Like the other hot cross bun recipes available on this website I designed this recipe so that the buns can be eaten hot. Unlike a lot of the other bread recipes made with Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour you can cut into this bread when it is hot, steaming in fact. This is how it should be served - don't let it cool down too much. The buns are at their best when they are hot/warm. It is wonderful when the bread is sliced hot, the butter starts melting on it & you can smell the spices. Delicious!

This recipe was designed specifically to be made with Bakers' Magic gluten free flour. The finished baked product will not be the same if you use another gluten free flour and you will need to adjust the recipe, particularly if the flour you're using contains rice flour.

 

Ingredients

Bun mix

350 - 400 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

100 g Maize starch

11 - 14 g Psyllium husk (or psyllium powder)

2 tsp Yeast

40 g Brown sugar

 6 g (~2 tsp) Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Allspice

1/2 tsp Mixed spice

2 tsp Salt

180 g Sultanas

100 g Warm water

400 g Warm milk*

1 Egg (at room temperature)

65 g Butter* (softened)

Extra Oil

 

Bakers' Magic flour - How much is used will affect how easy it is to handle the dough. 

Psyllium husk - Psyllium is used to make the dough easier to handle however the downside to this is that the buns won't rise as much if too much is used. April 2020 - my digital scales were playing up so I used 2 tablespoons (~11 g) instead of the 14 g. 

 * The butter & milk can be substituted with oil (50) & water (however the baked product doesn't taste the same). The salt may need to be increased to 12 g.

For the chocolate lovers out there - in addition to the sultanas I also put in 75 g choc chips. My son & I loved this version.

Stripe

25 g Bakers' Magic Gluten free flour

10 g Maize starch

10 g Caster sugar

50 - 60 g Water

 

Glaze

20 g Caster sugar

20 g Boiling water

Method

Warm water is ~1/4 to 1/3 of boiling water with the remaining cold water (tap). Whether you use 1/4 or 1/3 will depend on how cold your tap water is. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.

Pre-incubate the yeast at room temperature for approximately 5 - 8 mins in the warm water containing 10 g of sugar. Stir the mixture to dissolve the sugar & disperse the yeast. This gives the yeast a readily available food source & they can "revive" in a relatively undisturbed environment. After the allocated time the surface of the yeast mixture should be slightly frothy. This indicates the yeast are viable. 

If the yeast mixture has a frothy top or you can see bubbles proceed with bread making.

Are you going to proof the dough in your oven or in another warm spot? If proofing in your oven turn oven to ~50 C for approximately 10 mins then turn it off again.

Depending on how you will bake the buns, oil the tin(s), muffin tray, slice tray etc.

Warm the milk (I used the microwave). 

Place all ingredients (excluding the sultanas) into the mixing bowl (including pre-incubated yeast) of a stand mixer. 

Combine ingredients using the flat beater until a uniform consistency is achieved. You may need to stop the mixer and scrap down the sides. This make take longer than 5 mins. When the dough is smooth mix in the sultanas.

The dough is ready for proofing & putting on the stripe.

Transfer dough to a slightly oiled work surface (I use non-stick paper or my kitchen bench). Put a bit of the extra oil on your hands - it helps to keep the dough from sticking to you when you are dividing & shaping it. Divide the dough into 15 equal portions - they will be ~88 g each. I wanted the buns to be approximately the same size (photographic reasons) so I oiled a bowl & weighed out the individual buns. I shaped the dough into buns by transferring it quickly from oiled hand to oiled hand & then put it onto a greased roasting dish (Base dimensions 28 x 18 cm) in a 3 x 5 configuration. I have also 7 buns into two 20 cm round cake tins.

Mix together the ingredients for the stripe. I use a stab blender (Bamix). Transfer mixture to a small plastic bag or piping bag fitted with a fine nozzle. If the mixture is in a plastic bag push the mixture down to one corner. Snip off a little of the corner so that the mixture can be pushed out in a thin stream.

Put stripes along the buns lengthwise & then across each pair of buns.

Let the dough proof for approximately 30 mins in a warm moist environment. Turn your oven on to 200 C.

If you are proofing in your oven put on the timer for ~20 mins. When the time is up take the proofing dough out of the oven and turn the oven up to 200 C. The 20 mins is an estimate, it will depend on how long it takes your oven to reach 200 C.

Before putting it in the oven ensure that the dough has risen ~2X.

Bake at 200 C for ~30 mins. If your oven has a hot spot turn the bread halfway through baking.

Prepare the glaze by dissolving the sugar in boiling water. It may need to be stirred a little. 

Take the buns out of the oven, remove them from the tin & put them on a cooling rack. Use a pastry brush to coat the tops of the buns/loaf with the glaze. 

Get the butter & knife ready. Simply enjoy!