Hot Cross Bun Loaf

An Easter inspired loaf of bread with all of the flavours of a hot cross bun! Perfect for hungry guests at breakfast or brunch time as an alternative to the traditional hot cross bun around the Easter period. When making bread, it's important to remember the following rules;  

 • Make sure to knead the bread for the stated time in any recipe. This works the gluten which is very important to create the mesh formation within the bread. The mesh formation is where the pockets of gas created by the yeast sit, which makes the loaf rise so that you’re rewarded with a light and fluffy bread.

• It's important to leave the dough to rise in a warm place, because yeast needs warmth to grow. Conversely, leaving your milk and butter mixture to cool until just warm is important because the properties of yeast are killed by extreme heat.   

• Knocking back the dough (punching the dough after the first rise), which happens in step 3 of this recipe, will result in a more even textured bread as it gets rid of any large air bubbles that have formed in the initial rise. 

If you’re looking to invest in a freestanding mixer to do the hard work for you, then we have tried and tested the best ones if you're on a budget. Alternatively, people often find kneading dough by hand to be very therapeutic, so give this a go first and see how you get on! 

If you’d rather stick to a traditional hot cross bun recipe, then we have you covered. Our newest hot cross bun recipe for this Easter are these lemon drizzle hot cross buns.