Serves: 12

I don't know about you, but it feels like Easter's really crept up on us this year. Thankfully, there's still a week to go and I'll be spending most of it baking (and eating) batches of these irresistible chocolate hot cross buns. Enjoy them warm with lashings of butter and a cuppa – it doesn't get much better than that.

What will you be baking this Easter? Tell us in the comments box below.

Ingredients

• 1 x 500g pack Wright’s premium white bread mix
• 50g soft butter, in pieces
• 100g light brown soft sugar
• 3 tsp ground mixed spice
• 250g pitted prunes, chopped
• 100g chopped mixed peel
• 250ml warm (not hot) milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 100g dark chocolate, chopped
• plain flour, for dusting (if needed)
• FOR THE CROSSES AND GLAZE:
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 75g caster sugar

Method

1. Tip the bread mix into a large mixing bowl, add the butter and rub it in using your fingers. Stir in the sugar, mixed spice, prunes and mixed peel.
2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, then pour in the warm milk and beaten egg.
3. Add the chocolate and, using a large spoon at first, then your hands, bring the mixture together to make a dough.
4. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, either by hand or in a food mixer using a dough hook. Dust with a little extra flour if the dough is sticky.
5. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces and place in a greased 20 x 20cm tin lined with baking paper.
6. Cover with a damp cloth and leave the buns in a warm place to rise for 2 hours until springy to the touch.
7. Preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7.
8. To make the crosses, mix the flour with 3 tablespoons of cold water to make a paste, transfer it to a piping bag and pipe across the length and width of each bun to form a cross.
9. Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes.
10. For the glaze, gently heat the caster sugar and 3 tablespoons of water together in a small pan until the sugar has dissolved.
11. Transfer the cooked buns to a wire cooling rack and brush with the glaze; leave to cool.

Tip

The cooked buns freeze well, so make plenty!