Recipe thanks to wellnourished.com.au.
Easter is coming! So I wanted to share with you my recipe for a healthy hot cross bun or ‘buffin’. I have purposely chosen to move away from traditional yeast leaven buns, and create a buffin for two reasons:
1. The Yeast Factor
Firstly, I’ve found that yeast burdens the gut of lots of people. Many wheat or gluten intolerant patients I’ve consulted with over the years have discovered that it actually isn’t the grain so much, as it’s the yeast that adversely affects their gut. I consider myself to have a cast iron gut, but yeast does not make me feel good at all. That’s why I always choose a sourdough bread if I’m going to eat it and why these are yeast free.
2. Who’s Got the Time Anyway?
Secondly, I personally just don’t have the time or motivation to wait for my dough to prove. I like a throw it all in approach and that’s what I’ve done here.
A note..whilst I think these taste on the mark, these aren’t and never will be the soft doughy, long life of many weeks style of hot cross bun gracing our supermarket and bakery shelves in the months leading up to Easter. They are best eaten out of the oven or toasted, although my husband enjoyed them the next day as is.
Why are they so healthy?
It really is a struggle not only to find a ‘healthy,’ whole food only hot cross bun but one that isn’t actually damaging to your own, and especially your kids’, health. Even ‘fresh’ bakery buns have a long list of ingredients (I counted 29 in a ‘traditional’ supermarket baked bun). Common ingredients include dangerous vegetable oils, excessive amounts of sugar (almost 4 teaspoons per bun), and a cocktail of additives and preservatives. To make matters worse, ALL supermarket brands contain palm oil.
If you value your family’s health, please don’t buy these buns. I have made it as easy as possible for you to make your own with ‘real’ ingredients that your body can identify and thrive with.
This recipe makes 6-7 buffins.
Ingredients
- 200 grams wholemeal spelt flour (1 ½ cups), white spelt will give a more commercial result)
- 125 mL milk (½ cup)
- 85 grams maple syrup (¼ cup) or rice malt syrup
- 60 grams butter (¼ cup), melted
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp acid lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp vanilla bean powder extract or essence
- 80 grams currants sultanas or raisins (or a mixture), and preferably preservative and vegetable oil free
For the glaze (optional)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp rice malt syrup honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp water
Pastry crosses (also optional)
- 2 tbsp wholemeal spelt flour
- Water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160℃.
- Place your flour in a big bowl and make a well in the middle.
- In a blender or food processor or mix your milk, sweetener, butter, egg, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, acid, cinnamon, mixed spice and vanilla for about a minute until well combined and a little frothy (Thermomix 1 min, speed 5). Gently mix in your dried fruit (Thermomix reverse blade, 10 seconds, speed 2).
- Add this to the flour and fold through gently until just combined. Don’t over mix it.
- Spoon into the muffin cases and place your cross.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through (firm to touch in the middle). Brush over the glaze whilst hot.
- Enjoy hot out of the oven or toasted in a sandwich press.
For the glaze (optional):
- Mix all ingredients together.
For the pastry crosses (optional):
- Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with enough water to form a dough. Roll it into little sausages to lay over the buns in a cross.
Notes
Storage
Can be frozen in an airtight bag or container.Variations
Gluten and grain free
Substitute the flour with 130 grams of buckwheat (or sprouted buckwheat) flour and 70 grams of almond meal. They may need an additional 5-10 minutes in the oven too.Dairy-free
Substitute the butter with melted ghee or macadamia nut oil. Replace the milk with an unsweetened nut milk or coconut milk (I have only recipe tested the coconut milk and macadamia nut oil at this stage).Fructose-free
Choose rice malt syrup as your sweetener and omit the dried fruit or replace with cacao nibs.Chocolate hot cross buns
Add 1 tablespoon of cacao powder to the wet mix and replace the dried fruit with approximately 50 grams of cacao nibs. If you tolerate fructose, you might like to replace the fruit with chocolate chips.
Alright! Get hopping into the kitchen and create these fab little muffins for the Easter excited people in your life and avoid those found in the supermarket aisle if you can.
Georgia’s website, Well Nourished, is full of delicious, wholefood recipes, blog articles around health and wellness so much more.
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About the Author: Georgia Harding
