Chocolate Easter buns
Chocolate Easter buns, also known as chocolate hot cross buns, are a delicious variation of the traditional hot cross buns typically enjoyed during the Easter season. Here's a simple recipe with chocolate and chocolate chips instead of dried fruit to make your own… I decorated them with Easter eggs instead of the cross but will give the instructions for the cross as well.
Equipment
- 1 square baking tin 22 cm x 22 cm
Ingredients
- 10 g dry yeast
- 120 g castor sugar, divided 10 g / 110 g
- 375 ml milk, lukewarm, divided 75 ml / 300 ml
- 630 g cake flour plus extra for dusting the work surface
- 30 g cacao
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla essence or extract
- 50 g butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 150 g dark chocolate chips
- for the crosses
- 75 g cake flour
- 5 Tbsp water
- for the glaze
- 1 Tbsp smooth apricot jam
- 1 tsp water
Instructions
- Place the yeast, 10 g sugar and 75 ml lukewarm milk in the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Stir with a spoon and let it stand for 5 to 10 min or until the mixture starts to foam.
- Then add the remaining sugar and milk, and the flour, cacao, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, vanilla essence (extract), butter and egg.
- Knead the dough with your stand mixer or by hand for at least 5 minutes. Then add the chocolate chips and knead for another 2 to 3 minutes until the dough feels smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with a plastic wrap.
- Leave it to rise in a warm, draught-free spot for an hour or until doubled in size.
- Put the dough onto your flour-dusted work surface and form the dough into a log. This will deflate the dough but you don't have to worry about it.
- Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a smooth ball.
- You can either grease your baking tin or line it with non-stick parchment paper.
- Put all the balls into the prepared cake tin (3×4) and cover the tin with a lightly oiled plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rise for another 30 to 40 minutes.
- While the dough is rising preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
- If you want to make the crosses, mix the flour and water, fill the mixture into a small plastic bag, cut one edge off and pipe the crosses over each bun.
- Bake the buns for 25 minutes in your preheated oven.
- Once the buns are baked, mix the apricot jam and water in a small jar.
- Heat it in the microwave and brush the warm mixture over your buns.
- If you don't want to make the crosses, you can decorate your buns with chocolate eggs or other Easter treats.
- The buns are best eaten warm. You can keep them in the fridge for 2 days or freeze any leftovers.