13 Apr Triple Chocolate Pull-apart Hot Cross Buns

If you’re in the mood to indulge this Easter, these Triple Chocolate Pull-apart Hot Cross Buns are just the ticket! Baked in a round cake tin to form the perfect pull-apart treat – simply place on your Easter table for everyone to help themselves and share.
I’ve replaced the raisins with chocolate chunks (milk, dark AND white chocolate!), and also added some cocoa to the dough for some extra chocolate flavour. As if that wasn’t enough decadence, the crosses on top are made of white chocolate too! I added a bit of zesty candied citrus peel to balance out all that sweetness and you could easily add in some cranberries or chopped dried apricots for a fruitier flavour.

These hot cross buns were baked in the Instant Vortex Air Fryer, which was incredibly quick and easy to use. I love that it takes just a few minutes to preheat, and only 20 minutes to bake a fresh batch of buns! If you like your hot cross buns toasted (and who doesn’t!), no need to wait ages for the oven to heat up, the Vortex Airfryer does this in a jiffy too.

I’ve teamed up with Instant Pot to run an awesome competition where you could win an Instant Vortex Air Fryer to the value of R2,699! Click here to enter.

This post is sponsored by Instant Pot. All text and opinions are 100% my own. The Instant Vortex Air Fryer is available here and at all @home stores.

Ingredients:

(Makes 16 buns)

For the buns:
280ml milk
70g butter
60g sugar
10g instant yeast
1 large egg
5ml vanilla extract
450g white bread flour
20g cocoa
5ml salt
5ml cinnamon
5ml mixed spice
20ml mixed candied citrus peel (4 tsp)
50g dark chocolate
50g milk chocolate
50g white chocolate

For the glaze:
30ml sugar (2 tbsp)
30ml boiling water (2 tbsp)

For the crosses:
80g white chocolate

Directions:

• Heat the milk, butter and sugar together until the butter has melted and the mixture is lukewarm. Sprinkle the yeast on top, mix well and leave to stand for a few minutes.
• Place the flour, cocoa, salt and spices into the bowl of your stand mixer. Make a well in the centre, then add in the milk and yeast mixture as well as the egg and vanilla extract.
• Use the dough hook to mix together until a soft dough has formed. Continue mixing for 5 minutes until the dough starts “climbing” the dough hook. Scoop the dough onto a floured surface and kneading by hand for a further 2 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, use a wooden spoon to blend the ingredients together and knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand.
• Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled clingfilm. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in volume.
• Punch down the dough, and add the mixed citrus peel and finely chopped dark, milk and white chocolate. Knead the dough well to distribute the chocolate evenly. 
• Divide the dough in half, then cut each half into 8 equal pieces of dough. Roll the pieces of dough into balls. Lightly grease a 19cm round baking tin. Place 1 ball of dough in the middle, and then 7 around it. Repeat with the remaining dough so that you have 2 tins with 8 buns in each. Cover both with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave to rise for a further 30 minutes.
• Set the Instant Vortex Air Fryer to 165°C and 20 minutes. When the Airfryer has pre-heated, bake the hot cross buns, one tin at a time.
• Meanwhile make the glaze by mixing the sugar and water together until the sugar is completely dissolved. Brush the buns with the sugar glaze while they are still hot, then leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
• For the crosses, finely chop the white chocolate, then place in a heatproof bowl and melt in the microwave at 15 second intervals (or over a pan of hot water). 
• Place the melted white chocolate into a piping bag, then pipe a cross onto each bun. 
• These are best enjoyed fresh on the day you make them, but are also delicious when halved and toasted in the Instant Vortex Air Fryer 200°C for 3 minutes (pipe the white chocolate crosses on after toasting!).