Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns
An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella
Makes 16
For the buns
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2 tablespoons instant dried yeast
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1/2 cup sugar
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1.5 cups lukewarm milk
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4.5 cups plain flour
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1 teaspoon salt
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50g butter melted
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1 egg lightly beaten
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1 teaspoon cinnamon
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2.5 cups of Hershey's Cinnamon chips (or 2.5 cups of white chocolate chips melted with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and chopped up)
For glaze:
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1/4 cup sugar
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1/4 cup hot water
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1 teaspoon gelatine or 1/2 gelatine leaf soaked in cold water
For crosses:
- 75grams/2.6 ozs white chocolate
Step 1 - Mix yeast, sugar and warm milk in a bowl and stir to remove any lumps. Set aside for 15 minutes until it becomes frothy.
Step 2 - In a large bowl, or the bowl of your mixer, sift flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and mix in the yeast mixture, butter, egg, cinnamon and one third of the chocolate chips.
Step 3 - Knead dough for 5 minutes until elastic and place in a greased bowl covered with cling wrap in a warm area (or sit your bowl in a larger bowl of warm water). Leave for 1 hour to 1.5 hours until doubled in size.
Step 4 - Using your fist, punch down the dough and add the remaining cinnamon chocolate chips. Knead lightly and divide into 16 balls. Place close together on a lined or greased baking tray. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
Step 5 - Bake for 20-30 minutes until done. While it is baking, get the glaze ready. For the glaze, simply mix all three ingredients together shortly before the time is up on the buns.
Step 6 - When buns are ready, brush with glaze. I like to do this quite generously and glaze the sides too but this does make them quite sticky to handle.
Step 7 - Melt chocolate in a microwave proof bowl and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle. Pipe lines across buns to make crosses. When chocolate has set, serve slathered with butter.