One a penny, Two a penny, Hot Cross Buns

It's not Easter time but we wanted a warm comfort food that would help us to celebrate the Sabbath by reminding us of the Savior and His sacrifice. It also helped us to remember through the olfactory senses since the rolls smelled so wonderful with the cinnamon and raisins as they were baking. I'm glad I can enjoy the blessings of smell and taste with good food.

Our senses really do play a remarkable role in helping us to remember experiences in our lives. I am thankful for all my senses from hearing, tasting, smelling, seeing, touching and to the intangible senses (some suggest these as equilibrium and intuition-helping us to stay in balance and our natural moral anchor) that help me to feel the love of both my Heavenly Father and others. Do your senses help you to feel balance and joy in the world and the people around you?

Hot Cross Buns

Soak 3/4 cup raisins in 1 cup boiling water with 1 tsp vanilla. Let sit until ready to mix into dough. Combine and heat to 120-130 degrees F: 1 cup milk and 4 TBSP butter. Add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1 scant TBSP yeast (1 small pkg.) and 5 cups of flour and mix well, kneading to combine. Drain raisins, discarding vanilla water and add raisins to dough, kneading until dough is smooth and elastic. (About 5-10 minutes or just let the bread machine knead it for you-adding the raisins near the end of the mix cycle.) Allow to double in size in a covered bowl (about 1 hour). Punch down dough and divide into 18 pieces. Roll into balls and place in two 9-inch round greased baking pans or two 9-inch square greased baking pans. Cut a cross into the top of each roll and cover and let rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled. Beat together an egg wash of 2 Tbsp water and 1 egg yolk and lightly brush on top of rolls after they have risen. Bake at 375 F degrees for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown on all the tips of the rolls. Remove from pans and let cool. When cool, top with orange icing.

For orange icing: combine 4 tsp. orange juice with 1/4-1/2 tsp grated orange peel (juice and peel from 1 orange) and add in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Fill cross marks on rolls with icing using a frosting bag or ziploc bag with corner snipped off. Makes 18 rolls.