Clawing from the depths of a seemingly endless winter, spring has finally arrived.
Of course with about a foot of snow still remaining outside of my urban home and the prediction of 6 more weeks of crappy weather, it’s a little hard to believe. Thankfully with the double whammy of this beloved first day and an early Easter, I was compelled to fill my house with flowers and the scent of cinnamony Hot Crossed Buns.

I swear I don’t remember eating these since I was a kid – back when I pulled one flattened, from a lavender and yellow bag only to be thoroughly disappointed that the cross wasn’t pure icing. Hunks of candied fruit, maraschino cherries, raisins.
Mm, delicious.
Not.

With a certain need to perk up into spring, I set off to recreate my own version. I combined dried cranberries with my own candied orange peel, for something a little more to my tastes. I have to admit that the candied peel was a bit time consuming but fun none the less. I opted to do it the night before, but made enough for a bit extra, which was a good thing since my kids surprisingly mistook it for Easter candy and were caught gobsmacking the orange loot. For a two year old with an orange peel, that must say something. But my little Easter buns were golden and puffed and I couldn’t help but sweeten the paste for the crosses, just for old time sake. Served slightly toasted with some cold butter, I thought these would be perfect to celebrate the equinox and serve up with Sunday brunch.

HOT CROSSED BUNS

1 1/2 Cups Soy Milk
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Vegetable or Safflower Oil
1 Tablespoon Yeast
1/2 Cup Warm Water
2 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour, plus more, if necessary, for kneading
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Crystalized Ginger, crushed (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
1 Cup Dried Cranberries
3/4 Cup Candied Orange Peel, chopped

Hot Cross Paste

3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons Water

Heat the soy milk and stir in the sugar to dissolve.
Add the salt and oil and cool to a lukewarm temperature.
Meanwhile, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let sit until it bubbles.
Measure out the flours and spices into the a large bowl or one of a stand mixer.
Stir the yeast and with the motor running, add it along with the warm milk to form a dough.
Add the cranberries and chopped peel.
Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, turning the dough out with the additional flour, if necessary to a board to completely work in the fruit.
Lightly grease a large, clean bowl and let the dough rest and rise until it has doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
After the rise, roll the dough into an 18 inch long tube, then cut it into 18 pieces.
Line a baking sheet with parchment and roll each piece into a ball and evenly place them in six rows of three.
Cover and let double in size again.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Mix up the paste mixture and lightly indent each bun with a knife with a cross, then pipe the paste over.
Bake until golden; about 10 – 15 minutes.
Glaze with reserved sugar syrup from candying the oranges or with heated, strained apricot jam.

Getting into the last week before Christmas, the excitement builds and the rush heightens. I can’t help but get those butterflies like I had when I was a kid. A staple at our Christmas sweets table, this version of shortbread is certainly a family tradition just as Santa and snowflakes. Soft and tender, they simply melt in your mouth. Wonderful all alone, but for the Hoildays the addition of toffee or dried cranberries is an extra special treat.

I had originally made give aways of this cookie mix for the Holidays, just needing to add the margarine but the simple layer of sugared cranberries seemed lost in the sifted white ingredients, so I opted to just spare recipients the time of baking and bring them the finished products instead, minus the ones I had to test for doneness, of course.

CRANBERRY SHORTBREAD

1/4 Cup Corn Starch
1/4 Cup Confectionery Sugar,
1 Cup Unbleached, All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Margarine
1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries
2 Tablespoons Sanding or Damara Sugar

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Sift flour, corn starch and confectionery sugar into a large bowl.
Measure and chop the cranberries with one tablespoon of the sanding sugar. (This helps keep them from sticking to everything and to candy them while they bake.)
Add the margarine and cranberries.
Stir the mixture, using a wooden spoon, just until everything begins to come together in a soft dough.
Roll the dough with your hands into small balls.
Flatten the cookies with your palm or the bottom of a lightly flour dusted glass.
Top with a sprinkling of the remaining sanding sugar.
Bake for approximately 10 – 12 minutes, watching carefully towards the end. The cookies should be removed just as the edges begin to turn a light golden.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.