Whole Wheat Hot Cross Buns

One a penny, two a penny–just in time for Easter–hot cross buns!

Did anyone else sing that song in grade school?? Anyone, anyone? Okay, no. Well it’s okay, because Noel looked at me a little weird when I walked around singing it the whole day I was working on the buns. Apparently my elementary school music teacher was the only one fond of this little english nursery rhyme. But it certainly made an impression on me, since I’m still singing it 20 odd years later.

Did I mention they’re not just any hot cross buns–but rather, whole wheat ones! I know it’s hard to believe that a sweet yeast bread can work with a whole wheat base, but believe it. It worked. And they’re delicious.

It’s all thanks to the wonders contained in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book, which I treated myself to for my birthday. I knew the folks at King Arthur were amazing based on the recipes on their website, but wow, this cookbook has really knocked my socks off. It basically has whole grain recipes for everything that you could possibly want to bake–from quick breads, to cookies, cakes, pastry, and bread! Plus sections on how to, where to buy, and tips. Noel and I actually did a comparison between the whole grain book and the all purpose bakers companion book in the bookstore, and every category in the all purpose book also had a section in the whole grains book. As someone who is always looking to integrate more whole grains into my diet, I was so excited to find this great resource. If you’re a baker who loves to work with whole grains–it’s worth checking out.

And what better way to start out than with an old favorite like hot cross buns? Every year in the spring I start looking for hot cross buns in local bakeries and at *my favorite food guilty pleasure* Panera. I normally end up buying a bunch, hoarding them (i.e. NOT sharing them with Noel), and then quickly devouring them before they go stale. All the way up to Easter it’s the same thing, and then suddenly they’re gone, and a whole year of hot cross buns deprivation looms. But no more! Because these buns are awesome, and deserve to be made throughout the year, not just at Easter time!

Whole Wheat Hot Cross Buns
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

If you make these, be warned, they’re not exactly the light and fluffy buns you get with a white hot cross bun. But rather, you get something richer, with almost a nutty undertone that compliments wonderfully with the currants and the cross of icing. But they’re not any less addicting. I think these lasted exactly 21.5 hours in our house–both Noel and I just couldn’t stop eating them. The usual suspects were fans as well!

Ingredients:
1 cup of currants (or raisins) moistened in 2 tablespoons of water, rum or brandy (I used brandy)
2/3 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup orange juice
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 1/4 cups traditional whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Icing:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
5 to 6 teaspoons milk or cream

Directions:

In a small ceramic or plastic bowl, combine the currants with the brandy (or other liquid). Set aside.

Combine all of the dry dough ingredients (except the currants!) and mix in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the wet ingredients (still not the currants!) and mix until the ingredients just start to come together. Stop the mixer and switch to the dough hook. Mix until you have a medium soft, smooth dough. This will take a bit–but make sure all of your ingredients are well mixed (if you’re still seeing large chunks of butter, for example, keep mixing). Cover and let the dough rise until it’s puffy, but not quite doubled in size, about 1-2 hours. Your rise time will depend on how warm it is in your kitchen, and how humid it is. If two hours have passed and you still don’t feel like the dough has risen enough, let it go a bit longer.

After the dough has risen, lightly grease two or three round pans (I used two 8 inch pans and a six inch pan). Gently deflate the dough on a lightly greased surface. Knead in the currants. Cut or divide the dough into 24 pieces. Shape or roll each piece into a ball.

Place as many balls as you can in each pan, so there is about an inch of space between each ball. Cover, and let the pans rest in a warm place until they are puffy and almost touching, about 1 to 2 hours. When you have about ten minutes left in your rise time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover and bake the buns, until they’re lightly golden, about 25 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling, mix the icing ingredients, adding one teaspoon of milk at a time until the icing is smooth, but not too thin to pipe. After the rolls have cooled for about 15 minutes, pipe on the icing in the cross shape. If you don’t have piping bags, you can use a zip top plastic bag with the corner snipped off.

And be ready to love a sweet bun like never before!

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