There’s nothing quite like a homemade hot cross bun, especially fresh from the oven while the scent of mixed spice and cinnamon fills the kitchen! They’re incredibly easy, they just take time to rise and prove. These beauties are packed with raisins, orange zest and candied peel, and they are guaranteed to make you happy. We topped ours with lashings of plant butter and homemade apricot jam. Yummmm! Makes 12.

Ingredients: 500g white bread flour; 75g caster sugar; 2 tsp cinnamon; 2 tsp mixed spice; 1 tsp salt; zest of an orange; 3 tsp dried yeast; 80g plant butter; 300ml warm water; 150g raisins; 50g candied peel.

In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, spices, salt, orange zest and the yeast and mix to combine. Melt the plant butter, and pour into the bowl with the warm water. If you have an electric mixer with a dough hook, this makes life very easy – work the mixture with the dough hook for 5-10 mins, until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth. Otherwise, knead by hand, though it is a little sticky at first.

Cover the dough and leave to rise until it has doubled in size. This can take about an hour if you have a nice warm house, or a couple of hours if (like ours) it’s a little on the chilly side. You can also pop it in the fridge to rise slowly overnight – a good idea if you want to bake them in the morning for breakfast. We tend to put the whole bowl inside a plastic bag while it’s rising.

Once the dough has risen, knock it back a little, then knead in the raisins and candied peel. They can be a little uncooperative and try to bounce out, but you’ll be rewarded for your efforts once the buns are packed with fruit.

Divide into 12 equal-sized balls, keeping the fruit on the inside as much as possible so it doesn’t catch in the oven and burn. Place on a lined baking sheet, then loosely cover and set aside to rise again until doubled in size. This can take 45 mins, or longer if your house is cool. We pop the whole tray in a big plastic bag for this stage, making sure the bag is puffed up so it isn’t touching the buns.

Once the buns have risen, you can add crosses by mixing a little flour and water together to a smooth paste and piping it over them. Finally, bake at 180C for about 25 mins, until they’re golden. Brush with a little melted jam or maple syrup to give them a glorious glaze, and tuck in. They’ll be amazing toasted for a few days after this too, just pop them in an air-tight container once they’re cool.