Sweet Buns

Sweet BUNS

adapted from Kitchen Parade's Hot Cross Buns

Hands-on time: 30 minutes to mix; 15 minutes to shape; unattended time to bake
Total time to complete: 3½ hours Makes 24 large buns

1 cup whole milk
2 packages dry yeast (5 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
Zests from 1 orange and 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
1 tablespoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or cake spice)
1 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons butter, in small bits
Additional flour for kneading
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar

In a small sauce pan, warm up milk , do not heat it up too much. Gently stir in yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk egg and yolk well. Stir in zests. Set aside.
In large bowl, stir together ½ cup sugar, flour, spices and salt.
With fingertips, blend butter into flour until a coarse meal forms.
Make well in center, pour in yeast and zest. Blend thoroughly with hands, then form into ball and transfer to lightly floured counter (dough will be sticky). Knead 10 minutes, adding as little flour as possible to work dough.
Transfer dough to oiled bowl, first rubbing it against bowl to lightly coat with oil. Cover, let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
With a fist, gently deflate dough. Cut into 24 pieces.
Form buns and arrange on two greased baking sheets. Cover with clean towels and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F. Whisk egg and 2 tablespoons sugar. Brush tops of buns with egg mixture. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes per baking sheet.