gluten-free bread mix
7 g instant yeast
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup raisins
2 tbs mixed spice
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
For crosses:
1/2 cup gluten-free flour
4 tbs water
For glaze:
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbs sugar
Method:
In a small saucepan, melt butter with milk and heat to approximately 40-50C.
In a large bowl, combine bread mix, yeast, sugar, raisins, mixed spice and salt. Pour over milk mixture and eggs and beat well. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for two hours.
Preheat oven to 190C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Take quarter-cup quantities of dough and roll to form small buns. Place on the baking tray approximately 1cm apart. Leave for 20 minutes to rest.
Make the cross mixture by combining gluten-free flour with water to form a smooth paste. Spoon into a ziplock bag. Snip a corner of the bag and pipe a cross onto each bun. Bake buns for 15 minutes until golden and cooked through. While they are baking, make glaze by heating juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes until slightly reduced and syrupy. Brush onto buns as soon as they come out of the oven.
Notes:
Gluten-free buns are best eaten as soon as they are baked. You can make the required quantity and keep any leftover unbaked mixture in the fridge until needed. Just bring it back to room temperature before forming it into buns and baking.
These are delicious spread with lashings of good-quality butter.
Use whatever dried fruit you like. I used raisins, but sultanas and currants would work as well. You could also add some mixed peel.
A plain gluten-free flour would work just as well as a bread mix.
Source: Kidspot