Easy Recipe Hot Cross Buns! A Not too Sweet Spring Treat!

Instructions

• Pour warm milk into a small bowl, stir in 1 tsp. sugar, and then add yeast. Stir and let sit until foamy... about 5 minutes.
• *NOTE- if it doesn't get foamy- it will look like icky grey scum floating on the surface- dump it. If the yeast is dead it won't foam, and if the yeast is dead you will end up with hockey pucks. Get new yeast... start over
• Is your butter melted?
• Put a large strainer over your mixing bowl.
• Pour the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cardamom, and cinnamon through it into the bowl. Dump any solid greebly bits that get stuck in the strainer. Mix the dry ingredients together.
• Lightly beat 3 eggs in a small bowl with a fork (I like to mix them into the butter).
• Add the eggs, melted butter, yeasty milk, currants, raisins (or cranberries), orange zest and lemon zest to the flour mixture.
• Mix the ingredients together until it's sticky dough.
• Now... you get to decide how energetic you are. The dough needs to be kneaded for 10 minutes. If you are kneading by hand... lightly flour the counter or smooth surface you are working on, and lightly flour your hands. Work the dough until it has a smooth, elastic feel to it. Squish it out, fold it over, and squish it the other way. It's not difficult. I sometimes do this by hand (it's a great upper arm workout) other times I put the dough hook in my mixer, and slide the on lever. Then I go read a magazine. (Which, as it turns out, is not such a great workout....)
• After 10 minutes, put some oil (about 1 to 2 Tbl.) into medium large bowl, plop the dough in in, roll the dough over so all sides coated, cover the dough with plastic wrap, put it in a warm spot in your kitchen (on top of the fridge works) and leave it alone for 1 1/2 hours. Just walk away. When you return, it should be double in size. (see photo below)
• Prepare an 11 x 15 inch baking pan by buttering the bottom...
• Flour your work surface again.
• Carefully dump dough out of bowl onto floured surface (hang on to the plastic wrap).
• With floured hands, spread dough out to a rectangular shape. Fold the right 1/3 in, then fold in the left side (see photo below) it will look like a trifold wallet.... Rotate it 90 degrees, spread to rectangle again, and fold in outside thirds again.
• Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces (see photo below)
• Form each piece into a smooth ball, pinching the bottom (see photo below)
• Put into the baking pan... cover with that oily plastic wrap... let rise for 45 minutes... should double in size (photo below)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a little bowl or cup, mix last egg with 3 Tbl of sugar (you want the egg really scrambled, not globby) When the buns are ready to bake, use a pastry brush to cover the buns with the egg/sugar glaze.
• Bake 22 minutes... then put pan on a rack to cool.
• When buns are cool......ice them

Icing:

• Mix powdered sugar with 1 to 2 Tbl. milk (or Lemon Juice)...
• It should be thick... put mixture in a plastic baggie, snip the corner, and pipe an X on each bun. Eat