Sticky Buns of the Spelt and Hot Cross kind

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 wholemeal spelt sourdough hot cross buns recipe || cityhippyfarmgirl

spelt hot cross buns recipe || cityhippyfarmgirl

I do wonder what food memories I’m creating for my kids sometimes. I occasionally ask them if they have seen any food from other kids school lunch boxes that they might have rather liked the look of and would perhaps like to try as well? I’m yet to get an answer of anything different to what they generally get though. Whether they really aren’t that fussed or they are keeping those wishful lunching thoughts to themselves, I’m not sure.

Me, I longed for white bread, devon and tomato sauce sandwiches. With more butter than should be legal slapped up on the side. Plastic cheese was longingly looked at and don’t get me started on packets of chips for recess. That’s what I wanted when I was a pint sized school girl. Did I ever get it? Nope, not a once. ( Thankfully I did grow out of that one.)

Would my own kids get it, if that’s what they said they were lusting after while watching someone else unpack their lunch box. Oh hell no!…but I’m still curious.

Spelt Hot Cross Buns is what the small people are packing at the moment. Easy to make, easy to eat, and easy to keep in the freezer.

Every year I seem to fiddle with my Hot Cross Bun recipe. Sourdough, semi, yeasted, chocolate and now spelt. Wholemeal spelt flour is a firm favourite round here. So much so, that I buy the 12.5 kilo bags, so it’s always on a high turn over round here, (it’s good stuff, really good stuff!)

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But before the recipe, for something completely different…*small polite cough*. I was wondering if you would like to vote for me for the AWC- Best Australian Blogs- Peoples Choice. Would you like to? It will be super quick, promise. Either click here, or the badge on the side bar, and a huge thank you, to those that do.

sourdough spelt hot cross bun || cityhippyfarmgirl

(If wholemeal spelt isn’t your thing, easily switch these recipes to a regular wheat flour.)

Spelt Hot Cross Buns (sourdough)

250g dried fruit

150mls hot water

2tbls brandy

(soak this mixture of three ingredients the night before)

300g starter (100%)

600g (4 cups) wholemeal spelt flour

1 tsp dark malt flour

200mls water (approximate)

1/2 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cinnamon

100g (1/2 cup) raw sugar

100g softened butter

2 tsp salt

Add all ingredients together except, 200mls water, softened butter and salt- either by hand or mixer. Mixture will look shaggy and dry. Now slowly add the 200mls water. This an approximate amount, depending on the dried fruit mixture and your flour. If it looks too wet, don’t add it all in, too dry, a touch more.

Let it rest for 30 minutes and then mix through your softened butter and salt. Dough should look smooth and coming together off the sides of the bowl.

Place a damp tea towel or plastic shopping bag over the top of the bowl. This creates a gentle humid environment for your bread to rise. Leave it for an hour or so.

On to a really lightly floured surface, give your dough a brief three way fold or knock back. Back into the bowl for another hour or so.

Divide your dough into equal portions, (this recipe makes roughly 16 portions) rolling them into balls and then on to your baking trays. Allow them to prove for roughly another 1-3 hours, (depends on the temperature- dough should neither spring back or leave an indent.) Or overnight in the fridge. Again covered by either a damp tea towel or plastic shopping bags.

Crosses

75g (1/2 cup) plain flour

100-125mls water

2 tbls raw sugar

Mix ingredients together and use a piping bag to squeeze out crosses just before popping buns in the oven.

Bake at 210-220C for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

Sugar Glaze

1/4 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup water

Heat the glaze and brush buns as soon as they are out of the oven.

spelt hot cross buns recipe || cityhippyfarmgirl

Spelt Hot Cross Buns (commercial yeast)

250g dried fruit

150mls hot water

2tbls brandy

(soak this mixture of three ingredients the night before)

600g (4 cups) wholemeal spelt flour

2 tsp dried yeast

1 tsp dark malt flour

200mls water (approximate)

1/2 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cinnamon

100g (1/2 cup) raw sugar

100g softened butter

2 tsp salt

Add all ingredients together except, 200mls water, softened butter and salt- either by hand or mixer. Mixture will look shaggy and dry. Now slowly add the 200mls water. This an approximate amount, depending on the dried fruit mixture and your flour. If it looks too wet, don’t add it all in, too dry, a touch more.

Let it rest for 20 minutes and then mix through your softened butter and salt. Dough should look smooth and coming together off the sides of the bowl.

Place a damp tea towel or plastic shopping bag over the top of the bowl. This creates a gentle humid environment for your bread to rise. Leave it for an hour or so.

On to a really lightly floured surface, give your dough a brief three way fold or knock back. Back into the bowl for another 40mins- to an hour.

Divide your dough into equal portions, (this recipe makes roughly 16 portions) rolling them into balls and then on to your baking trays. Allow them to prove for roughly another 40-60 minutes, again covered by either a damp tea towel or plastic shopping bags.

Crosses

75g (1/2 cup) plain flour

100-125 mls water

2 tbls raw sugar

Mix ingredients together and use a piping bag to squeeze out crosses just before popping buns in the oven.

Bake at 210- 220C for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

Sugar Glaze

1/4 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup water

Heat the glaze and brush buns as soon as they are out of the oven.

51 thoughts on “Sticky Buns of the Spelt and Hot Cross kind”

  2. Voted! Good luck Brydie. You deserve to win.
    Now, guess what we are doing today? Making Easter buns. The perfect weekend activity. I’m holding a cup of raisins as we speak. Yours look so beautiful. Brandy, malt flour and cardamom – yummo! Yours are decidedly more sophisticated than mine!
    PS> I did occasionally get devon and tomato sauce sandwiches (when my mum caved to our demands for an ‘Australian lunch’) – believe me, you weren’t missing anything! My absolute favourite sandwich combo at the time was grated carrot and peanut butter. Still love it!

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    • Thank you lovely! 🙂
      As for the Aussie sanga, yep, I would have looked longingly at yours too. Peanut butter and carrot? Why have I not done this?? Peanut butter and lettuce- yep. Peanut butter and mungbeans (that’s what is on high rotation on my lunch at the moment) but carrots, will sort that today Saskia.

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  3. You’ve reminded me that I really do need to get cracking and make some hot cross buns myself. I love homemade hot cross buns – just so much better than anything made in the shops because they’re so good straight from the oven. Yours look amazing, Brydie and I think that’s a lovely treat to put in any kid’s lunch box xx

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  4. Gorgeous buns. I am excited about making hot cross buns this year now I have some sourdough but am still unsure exactly how so will be coming here for ideas. I sometimes wonder how sylvia’s lunches compare to other kids – especially as she is vegetarian but after years of child care lunches she is delighted to help choose her lunchbox meals.

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  6. These look amazing Brydie, I am not surprised your family love them. So much better than plastic cheese and chips! I have just made some full sourdough hot cross buns. The experiments could go on forever couldn’t they? I hope you are having a lovely Sunday x

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    • Just realised there had been a typo in the top recipe, they are 100% sourdough as well, (ooops!) But yes, experimenting…there are just so many different variations of the same thing. It’s quite amazing really, (really!)

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    • I’m sure they will at some stage Kari, doesn’t every child have to go through that though? Not wanting whatever their parents have to offer? Hopefully like a boomerang they will come back though 🙂

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  9. Voted and admiring those buns, quite the nicest I have seen this year and as I have a bag of spelt flour, these may be the ones I make, haven’t made any yet. Apparently there is a shortage of spelt here in the UK/Europe on account of some very bad harvests, so enjoy your big bags and think of poor us ! xx

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    • Oooh Joanna, a shortage of my beloved spelt. That would be hard. I’m shoving it in everything these days and love the results. I hope you do make them, I’d love another opinion on the recipe, seeing as though I’ve tweaked them for so long now and finally shall tweak no more.

      (and thank you for voting, I really appreciate it.)

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  10. I am a huge fan of spelt. I usually grind my own but I am coming to the end of my supply and may be forced to buy flour. Spelt berries are hard to find here. Can I ask why you have both sourdough starter and yeast in the first recipe? And I am assuming you are using a white starter? Thanks

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    • *gasp* typo Tania! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh my goodness how did I not see that? Phew…
      I do use a white starter, although have fiddled with 100% spelt starter, still not sure about it….

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      • Pleasure Brydie. I just thought I was missing something 🙂 I use a rye starter and still struggle to get my head around hydration percentages. I haven’t used mine in a while but will kick it into gear to give these a try.

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  11. Just voted for you. Good luck! You have such a lovely way of writing I hope you win. I’m not surprised your kids don’t complain, you make healthy food that is extremely tasty. I use to beg for devon sandwiches too! My mum made me moujadra (rice and lentil) lebanese bread rolls which were delicious but some kids use to ask me if I was eating poo spread. I was embarrassed but now of course I’m sure those same kids are eating that kind of food.

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    • Oh kids can be horrid can’t they, absolutely horrid. I’ll bet all of them are eating moujadra now and bloody loving it.
      I really try to make healthy, tasty food, so thank you- it’s always a work in progress. (And thank you for voting! :-))

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  14. These are beautiful. I LOVE the spelt and malt flour additions… alongside the brandy-soaked fruit, delicious! You’re doing an amazing job Brydie, I imagine that it must be so difficult trying to nourish children in a world that seems to feed them ‘kids meals’ full of fat, sugary sauces and chicken nuggets! I hope I can do the same for mine if and when I have them xx

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    • Laura, I’m really, really lucky. They’ve never had any of those foods and they show no desire to even try. Besides one kiddo who could happily swim in tomato sauce, they really do enjoy healthy food. Hooray for that!

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  17. I’ve never tried spelt flour – I use pearled spelt in cooking but not the flour. My children used to swap their packed lunches with friends at school (things were a bit more lax in those days) – one square of my fruit cake for two chocolate biscuits. What’s a devon sandwich?

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    • The spelt grains are lovely to cook with, I very rarely see them for sale though. Lucky you Anne.
      As for the devon, not sure what your UK equivelent would be, devon is processed meat within an inch of it’s life. Any more processed and they could just sell off rounds of wet cardboard as a substitute. You’re not missing out on anything here.

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  18. Wow these look fantastic.

    I didn’t have a clue what a Xbun was until I was an adult – my mom wasn’t a baker and our berries always became jam as a kid, so perhaps that has something to do with it. In any event I think I may try your recipe. Have you ever used quinoa flour? Do you think I could use it in place of spelt? I have it in the pantry so wonder how they might fare.

    Voted for you – I don’t comment often but adore your posts Birdie.

    May you know the SPiCE in life!

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  20. At school we did an experiment in biology where we separated the potato from the fat content in a packet of crisps. There was virtually no potato and so much fat, it shocked my fourteen year old self into never having a packet of crisps in his lunch box again.

    Voted!

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  21. These look amazing, and will be Thursdays project. 2 quick questions though, where do you find the malt flour? And if I can’t find it is there a substitute?

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    • Try where ever you buy your flour from Kate. Baking supply places, and larger wholesale places tend to have it, (where ever you can buy big bags of flour- 12.5k) BUT if you can’t find it. Don’t worry. Just leave it out 🙂

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