Catholic teachings , Easter , family , Lent , Liturgical Year , recipes
Good Friday: Hot Cross Buns and Lots of Time in Church!
Good evening …. today is Good Friday … the midpoint of the Triduum … the day when we meditate on Jesus’ Passion and Death … on his ultimate sacrifice for us all. For Catholics: it’s a day of fasting and prayer and meditating … it’s a day of looking at our own part in the Crucifixion of the Lamb … it’s a day of suffering and sacrificing knowing that the “end of the book” is that Jesus beats death and destruction and WINS!
It’s also a day for me to make Hot Cross Buns … to sustain my family thru the fasting today … but, hey, I was tired last night (a full day of school, almost 2 hours to get home and then an almost-immediate turn-around to Church for the boys to serve the Holy Thursday liturgy) and so didn’t want to make my usual mix-rise-refrigerate-warm-cook on Friday morning. So I checked on the Web and found a “quick Hot Cross Buns” recipe … and opted to test it out.
As per my life, I had to substitute and change the original recipe (hey, haven’t had time to get to the store yet) and so my dear, lovely family were the guinea pigs on my version of Quick Hot Cross Buns … AND it worked! They loved ’em (which is why I don’t have a photo to show … they ate them before I could get out the camera!) and so here I share the recipe (my version) with you in case you too would like to make quick (as in the morning of) hot cross buns:
QUICK HOT CROSS BUNS
Ingredients:
2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast (basically a package but if you want to make lots of breads, go ahead and get the jar of yeast!)
1/4 c. hottest tap water
2-1/3 c. unbleached all purpose flour (1-1/3 and then 1 cup)
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. pre- and pro-biotic plain yogurt (to boost protein; the original recipe called for sour cream)
1 egg
1 c. raisins (the original recipe wanted 1/2 c. raisins and 1/2 c. diced citron)
4 tbls. almond flour
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
Quick White Icing – 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbls milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla — mix until smooth and spreadable
Put raisins in a bowl — add boiled water until all raisins are covered (this plumps them up a bit). After 5 min, drain and set raisins aside till needed.
In large mixer bowl – dissolve yeast in hot water. Add 1-1/3c flour, sugar, salt, soda, yogurt, and egg. Blend together till mixed (I used a spatula and just made sure I mixed really well). Hand-beat some more. Stir in remaining flour, drained/plump raisins, almond flour, and cinnamon until thoroughly mixed.
Divide batter evenly among 12 greased muffin cups. Let rise in warm place for 50 minutes or so – dough will not double but will puff up a bit. Heat oven to 350. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan and allow to cool completely. Make a cross on top each muffin with the Quick White Icing. With the pre- and pro-biotic yogurt and the added almond flour, these hot cross buns are a great muffin for those fasting – dense enough to hold you, with a bit of sweet to keep all happy!
ENJOY!
Leave A Comment