Ingredients

The following ingredients have 16 Servings
  • 3½ cups (448 g) or more unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup (64 g) sugar
  • 1/4 cup (56) brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast
  • 2 teaspoons(10 g) kosher salt
  • pinch nutmeg, see notes above
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup (256 g) whole milk or 2%, divided
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1 egg beaten with 2 teaspoons water
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter, optional
  • 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk or buttermilk
  • pinch sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instruction

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and nutmeg, if using. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk the egg with 1/2 cup of the milk. Set aside.
  • Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of the milk and heat until warm to the touch, another 30 seconds or so. Whisk this milk-butter mixture into the bowl with the egg-milk mixture. Resulting mixture should be warm to the touch.
  •  Add the milk-egg-butter mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture. Use a spatula to combine all ingredients until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky. Sprinkle a handful of dough over the surface, and use your hands to briefly knead dough in bowl just until it all comes together—use more flour as needed, but go light. Dough should be on the sticky side. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a bowl cover. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. (See notes above for creating a warm place for your dough to rise.)
  • Butter a 9-inch square or round baking pan. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. If dough is especially sticky, knead briefly with a little bit of flour. Divide into 16 pieces. If you want perfectly sized balls, each portion should weigh about 59 grams. Roll each piece into a small ball using flour as necessary — this is a very sticky dough! Place balls equally spaced into pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a cloth bowl cover and stick in fridge overnight; or, if baking immediately, let rise again until rolls have doubled and are squishing against each other, 25 to 35 minutes (or more depending on how cold your kitchen is).
  • Preheat oven to 375ºF. If you are doing the refrigerator rise, remove the pan an hour (or more if possible) before baking. It’s OK if, after the hour, the buns look unchanged. Brush rolls with egg wash.  Bake for about 25 minutes, or until rolls are evenly golden brown.
  • Meanwhile, stir confectioners’ sugar with milk, salt, and vanilla to form a glaze (or see notes above if making the cream cheese frosting). Adjust the glaze with more milk or salt to taste. If you like a more pronounced “x”, keep the glaze on the thick side. For more control making the “x”, transfer glaze to small ziplock back. Snip the corner and use it like a pastry bag (or use an actual pastry bag if you have one).
  • Remove pan from oven and immediately brush with melted butter, if using. Let buns cool ten minutes before drizzling glaze overtop. Serve immediately, re drawing the “x” over individual buns if you wish. Serve with more softened butter, if you wish… it might sound excessive, but a little warm butter on a hot cross bun is, well, heaven.