Preheat your oven to 180 celsius (356 degrees fahrenheit).
Peel and grate the apples. Combine the apple, mixed dried fruit, orange rind, eggs, salt, all spice, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and oil into a bowl.
Sift in the coconut flour and baking powder and mix well.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin trays and smooth the tops.
For the crosses, sift the gluten-free flour into a small bowl and add the vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork until a smooth, sticky paste forms. Add more flour or water as needed to get the right consistency. Spoon into a small snap-lock plastic bag and squeeze so that the mixture goes into one corner to form a piping bag. Snip off 1 small corner of the bag. Pipe the flour paste over the top of the buns to form crosses.
Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Check by inserting a skewer into the middle of one of the buns. If the skewer comes out clean, they are done.
Remove from the oven and put them somewhere to rest while you make the glaze.
To make the glaze, put the water and coconut sugar into a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and then heat to medium-high, bringing the mixture to a rolling simmer for ~2 minutes. Brush the warm glaze over the top of the hot cross buns.
Leave them to rest for 30 minutes before removing them from the tins.
Enjoy with butter, ghee, nut butters or fresh fruit. Re-heat the buns by placing them in the oven at 150 degrees for 15 minutes or slice them in half and toast them.
Notes
This recipe makes x6 large hot cross buns but if you like, you can use two normal muffin trays to make x12 smaller buns
For chocolate buns, replace the dried fruit with 1 cup of chocolate chips
Keep the fresh orange rind and add a teaspoon of raw cacao powder (with the chocolate chip version) for an orange-choc flavour
Tried this recipe? Tag us on Instagram @theconsumption or #theconsumption