Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
- Total Time: 24 hours 28 minutes
- Yield: 12 buns 1x
Description
These sourdough hot cross buns are soft, fluffy, and absolutely delicious! I know hot cross buns are an Easter tradition, but these buns are so good they really deserve to be made any time of year. They’re pull-apart soft, with juicy raisins and the perfect amount of spice and sweetness throughout. Plus, they’re sourdough and naturally fermented so they’re gut healthy and nutritious!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Dough Ingredients
- 400g Bread Flour (50%) – A high protein flour is needed to make these rolls.
- 50g Whole Wheat Flour (12.5%)
- 60g Coconut Sugar (18.75%)
- 225g Milk or Water (56.25%)
- 1 Egg
- 150g Sourdough Starter ( 37.5%) – Be sure you are using active sourdough starter (not discard and not starter pulled straight from the fridge).
- Butter 60g (15%)
- 8g Sea Salt (2%)
- 15 g Honey (3.75%)- Instead of refined sugar, I like to use a touch of honey to sweeten the dough
- 2.5 TSP Cinnamon
- .5 TSP Ginger
- .5 TSP Nutmeg
- 100g Raisins
- Zest from 1 orange
- Juice, hand squeezed from 1 orange
Crosses
- 50g bread flour
- 50g water
- 20g starter
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
- Butter or oil- for glazing after baking
- Eggs – You’ll brush your buns with an egg wash prior to baking
Instructions
- Feed Your Starter: You’ll want to feed your starter about 8-12 hours before you plan to mix all of the ingredients together. Since this recipe calls for 150g and 20g of active, bubbly starter, it makes sense to feed at least 110 grams of water and 110g of flour the night before if you’re planning to mix the following morning. You’ll remove 170g the next day for this recipe, and you should have just enough on hand to refeed to maintain your starter.
- Soften Butter: Either soften butter the night before or 2-3 hours before mixing by leaving it on your counter. You can also warm your butter in the oven for a couple of minutes until soft but not melty.
- Mix and Initial Stretch & Fold Set: Add all dough ingredients to a bowl and mix with your hands for a few minutes until all ingredients are incorporated. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, and then perform stretch and folds for 1 minute or until the dough feels smooth and it becomes difficult to stretch out. If using a dough mixer, you can mix the dough on low for 2 minutes.
- Prepare Crosses: Combine cross ingredients in a small bowl and let ferment at room temp for about 5-6 hours or until it doubles in size. Then place covered in the fridge overnight.
- Bulk Fermentation: Bulk fermentation is simply the process of letting your dough ferment at room temperature until it doubles in size. It usually takes about 7-8 hours depending on the temperature of your home and the strength of your starter. For this step, you’re going to perform 3-5 sets of stretch and folds every hour throughout the duration of the bulk fermentation. You do not need to be perfect with timing when it comes to stretch and folds! It’s most important to get a couple of sets in during the beginning of the bulk. I don’t bother timing stretch and folds anymore, just aim for at least 4 sets of stretch and folds.
- Overnight Rise: Now it’s time to lay your dough baby to rest and pop her in the fridge. First, you’ll need to cover it to prevent the exterior of the dough from drying out. I use these elastic dough covers. After you’ve covered the dough, place it in the fridge to ferment for 12 – 24 hours.
- Shape: Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into balls and arrange them on a greased 9” x 13” pan (or two 9” x 9” pans).
- Final Rise: Let the dough ferment covered on the counter until it doubles in size again (5-6 hours).
- Preheat Oven + Egg Wash: Now, preheat the oven to 350F and brush the top of the bread with egg wash.
- Add Crosses: Add cross mixture to a piping bag or pour into a Ziplock bag and cut a hole in one corner. Pipe crosses onto the buns.
- Bake: Bake at 375f for 25-28 minutes until golden brown on top or the internal temperature reaches 205f.
- Add Glaze (optional): Brush the tops of the buns with butter and then cover for 20 minutes to outside becomes soft.
- Cool and Enjoy: Allow the buns to fully cool (at least one hour) before pulling them apart and digging in!
Notes
*I used King Arthur’s Organic Bread Flour and their stone-milled whole wheat flour
- Fermentation Time: 24 hours
- Cook Time: 28 minutes
