Looking for a great new Easter bun recipe? You and your family will love this one! Applesauce and chopped “craisins” add their fruity goodness and the gently spiced buns are fluffy and soft!
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Applesauce Cranberry Buns
Easy to create, these sweet, spring buns, full of warm spices, applesauce and craisins, make a wonderful new Easter tradition!
In a large mixing bowl, fitted with a dough hook, put your 1/4 cup warm milk and 1 teaspoon sugar. The warmth and sugar help the yeast to grow. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until you see the yeast bubbling.
Chop your craisins to help them distribute evenly through the buns.
Stir together the flour, salt, and spices.
Stir together the applesauce, the 1/2 cup sugar, the melted butter and the flax eggs. Add all these liquids to the bubbling yeast mixture in the bowl and mix until combined. Stir in the chopped craisins.
Add the three cups of flour mixture and knead. Continue to add flour until dough pulls away from the side of the mixing bowl and forms a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead for a few minutes. If you add too much flour the buns will be less moist.
Grease your bowl with a little oil and turn the dough so all sides are oiled. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until double. Depending on the warmth of your kitchen, this should take between 1 to 2 hours.
Once it has doubled, punch it back down.
Grease a 9 x 15 inch pan. Cut your dough into 15 evenly-sized balls. Roll each to be smooth and pinch the bottoms closed. Put round side up in a 3 x 5 pattern in your pan. Brush with a little melted butter and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Put in a warm place to rise. Watch to make sure that the buns don't stick to the wrap as they rise. (Voice of experience :))
Let buns rise until almost double again, probably about an hour. Be sure to heat your oven to 350 degrees F. during the rising.
Just before baking, mix together the maple syrup and milk to make a glaze. Brush the raised buns gently with a little glaze. This will make your final product shiny!
Bake the buns until they are golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
These can be iced with a simple glaze, or just eaten as is! We like them with peanut butter and cream cheeze icing. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
The applesauce makes these buns deliciously moist and nutritionally improved! Try them with a Pineapple Cream Cheeze Icing. They are good toasted with a little peanut butter, too!
Welcome! I hope I can inspire you to find joy in creating beautiful, delicious, plant-based food in your own kitchen! I am about speaking out for love and compassion; about making a little necessary noise to promote greater understanding and connection; about knowing better and then doing better, because we must; and about making a difference with every mindful choice. Here, may you find inspiration for your heart and palate!