[Ad- gifted product] Hot Cross Buns are an Easter classic in the United Kingdom – It’s something that I feel I never had even heard of before coming to the UK. It’s a slightly sweet bread, with a cross on the top that is actually not made of anything sweet and instead is normally a mix of water and flour. The outside is sticky and coated with apricot jam, the inside is warm, slightly spiced and a bit sweet. I find them to be quite comforting as a tradition. This year, we teamed up with OGGS Aquafaba to create vegan hot cross buns – you can find loads of recipes for Easter treats and other vegan goodies on their website.
This recipe uses exactly one full box of Aquafaba, which is great as there isn’t anything wasted or set aside for another time. It’s a really easy to follow recipe that does have a lot of resting time, which is needed for the bread to become quite fluffy and light. I ended up spreading more butter onto ours when we ate it, but you can eat them as is, with jam, or in one of those interesting Easter French Toast concoction.
Vegan Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Buns
- 150 ml OGGS Aquafaba
- 200 ml Milk Alternative
- 50 g Vegan Butter melted
- 450 g Strong Bread Flour
- 7 g Dried Active Yeast
- 45 g Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon ground
- 1/2 tsp Mixed Spices ground
- 200 g Raisins
Cross Coating
- 50 g Flour
- 6 tbsp Warm Water
Glaze
- 50 ml OGGS Aquafaba
- 3 tbsp Apricot Jam
Instructions
- Shake and whisk your Aquafaba until foamy and pale, then add in your melted butter and milk. Wisk until combined.
- Take your yeast and activate it with a but of warm water, until it foams, about 3 minutes.
- Take a separate bowl and add in all of your dry bun ingredients and mix together. Create a well in the middle and add in your liquids, slowly, stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon until combined. This should create a wet and sticky dough.
- Once your dough is together, dump it out onto a slightly floured surface and kneed for 10 minutes.
- Place your dough back into a clean bowl and allow it to rest, in a warm spot, for about an hour.
- Your dough should have doubled in size. Dump it back out onto your table and kneed in your raisins until they are all throughout the dough, about 5 minutes.
- Divide your dough into 8 buns and place them in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Allow them to rest for another 20 minutes.
- Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C and create your cross for your bun, by combining the flour and water. You can spoon or pipe these over the rested buns – it's up to you!
- Bake your buns for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
- While they are baking, combine the last of your Aquafaba and your apricot jam. Mix well to make a sticky glaze.
- Spoon the glaze over your buns while they are nice and warm. Enjoy!
We hope you try out this recipe and enjoy it as well! Making small changes in your diet can be quite easily done, especially with so many different alternatives on the market, and OGGS Aquafaba is a really lovely egg alternative.