LCHF Hot Cross Buns

Try my low carb Hot Cross Bun recipe and enjoy the festivities of Easter without feeling deprived. Pour on some melted butter, and enjoy the smooth texture – delicious! A word from the Whole-food Dietitian, Caryn: Each of Craig’s Hot Cross Buns has a beautifully even balance of macronutrients: only 4.5g of carbs, 5g of protein and 8g of fat per bun. A far cry better than our processed packaged supermarket variety which provides 41g carbs, 7g protein and 3g fat – but it doesn’t mean you should eat lots of them to make up for this!

A word from The Fat Professor, Grant: This “bread” treat fits perfectly well with the LCHF lifestyle for optimal health and wellbeing, without shooting your blood sugar and insulin levels sky high. We made these last Easter and will again this year. The boys ate them up with butter added. So did I….Yum!

Prep time: 10 minutes (additional standing time 10 minutes – chia seeds; 15 min psyllium husk) Cooking time: 12-15 minutes Makes: 12-16 Carb count: 4.5g carbs Bake at: 160 degrees

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp (60g) Chia Seeds - 3/5 cup (150ml) Water - 4 tbsp (60g) Butter - 6 Eggs, whisked - 2 cups (210g) Almond Flour/Ground Almonds - 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (30g) Psyllium Husk - 1 tsp (5g) Ground Cinnamon - 1 tsp (5g) Ground or grated Nutmeg - 2 tbsp Raisins - 2 tsp (10g) Baking Powder - 1 tsp (5g) Salt

For brushing the buns:

• 1 Egg yolk - 1 tbsp (15ml) Cream

Method: To one side, soak the chia seeds in the water for 10 minutes until they become gelatinous.

Melt the butter in a suitable dish in the microwave or on a stove top. When melted, add the butter to the whisked eggs and then whisk in the chia seeds with their liquid.

Weigh and mix all the remaining dry ingredients together in a large enough bowl to take all of the mixture. Pour the wet ingredients and the raisins into the dry bowl and mix together well. Allow to stand for 15 mins to allow the psyllium husks to absorb the moisture and make the dough pliable.

Once the dough has dried a little, turn it out on to a sheet of cling wrap. Cut another sheet of cling wrap and place this over the top. This is a clever little way to roll out something that might be a bit sticky without having to use extra almond flour which could dry out the mix in the end. Roll the dough to a thickness of around 3cm (inch and a half) and cut out with a pastry cutter – or you can just roll them by hand into little rounds the size you like without having to use cutters.

Mix an egg yolk and a tablespoon of cream together and with a pastry brush lightly brush this mix over the buns, which will give them a golden finish. Leave a little bit of your dough to roll into a long thin dough length and cut it into pieces to the size of your buns to criss cross on the top.

Lastly, place your buns almost touching together so they bake into one batch that you will tear easily into the individual buns leaving the traditional patterning on the sides.

Bake for 12 – 15 mins and cool on a cooling wire.