Easter Hot Cross Bun Spelt Rolls (when Cinnamon Rolls meet Hot Cross Buns)
This recipe for Easter Hot Cross Bun Spelt Rolls first featured on The Culinary Jumble.
What do you call a cross between a cinnamon roll and a hot cross bun?
Well, that’s a very good question. One that had me pondering a fair while. What do you call a delightful combo of these two amazing breads?
Well, Easter Hot Cross Bun Rolls. Yep. That’s them. I know, I know. It’s not very inspiring. In fact, it’s a little boring. However, sometimes when you’re a food blogger, you need to say things just how they are. That way, people know exactly what they are getting.
So why the mishmash? Why not just old-fashioned hot cross buns, Mary Berry style? Because I didn’t want to. That’s why.
Well, actually, let’s be honest here. As much as I like the coiffeured one, she does have this stiff, formal approach to baking. I guess that’s part of her charm. She’s traditional with a capital T. However, me? I am lazy with a capital L (and then some) and personally, couldn’t be bothered to fanny about putting a cross on them.
And you can’t have hot cross buns without a cross, now can you? Although naming them would have been fun: Hot and buns but no cross? Don’t get cross with these hot buns?
Alongside of not wanting crosses, I also really fancied a filling as with these Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns from one of my favourite food bloggers, Supergolden Bakes. However, I didn’t want cinnamon buns either. I wanted all the flavour of a hot cross bun but just in roll form.
So, here’s the end result. Rolls made pretty much following Mary Berry’s recipe (with added saffron and a couple of tweeks) but with my own filling. And they were good.
Super soft buns with a lemon butter filling and a slather of syrup on top. Oh, and again, Tracy style and not MB’s – she heats up her syrup before brushing it over. Now to me, that’s one extra pan to wash and nothing more.
The ingredients below made around 18 buns but you could easily halve the ingredients and make fewer, it you preferred.
If you like bread, why not try one of my other bread machine recipes?
Easter Hot Cross Bun Spelt Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 40g butter
- 300ml milk
- Pinch of saffron around 0.25g
- 1 egg
- 1 lemon the zest and two tablespoons of juice
- 500g spelt flour (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 14g dried yeast
- 75g sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
Filling
- 50g butter (melted)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 100g sultanas
Topping
- 2 tablespoons golden or medium light syrup
Instructions
- Add all the dough ingredients (wet first, then dry) to your bread machine and as per manufacturer’s instructions, set the machine to make dough.
- Take the dough from the machine (it is very sticky) and quickly knead for around 30 seconds on a well-floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large rectangle (around 40x50cm) with one of the shorter sides facing you (you will need to work the dough hard as it will be so elastic it will fight you every step of the way - that's a good sign).
- Mix the filling ingredients together. Spread the filling evenly across the dough with a knife (there will not be enough to fill every inch of the dough but you don't need it to).
- With the shorter side in front of you carefully roll the dough, making sure you pull it tight as you go.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into slices (you should get 12 buns, depending on how big they are). Pinch any edges together and use your hands to shape them into circles (they will already be round, but might need a little more shaping). Place them on the baking tray or in a dish quite close together.
- Cover and let rest for around 20-30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Bake in the oven for around 20-22 minutes. Make sure they are cooked but don't over-bake them. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little.
- While still warm, brush on the syrup. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- You can substitute the the spelt for regular flour.
- I use grams in my recipes as weighing ingredients is the most accurate method. However, if cups are your thing, you can convert my measurements at Cook it Simply.
