Choc Hot Cross Buns

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What could be more Easter than Chocolate Hot Cross Buns! if Traditional is more your style hop over to out Classic Hot Cross Bun recipe.

Gluten Free

Makes 9

Ingredients

Dry

150g Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour (+ 10g for flouring hands)

150g GF cornflour

50g cocoa powder

1½ teaspoons mixed spice

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon salt

15g psyllium husk powder

80g coconut sugar

130g chocolate chips, dark, milk or combination

50g currants (or choc chips if no fruit preferred)

Wet

175mls milk

85g natural yoghurt

2 teaspoons coconut sugar

2¼ teaspoons yeast

3 teaspoons soy lecithin granules in 1 tablespoon water

1 level teaspoon flaxmeal

180mls hot water (110degrees Fahrenheit/43degrees Celsius) - divided

45mls rice bran oil

Crosses

20g Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour

2½ teaspoons GF cornflour

50mls water

½ teaspoon sugar

Glaze

1½ tablespoons sugar

1½ tablespoons water

Method

Line a 20cm square x 7cm high cake tin with baking paper. It’s best to do this in two strips with one on the bottom, bringing it up and folding over the sides and the other strip over this to do the same with the remaining two sides.

Mix the soy lecithin granules in a tablespoon water and set aside to dissolve. Generally takes 30 minutes.

Put 10g of Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour in a bowl and set aside.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer sieve the Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, mixed spice, cinnamon, allspice, salt and psyllium husk powder. Add the sugar and whisk together. Weigh the chocolate chips and currants and set aside.

Heat the milk til hot (110degrees Fahrenheit/43degrees Celsius) and pour into a bowl. Add the yoghurt and sugar and whisk together. Add the yeast and whisk. Whisk the flaxmeal and 100mls hot water then whisk into the yeast mixture. Pour into the flour mix. Whisk the dissolved soy lecithin and remaining 80mls hot water til frothy and pour into the flour mix. Lastly add the oil.

With beaters on low speed, mix while scraping down sides of bowl to incorporate all the flour. Increase to medium speed and beat for 3 minutes. Reduce to low speed and tip in sultanas and currants beating just long enough to mix them in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters and with a firm spatula bring the mix into one big chunk of dough. It will be a little sticky.

Using the flour set aside to coat your hands roll nine balls weighing 127g each. The best way to do this is using the spatula and a knife to scoop the amount to weigh, then flouring your hands each time before you roll the dough ball. If you use your hands to scoop out the quantity of dough you will likely just end up with a sticky mess on your fingers. Place each ball into the prepared tin forming three rows.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour and a half.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

To prepare the glaze, in a small saucepan mix the sugar and water on low heat to dissolve then turn off when it reaches a simmer. Set aside.

For the crosses mix Anything But Ordinary Plain Flour, cornflour, water and sugar til smooth. Put into a piping bag with thin round nozzle or small plastic bag with the corner cut off. Pipe crosses on just before putting in the oven.

Bake the Choc Cross Buns for 45 minutes, rotating the tin halfway, until cooked and sounding hollow when tapped. A thermometer inserted in the cooked buns should read about 200 degrees when ready. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes then lift out of tin onto the rack and brush the tops thickly with glaze. Leave to cool.

Best eaten fresh with butter but can be split and toasted or wrapped in foil and reheated in the oven for 10 minutes. Keep for up to two days well wrapped in the fridge or freeze for a couple of weeks.