Cinnamon apple hot cross buns

Ingredients

3 Weet-Bix (or other wheat biscuits), finely crushed
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup hot water
1 cup milk
1 packet dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp or 7 g)
2 tsp honey or sugar
1/4 cup oil, plus extra for bowl
4 cups white flour (560 g), plus extra for kneading
2 tsp + 2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup finely diced apple (approx. 1 apple)
For the Crosses
1/4 cup white flour, extra
1 - 2 Tbsp cool water
To Glaze
1 - 2 Tbsp honey, or strained jam, warmed

Method

Combine milk and 1/4 cup boiling water in a large bowl. Add honey (or sugar) and sprinkle over yeast, stirring well. Set aside 5 to 10 minutes until foamy.

Combine Weet-Bix and 1/2 cup boiling water in a small bowl. Stir to make a porridge.

Add Weet-Bix porridge and oil to the yeast mixture. Stir, with a large spoon or scraper, then add the white flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, and salt. Mix well, using clean hands if necessary, to create a shaggy dough with no visible dry ingredients.

Cover bowl and rest for 10 mins. Dust bench-top lightly with a bit of extra flour and turn dough out of bowl. Knead 3 mins, adding a pinch or two of extra flour if necessary. The dough should be smooth and elastic.

Flatten dough into a rough round, sprinkle over remaining 2 tsp cinnamon and the diced apple. Roll to enclose apple in the dough, and knead a further minute or two to evenly distribute.

Drizzle about a teaspoon of extra oil into the mixing bowl, add dough, and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic or a damp tea towel, and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, roughly 1 hour.

Punch down dough, divide into 12 even pieces and form into balls. Line an oven tray with baking paper and arrange buns on the tray, leaving about 1 cm between each. Cover tray with plastic or a damp tea towel and leave buns to rise until nearly doubled, 30 - 45 mins.

During the last 15 minutes of rising, preheat oven to 180°C. In a small bowl, combine flour and water for the crosses and stir to create a dough. Roll out and cut into thin lines to form crosses on the buns.

Bake 22 - 25 minutes, until golden. Cool slightly on tray, then transfer to a rack and brush with warm honey or jam to glaze.

Recipe based on original - www.sanitarium.com/nz/recipes/a-z/cinnamon-apple-hot-cross-buns