We started with Rural Route Lupiac’s awesome recipe for 1 pound of gluten free brioche dough (click here for the recipe – we used the ingredient amounts listed in brackets). To the basic dough we made the following changes:

1. We replaced the rice flour with teff flour for darker colour and a smoother texture.
2. We added a bit more sugar (3 tablespoons instead of 2) and less salt (1/2 teaspoon instead of 1) to make the buns sweeter.
3. The recipe calls for either oil or melted butter and we used melted butter.

We followed the directions as laid out in the recipe but before setting aside to proof, we added the following to make the basic dough into fruited dough:

1/2  teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

UPDATE: We have made these a few times and now add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon all spice when we want a really spicy bread

Zest from ¼ of a large orange (cut into relatively large pieces rather than grated in order to get really intense bits of orange flavour)

½ – 3/4 cup dried fruit

TIP: We used a five fruit mix from Our Compliments that included blueberries, raisins, golden raisins, currents, cherries and cranberries. Soak your fruit for an hour or so if you want the buns to stay soft longer.

Once mixed well, we left the dough on the counter for a couple of hours and then placed it in the fridge overnight.

To bake:

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease 6 muffin cups.

Divide the dough into 6 pieces. With greased hands, roll each into a rough ball and place in its own muffin cup.

TIP: To make HOT CROSS BUNS, mix together 4 tablespoons all purpose gluten free flour with 1 tablespoon water. Work together with your hands until you get a nice pliable paste. Add more water by the teaspoon if needed. Now, put the paste in a pastry bag and carefully pipe your crosses onto the dough before putting in the oven. After removing the buns from the oven, brush the tops with melted honey to make the shiny and sticky.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove, let cool, and enjoy!