Allergy-Friendly Hot Cross Brioche Buns

Free from gluten, eggs, dairy and animal products

Allergy-friendly Basic Brioche Dough

Timing

• Prep 20 mins
• Proofing approx. 3 hours
• Makes 1 kg dough

Ingredients

• 280 g (10 oz) coconut milk
• 150 g (5½ oz) dairy-free butter substitute
• 130 g (4¾ oz) aquafaba (bean brine— from canned chickpeas)
• 75 g (2½ oz) caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons (7.5 g) instant dry yeast
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) gluten-free plain flour
• 1 teaspoon guar gum

Method

Warm your coconut milk and dairy-free butter in a suitable bowl in your microwave until just warmed and the butter is starting to melt. DO NOT OVERHEAT IT

Put the aquafaba*, sugar and salt in your mixer bowl, bung the whisk attachment on and whip until you get stiff peaks.

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm coconut milk mixture and mix to combine. Add this mixture to the whipped aquafaba along with the flour and guar gum. Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for about 8 mins, until well mixed into a dough.

If you’re making this dough for hot cross buns or fruit loaf, add the spices, zest and dried fruit listed in those recipes now. Continue to knead for a further 2 mins until combined. Transfer the dough to a greased container and cover with plastic wrap. Place the container somewhere warm to allow the dough to proof. You want it to double in size and get big air bubbles through it; at that point, transfer the container to the fridge for about 3 hours.

While your dough is chilling, you can decide what you are going to do with it—brioche scrolls, hot cross buns, fruit loaf or doughnuts. Please be aware that this dough is sticky and a bit different to normal dough. I’ve found that rolling it between two sheets of plastic wrap rather than adding extra flour works best.

Allergy-Friendly Hot Cross Brioche Buns

Timing

• Prep 8 mins (plus dough making)
• Proofing 30-60 mins
• Baking 30-40 mins
• Makes 9 buns

Ingredients - Buns

• 1 recipe Allergy-friendly Basic Brioche Dough with the following spice, zest and dried fruit* added (recipe above)
• 2 tablespoons mixed spice
• zest of 1 orange
• 80 g (2¾ oz) sultanas
• 80 g (2¾ oz) raisins

Ingredients - Crosses

• 30 g (1 oz) warm water
• 100 g (3½ oz) gluten-free plain flour
• Glaze
• 100 g (3½ oz) caster sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 50 ml (1½ fl oz) boiling water

Method

Prep a deepish 20 cm (8 in) square baking tin with cooking spray and line the bottom with baking paper.
Spread a little neutral-flavoured oil over your benchtop. Remove your dough from the fridge and knead it on the benchtop a few times until smooth. Cut the dough into nine evenly sized pieces-use your scales to weigh them to make sure they’re all the same. Make a cage with your fingers around each of the pieces of dough in turn, and move your hand in a circular motion so that your fingertips are just touching the bottom of the dough-this should give you a nice evenly round bun.

Place the buns in the tin so that they are just touching. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof for about an hour in a warm area, until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, prepare the cross mix by adding small amounts of the water to the gluten-free flour and mixing in well. The paste should be nice and smooth, and you want it to be a slightly runny piping consistency. When it looks right, put the cross mix in a piping bag and snip off the end about 3 mm (⅛ in) from the bottom.

Preheat your oven to 160°C (315°F). Pipe crosses onto your risen buns and bake them for 30-40 mins until they’re golden and a knife comes out clean when you stab it into them.

Prepare the glaze by dissolving the sugar and vanilla bean paste in the boiling water. When the buns are ready, take them out of the oven and brush them with glaze immediately while they’re still in the tin. After a few mins cooling, move them to a wire rack.

Serve warm with a dairy-free butter substitute.

* For a chocolate version, sub the dried fruit for 150 g (5½ oz) dairy-free chocolate chips.