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Easy stout hot cross buns

My all-time favourite and easy hot cross buns with stout. 

Cook Time
mins
Servings: 16 -18
Course: Bread
Cuisine: British

Ingredients

  • 1 x 340ml bottle Castle Milk stout
  • 2 tsp instant dry yeast
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 870 g flour divided
  • 100 g citrus peel
  • 150 g raisins
  • 150 g dried cranberries
  • 100 g soft dried apricots finely chopped
  • 250 ml strong black tea
  • 1 egg
  • 50 g melted butter
  • 50 g caster sugar plus extra for glaze
  • 1 ½ tsp salt

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Prepare the mix the night before by mixing the stout, spices, yeast and 320g of flour in a large bowl. Mix to combine everything and leave uncovered.
  2. Brew a strong cup of tea in 250ml boiling water and pour this over the raisins, dried cranberries, peel and apricots in a separate bowl.
  3. The following day, mix the egg and melted butter with the fruit, and then stir this into beer and spice batter.
  4. Add the remaining 550g flour, sugar and salt. Tip this onto a work surface and briefly knead to form a large ball. Leave for 10 minutes. Lightly oil your hands and knead the dough for 10 seconds, leave for 10 minutes, then repeat twice more at 10-minute intervals, then leave for an hour covered with a tea towel in a warm spot.
  5. Using a bread cutter or sharp knife, divide the dough into 100g pieces (use a scale to make this easier and to achieve consistency) and shape them into balls. Arrange these on a large baking tray lined with baking paper so they are just touching each other. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot for 90 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven before the proving has finished. Mix a little flour with water to form a runny paste consistency (use an electric whisk to get this smooth if necessary). Place in a plastic piping bag and cut a very small edge off the tip. Pipe crosses on each ball of dough. Bake at 200C (180C fan-assisted) for 25 minutes.
  7. If necessary, loosely cover with a sheet of tin foil to prevent over-browning. Mix 2 tablespoons of castor sugar with 2 tablespoons of water and brush this over the hot cross buns as they come out of the oven. Serve with lashings of butter.

Notes

  • Freeze any leftover hot cross buns for later use. You can pre-slice them to make it easier to toast from frozen.