Hot Cross Bun Loaf - Dietitian Style
Happy Easter Everyone!
Ingredients
250mL milk
7g yeast (1 sachet)
sprinkle of salt
2 tbsp. local honey or maple syrup
2.5 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
2 tsp. cinnamon spice
1/2 tsp. ginger spice
good handful of sultanas
10 dried apricots or figs chopped up
1 large egg
3 tbsp. olive oil spread melted (I used Nuttelex)
For the Crosses:
30g flour
water
maple syrup or honey and cinnamon for the glaze on top
Method:
Preheat thee oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper
Warm the milk in the microwave for 40-seconds. Alternatively, you can warm the milk up in a saucepan. Remove from heat and don’t allow the milk to boil.
Add the yeast, salt and 1 tbsp. of the honey or maple syrup immediately - mix well and let it sit for 5-10-minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together flour, spices, then add sultanas, apricots, egg & melted olive oil spread, the remaining maple syrup/honey (about 1 tbsp) and the yeast mixture.
Mix until well combined (it will be quite hard to mix). At this stage transfer to a floured board and knead the dough for about 5-minutes. Let it sit for 1-hour.
Knead again for another 1-2 minutes and transfer to a tray with baking paper
Leave for 10-minutes before moving the tray into the oven. Cook for about 30-40-minutes until cooked through
Take the bread out once cooked, mix the water and flour together for the crosses and add to bread with a spoon or a paste brush. Drizzle a little maple syrup on top and sprinkle cinnamon and pop back into the oven for an extra 2-5-minutes for the crosses to crisp up.
Take out of the oven, let it sit for 5-minutes to cool down and enjoy!!
As an additional note: if your husband is stubborn like mine and won’t eat anything “fruit bread” related, add chopped up dark chocolate or like I did two small easter eggs on top for a little Easter “feel” and then that way you can easily slice that part of the bread for your fussy one! :-)
Benefits to this healthier option???
super high fibre version
low sugar
low saturated fat —> beneficial omega-3 fats with the olive oil spread
source of protein from various ingredients (milk, egg, wholemeal flour)
