Easter Brunch Essential: Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

April 6, 2012

Chocolate chip hot cross buns from Penguin Says Feed Me is a must on your Easter brunch table.  Hot cross buns are a yeast dough which means that you'll want to allot plenty of time for them to rise.  This recipe produces a dense, more cake like bun compared to the traditional hot cross buns because of the addition of chocolate (but really, I'm not complaining).  To finish the buns, they are brush with simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar) .  If you want to add more flavor, add shopped ginger or orange zest when making the simple syrup (stain the syrup before glazing).

For the buns:
375ml warm milk
7g dried yeast
55g caster sugar
60g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly whisked
565g plain flour
35g cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
250g choc chips (I used a mixture of white, milk and dark)

For the flour paste:
75g flour
80ml cold water

For the glaze:
55g caster sugar
65ml water

For full recipe instruction, click here.

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