HOT CROSS BUNS

Well, my never fail Bonnie Rolls basic rolls recipe comes through again. Using it as a base, I researched hot cross buns to find the spice and details which make a good hot cross bun. My experiment worked very
well tasty.

BONNIE'S HOT CROSS BUNS
for a bread machine dough cycle.

Add one Earl Grey Tea Bag to ½ cup of boiling water. Steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bag and discard. Allow tea to cool to room temperature.

Crack one large egg into a measuring cup. Add enough tea to measure 1 CUP + 1 TBSP total liquid. If needed, add extra water to reach 1 CUP plus 1 TBSP total fluid. Gently mix together egg and tea.

Add tea/egg mix to bread machine pan.

Add the following dry ingredients to the bread pan:

1 TSP salt
3 TBSP sugar
2 TSP Spice Mix *See below

Then add these moist ingredients:
½ TBSP of grated Orange and Lemon Rind mixed
1 TSP Lemon Juice
3 TBSP vegetable oil

Add 3 and ¼ cups of bread flour (all purpose flour) to the bread pan.

Top with 1 ½ TSP Active Dry Yeast. Spread yeast across the flour avoiding the liquid portion if possible.

Place bread pan in bread maker and set for the dough cycle.

After the dough ball forms, add ½ cup of dried fruit such as raisins or golden raisins or currants or a mix. (I used golden raisins for this batch.) Your bread machine may have a designated time between knead cycles to allow fruit to be added. Otherwise, add fruit after the dough ball forms, but before the kneading cycle has ended.

When the dough cycle is complete, remove dough ball from bread maker. Place on floured surface. Divide into 16 pieces and gently form each piece into a ball. Place on a greased cooking sheet spaced without touching.

Glaze each with an egg wash:
Whisk together
1Egg
1 TBSP Water

Allow to rise 1 ½ hours.

Mix ½ CUP Flour with 1/3 CUP water. Place into a pastry piping bag and add an X to the top of each bun.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes.

Top with apricot jam.

**Spice Mix:
Combine the following GROUND spices:
1 TSP Cinnamon
1 TSP Allspice
1 TSP Cloves
2 TSP Nutmeg
2 TSP Ginger
1 TSP Cardamom
1 TSP Coriander