I can happily spend Easter without chocolate eggs, but I really enjoy the nostalgia of eating warm hot cross buns, especially when dripping with melted grass fed butter & raw honey. As a child we only had these on Good Friday and maybe the day or two after, so they were extra special.
Last year with some extra time at home we played with a gluten & dairy free recipe to create some buns that everyone in our family can enjoy. You can add extra spices or fruit peel if you wish and use any nut milk or even coconut milk keffir if you wish.
This year I've changed the recipe up a bit and made chocolate 'infused' hot cross buns! Fortunately they taste a lot better than they look! I have to admit I struggle with the cross on top - whether its the flour version or the chocolate version. Either way the mess in the kitchen is quite impressive, and the buns end up with a very hand made 'wabi sabi' look.
Enjoy x
INGREDIENTS
Gluten Free, Vegan
We use all organic ingredients
Makes 10 large or 14 medium buns
Buns
- 2 1/2 cups cassava flour
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1/3 cup golden flaxseed meal
- 2 tsp gluten free baking powder
- 1/2 cup natural sultanas/currants OR 150 g dark chocolate (we make our own raw chocolate or use Loco Love's chocolate drops), roughly chopped into small pieces
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- pinch of pink lake salt
- 3/4 cup coconut milk keffir (or almond milk)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin cold pressed olive oil or macadamia nut oil
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup raw honey
- 2 eggs
Cross
- 80g raw chocolate, just melted
- 2 tsp raw honey
- 2 tsp water
- ½ tsp cinnamon
TO MAKE
Buns
- Preheat oven to 160°C.
- Line tray with parchment paper.
- Mix flours, almond meal, flaxseed meal, baking powder, spices, salt & chocolate/ sultanas together in large bowl.
- Mix keffir/almond milk, oil, vanilla, honey & eggs together in small bowl.
- Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and gently mix well.
- Spoon out portions of this sticky dough onto tray (can use wet hands to form a bun shape) and make a cross indentation with back of knife in each.
Glaze
- Mix ingredients together and brush each bun with a little glaze.
- Put buns in preheated oven and bake for approx. 35-40 mins.
Cross
- Melt chocolate over low heat and then allow to thicken to a paste consistency.
- Put in biodegradable zip lock bag and snip one corner slightly to make piping bag.
- Allow buns to cool slightly and pipe crosses onto each bun.
TO SERVE
- Enjoy with grass fed cultured butter, nut butter, fruit spread, raw honey or simply on their own.
