If the thought of making hot cross buns with chocolate and orange is too exotic for you, why not try my Best of Both Apple and Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns which are more traditional. But for anyone who isn’t put off by the thoughts of an unconventional hot cross bun, you’re in the right place!
My Best of Both Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns are the perfect combination of sweet, fruity and spiced goodness. They’re also best of both as they use wholemeal flour to help add extra fibre to the buns, meaning each serving provides you with over 5g of fibre, helping you achieve the daily recommendation of 30g.
Makes 9 buns
Ingredients
For the buns
- 175g strong wholemeal flour
- 150g strong white flour
- 25g cocoa powder
- 30g caster sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- 7g fast action yeast
- 50g butter, melted
- Zest of 2 large oranges
- Juice of 2 large oranges (175ml juice with a little of the pulp, made up with water if needed)
- 1 egg
- 60g sultanas
- 60g mixed peel
- 60g dark chocolate chips
For the crosses
- 10g butter
- 40g strong white flour
- 45ml water
For the glaze
- 50g marmalade
- 40ml water
Method
- Add all the dried ingredients for the buns, except the dried fruit and chocolate, into a stand mixer. Add the butter, egg and orange zest and juice. Mix on a low speed for 10 minutes – the dough should be just sticky. After 10 minutes add the dried fruit and chocolate and mix for a further 2 minutes till incorporated. Form into a ball, cover, and allow to rise till doubled in size for around 1.5 hours.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, knock it back and divide the ball into 9 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a tight ball without any fruit sticking out the top as these will burn. Place the balls in a 3×3 formation in a baking tin roughly 20cmx20cm lined with baking parchment. Cover and allow to prove for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
- Melt the butter for the crosses and then whisk in the flour and water to make a thick pipe-able paste. Transfer into a piping bag and snip the end to make a small hole. Pipe crosses (or whatever you fancy) across the tops of the buns. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes till golden brown.
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the water and marmalade to make the glaze.
- Once the buns are cooker, immediately brush with the glaze.
- Transfer to a wire rack, remove the baking parchment and allow to cool.
Per bun: 328kcal/ 9.6g fat/ 5.4g saturated fat/ 50.0g carbohydrates/ 5.4g fibre/ 7.9g protein