Rye & Wholemeal Hot Cross Buns

A couple of weeks ago I decided to tidy up the kitchen so that I could get some of the new things that I have bought to fit in. It was a bit of a headache but had a nice side effect. As part of the tidy up I reorganised the cookbooks and got a lot of them out of a cupboard they had been put away in.

This was especially good as it includes all of my parents old cookbooks including one by The Cranks that was published in 1982 so just after I was born and has some excellent vegetarian recipes in it. To give you a bit of background, The Cranks was a vegetarian restaurant on Carnaby Street in London that opened in 1961. You could say it was well before its time but this cookbook included some of their most popular recipes.

The recipes are not only vegetarian but also healthy using a range of different flours, nuts, seeds and even raw sugar and utilises things that have only become generally popular recently. When I was browsing through it I came across their recipe for hot cross buns which looked easy to follow and something I could use as a basis for mine.

The recipe in The Cranks book is vegetarian so I had to make it vegan and made a few changes to suit my tastes but it was a brilliant place to start. Who would have thought that I would be using a cookbook that was written the same year that I was born!

I particularly like the fact that these buns are full of spice so unlike shop bought ones have loads of flavour. The rye flour does them make them more dense and rich than normal hot cross buns but they are full of flavour. My brother who is a massive fan of hot cross buns could not get enough of these so I guess that was the real test and they based.

As Easter is approaching very quickly now, get yours baked and serve them up on Easter Sunday to the whole family, they would make an excellent choice for brunch with coconut oil and jam.

Rye & Wholemeal Hot Cross Buns

Makes 12

Prep Time: 60-90 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: about 2 hours

Ingredients

For Buns

225g/8oz Rye Flour

225g/8oz Wholemeal Flour

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp Mixed Spice

1 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Salt

12g/ 1/2oz Dried Yeast

4 tbs Warm Water

50g/1.75oz Demerara Sugar

100g/3.5oz Dried Mixed Berries

50g/1.75oz Goji Berries

140ml/1/4pt Nut Milk of your choice

50g/1.75oz Coconut Oil, melted

1 tbs Ground Flaxseed, soaked in 3 tbs water

For Crosses

50g/1.75oz Wholemeal flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

50g/1.75oz Coconut Oil

1 tbs Cold Water

For Glaze

4 tbs Water

3 tbs Demerara Sugar

Instructions

1. Mix the dried yeast and warm water together and leave in a warm place for about 10 minutes or until frothy

2. Place all the flours in a bowl and then combine them with the yeast mixture, sugar, berries, coconut oil, flaxseed mixture and enough warm milk to give a soft manageable dough.

3. Lightly flour your work surface and divide the dough into 12 equal parts and knead each one individually and then arrange them on floured baking sheets a reasonable distance apart.

4. Leave buns in a warm place to double in size. This should take anywhere from 45-90 mins depending on temperature of where you leave them. Do not put in direct sunlight as they might start cooking!

5. When the buns are almost done preheat oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5 and make the crosses.

6. To make the crosses place the flour and baking powder in a bowl and then use your fingers to cream in the coconut oil until you have a crumb and then use enough water to make a soft, manageable dough.

7. Roll out cross dough on a floured surface and cut into strips.

8. Use a small amount of water to stick crosses to buns and place in oven to bake for about 20 mins or until lightly browned.

9. To make the glaze heat the water and sugar together and bring to the boil.

10. When the buns are done remove from oven and brush twice with glaze and leave to cool. Enjoy as are or toasted with vegan butter or coconut oil.

Nutrition

There is a bit a sugar in these but it is not excessive and they have lots of benefits too. The nutritional data for each bun is:

The highlights for these buns are:

• No cholesterol
• Low in sodium
• High in dietary fiber
• High in manganese
• Good Source of Vitamin A