Get the Recipe: Blueberry Lemon Hot Cross Buns
These delicious small-batch blueberry lemon hot cross buns are a lovely twist on the Easter tradition. They can be made ahead and frozen, too!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) milk, scalded then cooled to lukewarm
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
- 2 Tablespoons lukewarm water
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablepsoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, reduce slightly if using salted butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup blueberries, fresh, dried or frozen *see Note 1 below if using dried or frozen blueberries
For glaze:
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon water
For the icing (optional):
- 1 cup icing/confectioners sugar
- 3 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- **If using dried blueberries, set into a bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry before using. For frozen blueberries, place them into a strainer. Rinse with cold water to thaw slightly. Pat dry before using.
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan or in the microwave until steaming with small bubbles around the edges. Set aside to cool to lukewarm, about 110F. **Be sure the milk is cooled to lukewarm. If it is too hot, it can kill the yeast!
- In a small bowl, add the yeast to the lukewarm water (about 110° F.). Stir and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Once milk has cooled to lukewarm, add the egg and stir until well combined. (*Be sure your milk has cooled sufficiently, otherwise the egg will cook in the hot milk). Add the yeast mixture, stir in and set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the sugar and lemon zest. With a spatula or with paddle attachment, rub the lemon zest into the sugar. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter to the bowl. Still using the paddle attachment (or a spatula), work the butter into the flour until it has broken down a bit.
- Switch to the kneading hook with a stand mixer (or switch to a spoon if mixing by hand). Add the milk/egg/yeast mixture to the bowl. Knead until dough until it is smooth and elastic, adding a bit more flour if necessary. Remove the dough to a floured work surface. Gently knead in the blueberries until incorporated. Remove dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled, about 60-90 minutes.
- Remove the doubled dough to a floured surface and divide into 6 equal pieces. Form each portion into a ball and place it onto a greased or parchment-lined 9x5-inch loaf pan., placing in 3 rows of 2 across. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise until almost doubled and puffy, about 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375° F. (non-convection setting)
- When buns have risen, combine the egg yolk with the water in a small bowl. Brush the tops and sides of the buns well, then bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped or when they reach 195° F. when tested with an instant-read thermometer (*check buns at 20 minutes and loosely cover with tin foil if tops are browned enough).
- Remove from the oven and immediately remove the buns from the pan to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- For the icing (optional): Be sure the buns are completely cooled before icing!. Add the icing sugar, milk and softened butter to a bowl and stir to combine. Add more icing sugar (or milk) as needed to make an icing of piping consistency.
Notes
Note 1: If using frozen blueberries, place in a strainer and rinse with cold water to slightly thaw and to prevent purpose colour from bleeding into the dough. Pat dry before using. For dried blueberries, soak in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry before using.
Tips!
- If you want more than a small batch of hot cross buns, feel free to double this recipe to make two 9x5-loaf pans worth (12 buns). Simply double all the ingredients. Tip! You can use the "2X" button in the recipe card to automatically double the ingredients.
- I love icing crosses on my hot cross buns. The only downside is that you can't toast them with the icing on. While I mostly just eat hot cross buns at room temperature with butter, if you want to toast them, there's no shame in removing the icing before toasting. (I may have been known to spoon the icing off the top and eating it prior to toasting :)
Serving: 1bun, Calories: 384kcal, Carbohydrates: 57g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 92mg, Sodium: 269mg, Potassium: 88mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 25g, Vitamin A: 470IU, Vitamin C: 0.4mg, Calcium: 51mg, Iron: 2.2mg
Tried this recipe?Leaving a review is always appreciated and so helpful for our fellow cooks!
