Hot Cross Buns, and Iced Buns: Almost No-Knead Bread (Wheat Free with Dairy Free Option)

Today is Good Friday, and as promised I present to you Hot Cross Buns and Easter Iced Buns!

These are brought to you because hot cross buns are traditional this weekend, of course, but also in response to a conversation that I find myself having fairly frequently with other hobby bakers:

"How do you make bread without kneading?"

You don't have to knead bread if it proves overnight in the fridge

"Hmm, I don't have that amount of time. How to I make bread in a few hours?"

Well, if you want it today you'll have to knead it really thoroughly

"Okay, so how do you make bread that doesn't need kneading that I can have in a few hours?"

These people who obviously want to have their bread and eat it too.

If there is one thing that I have come to learn about yeast-risen bread, it's that to make a nice bread you have to spend time, or spend effort. There is no such thing as a no-effort bread that's ready immediately, unless you're making soda bread. As such, the less effort you want to put in the more time you'll have to spend, and the less time you want to spend the more effort you'll have to put in.

Kneading and overnight proving are both used to develop gluten in bread dough: you can develop the gluten by hand through kneading vigorously, or you can let the yeast develop the gluten overnight slowly and steadily. Here are the pros and cons of each:

• Kneading is the faster solution as you can knead a dough well by hand and have bread ready for its first rise in half an hour. Sometimes, however, when you encounter a particularly sticky dough, people get frustrated and the temptation is to add a load more flour to make the kneading easier, thus making the dough dry and tough. Also, some very sticky doughs need a good 20 to 25 minutes of continuous kneading, which can be exhausting.
• When you prove dough overnight, the kneading step and the first rise step are combined in a zero effort solution, but if you want bread today you have to start yesterday, which means you really have to plan your bread needs in advance. Also, overnight rises can make a bread that is overproofed, which leads to dense, sour loaves that stale too quickly.

So what's a baker to do? Well, I have come to inform you that there is a halfway house: bread that takes a day to make and requires only moderate kneading effort, harnessing the gluten developing powers of both the yeast and your hands in turns.

In this recipe, I use this bread dough to make a delicious and pretty Easter treat: a tray of hot cross buns, and plain buns iced with little portraits of Bibbit's springtime friends.

Follow the recipe below, and watch the video for full instructions!

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DIFFICULTY

The steps are simple, but time consuming

TIME

Roughly 3½ to 4 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes 16 buns

1 pound (455 grammes) white spelt flour
2 ounces (55 grammes) unsalted butter, or margarine
1 rounded teaspoon (7 grammes) salt
2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
2 medium (US large) eggs
6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) milk at body temperature, or milk alternative
Up to 4 extra tablespoons (60 millilitres) milk or milk alternative, to adjust the texture
1 quarter-ounce (7 gramme) packet of dried active yeast

For spiced dough

1 or 2 tablespoons (7 to 15 grammes) ground mixed spice, to taste, moistened with half as much warm water
3 ounces (85 grammes) mixed dried fruit of your choice
Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) orange zest
Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon zest

To make the crosses

½ ounce (15 grammes) white spelt flour
¾ teaspoon (3 grammes) butter
Water, to mix

To decorate

Runny honey, for brushing
Fresh orange juice, for brushing
12 ounces (340 grammes) icing sugar, sieved
2 ounces (55 grammes) unsalted butter, or margarine
Hot water, to mix
Food colouring: pink, yellow, orange, black, blue, and green.

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FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast, nuts

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar

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POINTS TO REMEMBER

• Try not to add too much milk, otherwise it will need more rises to develop the gluten. At the absolute most, add a total of 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres) of milk, which is half as much flour.
• The first rise will take roughly an hour and a quarter, but it could take up to an hour and a half.
• Likewise, the second rise should only be 45 minutes, but could take up to an hour.
• One thing that I forget to mention in the video is that the raw rolls need to be flattened a little bit so they don't rise in a ball shape. 
• The third and final rise should to 30 to 40 minutes: the rolls should expand by about two thirds, not double. If you poke them on the side and they spring back, they need more rising: your finger should leave a little dent in the side, but not collapse the roll.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 200°C (400°F).

THIS TIME IN 2017: Recipe Revision: Baked Cheesecake, but a large one this time! (Gluten Free Option)

THIS TIME IN 2015: Experiment: Yeast and Wheat Free Hot Cross Buns

THIS TIME IN 2013: Coffee Sponge Slice with Raspberry Fondant Icing (Wheat Free)

There were no blogs on this day in 2014 for 2016