Sourdough Hot Cross Buns 100% Whole Wheat

I’ve never made hot cross buns before and have only had supermarket ones that I never liked. Having a new appreciation for candied peel I decided that I would try my hand at developing a formula for a sourdough 100% whole wheat version. This is my 1.0 version and first try at them.

For 9 buns in a 9 x 9” square pan

 

Add zest of one large orange or lemon to dough

Overnight Stiff Sweet Levain fermented at 76-78°F
14 g starter + 14 g brown sugar + 19 g water + 42 g whole wheat flour

Tangzhong prepared the night before and refrigerated
25 g whole wheat flour + 123 g milk (skim to whole)
Take butter out in the morning.

Final Dough
120 g milk (could hold back 10-15 g of the milk) + 100 g eggs (2 large eggs) + all Tangzhong + all levain + 1.65 g diastatic malt (optional) + 4.82 g salt + 21 g sugar + 285 g whole wheat flour + 70 g butter

Egg-milk wash
Mix 1 egg + 1 tbsp of milk

Lemon Icing
1 tbsp lemon juice + ½ cup icing sugar

Instructions
Levain
Mix the levain ingredients in a jar or pyrex container with space for at least 300% growth.
Press down with your knuckles or silicone spatula to create a uniform surface and to push out air.
At a temperature of 76ºF, it typically takes up to 10-12 hours for this sweet stiff levain to be at peak. For my starter I typically see 3-3.5 times increase in size at peak. The levain will smell sweet with only a mild tang.
Tangzhong
In a sauce pan set on medium heat, stir the milk and flour until blended. Then cook for several minutes until well thickened, stirring regularly with a spoon or heat-resistant spatula. Let cool in the pan or, for faster results, in a new bowl. Theoretically it should reach 65ºC (149ºF) but I don’t find I need to measure the temperature as the tangzhong gelatinizes at this temperature. You can prepare this the night before and refrigerate it, ensure that it is covered to prevent it from drying out.

Dough
Prepare the dried fruit (currants, raisins or blueberries) mist them with water then microwave for 15 secs. This will quickly plump them up without them later adding more hydration to your dough.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk (consider holding back 10 g of milk and adding later if this is the first time you’re making this), egg, tangzhong, salt, sugar, diastatic malt, zest and levain. Mix and then break up the levain into many smaller pieces. Next add the flour and vital wheat gluten. I like to use my spatula to mix until there aren’t many dry areas. Allow the flour to hydrate (fermentolyse) for 20-30 minutes. Mix on low speed and then medium speed until moderate gluten development this may take 5-10 mins. You may want to scrape the sides of the bowl during the first 5 minutes of mixing. Next drizzle in the melted butter a little at a time, or alternatively add room temperature butter one pat at a time. Slow the mixer down to avoid splashing the butter at you. The dough may come apart, be patient, continue to mix until it comes together before drizzling or adding in more butter. Once all the butter has been added and incorporated add mixed peel and currants and continue to mix until well incorporated. Increase the speed gradually to medium. Mix at medium speed until the gluten is well developed, approximately 10 mins. You will want to check gluten development by windowpane during this time and stop mixing when you get a good windowpane. You should be able to pull a good windowpane, not quite as good as a white flour because the bran will interrupt the windowpane somewhat.

On the counter, shape the dough into a tight ball, cover in the bowl and ferment for 2.5-3.5 hours at 82ºF. There may be some rise visible at this stage.

You can next place the dough into the fridge to chill the dough for about 1.5 hours, this makes rolling the dough easier to shape. Remember, if you do so the final proof will take longer. Alternatively, you can do a cold retard in the fridge overnight, however, you may find that this increases the tang in your bread.

Prepare your pan by greasing it or line with parchment paper. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and using a bowl scraper remove the dough from the bowl placing it on the counter. Next divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and shape each into a tight boule. Place each boule into the prepared 9” x 9” pan. Cover and start final proof at 82°F for 5-7 hours, the dough will start to almost fill the pan when final proof is complete and will pass the finger poke test.

About 30 mins before ready to bake brush your egg-milk wash onto the buns. Repeat this just before they go into the oven.

Bake

Preheat your oven, with a rack in the lower half, to 350°F (175°C). You should aim to start preheating your oven about 30-40 mins prior to the dough being full proofed. Once your oven is preheated, remove your pan from its bag, slide it into the oven, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

The rolls are finished baking when the tops are well-colored and the internal temperature is around 195°F (90°C). Remove the rolls from the oven and let the rolls cool completely before piping on the lemon icing crosses otherwise the icing will melt.

They turned out quite well especially for a first go at this. They are tender but full of fruit. I actually used dried blueberries instead of the more traditional currants because I had the dried blueberries. I like the extra citrus hints from the zest.