Well Easter's right around the corner! It seems to have snuck up on us a bit, falling right at the beginning of the month. Here’s just a quick post to share with you some of our traditions old and new, and then give you a recipe for hot cross buns you can make in your breadmaker. If you try them I promise you’ll never buy them at the bakery again!
Coloured Easter Eggs:
In my last post I showed you how to make some rustic looking shabby chic eggs from plaster eggs that can be kept on display longer than just Easter. But we also colour hard-boiled eggs every year that get hidden around the yard on Easter morning for the kids to find. There have only been a few years that the weather been so ridiculous that we had to move the hunt indoors. #mothernaturefail Hopefully that won’t happen this year.
* hunting for coloured eggs * tradition *
Origami Bunnies:
* via instagram *
In other crafty activities, last year Personally Junior and I made these colourful origami bunnies out of scrapbook paper. This youtube tutorial was easy enough to follow and we ended up with a little army of bunnies to decorate the Easter table with. Although I’m not a big fan of rabbits sitting around on the table (the real neighbourhood rabbits chew up my favourite little grape hyacinths #evilrabbits) these are colourful and cute and I like them.
* via youtube *
Italian Easter Bread:
The hot-cross buns from the breadmaker are actually for Good Friday and not Easter. But for Easter I discovered this recipe on Pinterest for Italian Easter bread with coloured eggs in it and decorated with sprinkles. You colour the raw eggs and they cook in the oven with the baking bread. How awesome is that? I’m thinking that this would be a big hit for Easter breakfast. I’m planning on giving it a try this weekend, and I bet I can make this dough in the breadmaker too. I’ll let you know if it works out. Here’s the best recipe I found for it, maybe you’ll want to try it too. Let me know.
* via sprinklebakes *
Hot Cross Buns in the Breadmaker:
And the hot cross buns. These are a must-have for Good Friday around here. There’s no other occasion when my family will tolerate raisins, but we love these! Some years I’ve even made them again for Easter breakfast. The first time I made them I was pretty inexperienced with the breadmaker and with any kind of fancy baking. But still, they were delicious enough that I’ve made them every year and they’ve become tradition.
* hot cross buns *
Recipe:
1. Add the following ingredients into your breadmaker, following your machine’s instructions for heating liquids and sequence of additions:
1 1/3 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 teaspoon yeast
3/4 cup raisins
2. Select the “Dough” setting, close lid and press “Start”.
3. When the cycle is complete, remove dough from machine to a lightly floured surface. Cut dough into eighteen equal pieces with a sharp knife. Shape each piece into a round slightly flattened roll. (To see photos of this step refer to this post on Breadmaker Rolls.)
4. Place two inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until double in volume.
5. Combine one slightly beaten egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush on buns. With a sharp knife make two cuts on top of each bun to form a cross. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes.
Glaze: 3/4 cup icing sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1/4 teaspoon almond flavouring
6. After baking is complete, remove from oven and immediately drizzle cross with glaze.
Thanks for coming by to visit. Happy Easter everyone!