Hot Cross Buns

Ok, so I went out some days back to buy some heavy cream & Oreos but came home with a Bread Maker instead. 

I blame my impulsiveness on cabin fever: my kids have had chickenpox and as a consequence we've all been confined inside the house far too many days. Add to that, the stress of meeting deadlines and finding time to study.

Ever since I've gone back to school, Wednesdays are the longest and most stressful days of the week for me. It's the last day of the study-week and I have huge assignments due. So I treat myself by giving myself Thursdays completely off. I don't think/read/write or do anything else the entire day if I can help it. 

That is just what I was doing last night after we got home from having dinner out. I was poking around in the kitchen to come up with 'something sweet' (and ready-made) for my dessert-craving husband when it struck me to finally unpack the much coveted bread maker and give it test run. It didn't really matter that it was past 9 p.m. I just had to try it out: according to my husband, I don't  understand the concept of 'chilling out'. 

After a brief search online, I came up with a recipe for Pull-Apart Hot Cross Buns on Allrecipes. I was initially going to go with a recipe for a basic loaf of bread but the cardamom in the ingredient list drew me to this recipe. 

I had all the ingredients on hand except ... the flour! But I discovered a bag of whole-wheat flour and decided to substitute with that instead. The recipe required me to dump all the ingredients into my bread maker and set it on the 'Dough' cycle. Sounds simple, right? Only if you follow the instructions on your breadmakers' manual: I dumped everything in and an hour later, it didn't look very dough-like. 

Took a look at the manual. Duh! Pour in the water or other wet ingredients first. Which I  . . hadn't done. 

No big deal, I just took the very, very sticky dough out and kneaded it only slightly with well-floured hands. I added in some raisins, divided the dough into 12 as directed and left the balls of dough to rise in a 9x13 pan. 

They rose to gargantuan size. I thought about taking them all out and dividing them further into 24, but then (feeling lazy) baked them as they were. 

Result: Aromatic, soft  and huge hot cross buns that are subtly spiced and not overly sweet. We waited till this morning to eat them for breakfast and let me tell you how they tasted in one word: delicious.

Pull- Apart Hot Cross Buns

adapted from Allrecipes

1 x 0.25 oz package dry active yeast

1/4 cup water

4 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 1/4 cup lukewarm milk

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 egg

1/4 cup raisins

Frosting: 

1 1/8 cup confectioners sugar

1/8 cup milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

Sprinkle the yeast over warm water and let it stand for 5 mins. 

Place the flour, salt, sugar, cardamom, milk, butter and egg into the bread machine (as per manufacturers instructions). 

Pour the yeast on top. Close the lid and set the machine for dough setting. Add raisins, if using, when it beeps. 

When the dough is finished, divide it into 12 portions and shape into balls. Place them into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish, cover with clingfilm and set aside to rise till double in size (about 45 mins).

Remove clingfilm. Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes. 

Set aside to cool completely. Whisk together the milk, confectioners sugar and almond extract. Drizzle over cooled buns in a cross shape. 

Now that I own a bread maker, watch out for more Yeastspotting on this page ;-) 

Baking With Dorie: Gingered Carrot Cookies

My love for ginger is second only to my love for garlic. 

Which is why I picked Gingered Carrot Cookies for this weeks Baking With Dorie (BWD) Challenge. Dorie describes these cookies as "a delicious case of trying to make one thing and ending up with another." And that is exactly what they are: more cake-like than cookies; with a wonderfully chewy and soft texture. 

The recipe is really easy to put together. Susi warned me that unless I own a KitchenAid, my arm would get a real work out mixing the very thick dough this recipe yields, but I had no trouble at all: I used my hand mixer to blend the butter, sugars and egg with the dry ingredients and mixed in everything else with a spatula. The dough really is very thick, but was very soft and not at all dry which I had expected it to be.

My only complaint is: I was disappointed that the flavor of ground ginger didn't come through much stronger. After I tasted the first batch I had baked, I wanted to go back and add chopped candied ginger to the dough, but was actually too tired to do so. I made the cookie dough late last night & had already pre-scooped tablespoonfuls (dropped on a parchment-lined tray and then covered) for hassle-free baking early in the morning. It just seemed like too much work to go back and experiment with or 'correct' the dough. So I let it go this once but intend to try it with the candied ginger next time.

How I digress! On to the recipe: 

Gingered Carrot Cookies

From Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan (Page 162)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1.5 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)

1/2 coarsely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.


Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes, then add the eggg and beat for another minute. 

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in the vanilla. Continuing on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches. Beat only till they disappear into the mix. Don't overbeat to incorporate flour - you will end up with a very thick dough. Mix in the carrots, coconut, raisins and pecans.


Spoon the dough onto baking sheets in heaped tablespoonfuls, leaving an inch of space between them. 


Bake 16-18 minutes. The cookies will be light brown and just firm on top. Cool on wire rack. 


Makes approx. 30 (I got 40 because I didn't make very heaped tablespoonfuls).

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[The next BWD challenge is Lots-of-ways-Banana-Cake, Page 204 & 205. If anyone is interested in joining us for the next challenge, please drop me an email at needfulthings at ymail dot com]

That's how the cookie crumbles. .

I had an awesome Thursday. In my own opinion. 

All stay at home moms will agree with me: as much as you love your kids and as much as you love staying home with them, there are so many times when you just need a break from the physical and emotional energy that they require. And you need to do something for yourself that is not baby-related in any way. 

Sometimes, all you need is a little time on your own. 

Feeling all of that more and more strongly as the year rolled along, some time towards the end of last year I told hubby I'd really like it if I could just stay home for a weekend while he takes the kids and stays at a hotel. Just so I can get a break from my daily routine, organize my thoughts,and relax. Basically: get my groove back. Even one whole day would do. 

It was a bizarre proposition but he agreed. He's been traveling a lot the past several weeks so he thought he would get some quality time with the kids, and I would get to do my own thing. Win-win situation. 

What a great guy! Seriously. 

The kids were so excited at the prospect of going on a 'trip' with their father that they didn't even turn around to say bye to me. After forcing asking them to give me hugs and kisses I saw them out the door, feeling both elated and a little bewildered at the prospect of 24 hours on my own. 

What was I going to do with myself?