Hot Cross Buns

Name: Hot Cross Buns
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 500 grams bread flour ((strong or high-grade flour)); 100 grams brown sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 teaspoons yeast; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon mixed spice ((or allspice)); 1 teaspoon nutmeg; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; ¼ teaspoon ground cloves; ½ teaspoon ground cardamon; ½ teaspoon ground coriander; zest of an orange; 300 mL milk ((whole milk or full fat milk)); 1 egg ((large)); 2 teaspoons vanilla; 50 grams butter ((cut into cubes)); 100 grams mixed peel ((candied peel)); 100 grams raisins ((or sultanas)); juice of an orange ((optional extra)); 2 tablespoons vegetable oil ((for the proofing bowl)); 1 egg ((beaten)); 100 grams plain flour ((standard grade, all-purpose, cake flour)); 40 grams icing sugar ((powdered or confectioners)); 60-80 mL milk; 1 tablespoon golden syrup; 1 tablespoon boiling water

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These traditional easy, soft, hot cross buns are filled with a delicious mix of warm spices, raisins and mixed peel. Best served warm with a smattering of butter.

It's that time of the year when the shelves are stocked with Hot Cross Buns! Hot cross buns are sweet spiced buns that are filled with fruit and marked with a cross on the top.

These delicious little spiced fruit buns are a popular treat in South Africa. So I was really happy to discover that they are also super popular here in New Zealand, across the ditch in Australia, as well as in the UK, Ireland and Canada.

Traditionally Hot Cross Buns are eaten on Good Friday to mark the end of Lent. However, they now begin to appear on bakery shelves just after Valentine's Day.

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What You Need for this Recipe
Equipment
Ingredient Notes
Making Hot Cross Buns
Pro Tips for this Recipe
Hot Cross Buns FAQ
📖 Recipe

What You Need for this Recipe

Equipment

A stand mixer is preferable when making enriched soft bread doughs like the one in this recipe. I mixed this dough for a total of 15 minutes in my stand mixer. That would probably equate to about 20 to 25 minutes of kneading by hand. Not impossible.

Ingredient Notes

Here are some notes on the ingredients used in this recipe. Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Bread flour (High-Grade or Strong Flour) for the dough. Bread flour has a higher protein content than plain, standard-grade or all-purpose flour. This extra gluten is what gives bread its texture.
Brown sugar for sweetness, brown sugar also complements the warm spices in the bread dough.
Orange zest to bring a bit of zing to the dough.
Spices - most hot cross bun recipes will call for cinnamon and allspice or mixed spice. But I truly feel a good mix of spices really rounds out and deepens the flavour of these fruit buns. I opted for cinnamon, mixed spice, ginger, coriander, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg.
Milk, butter and eggs enrich this dough adding flavour and richness to the taste.
Plain flour, icing sugar and milk to create the crosses of the hot cross buns.

Use room temperature ingredients! Using room temperature ingredients ensures that ingredients in the batter or dough will incorporate easier. Take note that room temperature refers to around 20°C/68F.

To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place them into warm water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
To bring butter to room temperature quickly, cut the butter into cubes and zap in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or place the cubes in a bowl over warm water (such as with a double boiler) over low heat for 1 minute!
Milk, buttermilk, and cream can be brought to room temperature by zapping in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or on a low heat for a minute or two swirling every 10-15 seconds.

Substitutions/Variations

Spices - the most important spices (if you can rank spices) for this recipe is the cinnamon and allspice or mixed spice. If you don't have a spice of hand, it can be left out of the recipe.

Fruitless or hot cross buns without raisins are very easy to make - simply leave out the fruit.

Mixed peel and raisins - I opted for 100 grams of each because we (me and Dave) love mixed peel. However, you can change up the ratio of the fruit, or even just add raisins or sultanas if you don't have mixed peel on hand.

Salt is a crucial ingredient in all baked goods. I use table salt in all my recipes. One teaspoon of table salt equals 1.5 teaspoons of Morton Kosher Salt equals 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal.

Making Hot Cross Buns

Rehydrating the fruit (optional extra) - Place the raisins and mixed peel into a bowl, and cover with the juice of the orange. Allow the fruit to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes to overnight. Drain the fruit before adding it to the dough.

Making the bread dough

Step 1 - In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, salt, yeast (keeping the salt and yeast on opposite sides of the bowl), cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cardamom, coriander, and orange zest. On a low speed using the dough hook gently mix together until the ingredients are mixed through.

Step 2 - Add the milk, vanilla and egg to the dry ingredients. Mix on a slow to medium speed (speed 2 on a KitchenAid) for 4 to 5 minutes.

Step 3 - When the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, toss in the cubes of butter 1 at a time and allow to mix in. Let the dough knead at a low speed for about 7 to 10 minutes.

NOTE - this dough is very soft and takes a while to come together. Be patient, don't add extra flour.

Step 4 - The dough is finished kneading when you can stretch a portion of the dough thin enough to see light come through without tearing. This is known as the windowpane test.

Dough stretched out to show the window pane test.

Step 5 - Add the fruit to the kneaded dough and mix through for a minute or so (on low) until the fruit is combined.

NOTE - for fruitless or hot cross buns without raisins, simply leave out the fruit and move on to the next step.

Step 6 - Place the dough in an oiled mixed bowl and cover with cling film and/or a tea towel and allow to proof for 1 to 1½ hours.

Fruit mixed through the hot cross bun dough.

Shaping the dough

Step 7 - Line a 9"x13" (23cmx33cm) baking tray or roasting dish with baking paper.

Step 8 - Turn the proofed dough onto a clean, very lightly floured surface. Knock the air out of the dough, folding the dough over itself to equalise the temperature in the dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions of about 100 grams each.

Step 9 - Lightly flour the palm of your hand. Using the palm of your hand push the dough into the surface about 3 times. Create a little cage with your fingers and swirl loosely around the dough until you have a nice round roll. (The surface should have very little flour, as we are using the stickiness of the surface to create tension on the outside of the ball of dough).

Step 10 - Place the shaped balls of dough into the prepared baking tray. Cover with cling film or a tea towel and allow to proof for another hour. Using a lightly floured finger, poke the side of the bun, if the dough indents and jumps back about half way the dough is finished proofing.

Hot Cross Bun Crosses/Paste

Step 11 - In the last 10 to 15 minutes of the proofing preheat the oven to 200°C/390F.

Step 12 - Mix together the plain flour, icing sugar and milk to form a paste that has a piping consistency. Place the paste into a piping bag.

Step 13 - Brush the beaten egg over the tops of the buns.

Step 14 - Pipe crosses over the top of the buns and bake for 15-20 minutes. The buns may need to be turned during the last 5 minutes of the bake for an even golden brown colour.

Hot cross bun dough with crosses ready for baking.

Hot cross bun glaze

Step 15 - While the buns are baking, combine the golden syrup and boiling water. As soon as the buns come out of the oven, brush the tops of the buns with the glaze. Allow to cool in the baking tray for 10 minutes before lifting out and cool further on a wired rack.

Top half of a hot cross bun being placed on the bottom buttered half.

Pro Tips for this Recipe

Mixing this dough by hand is possible, however, the kneading time may take up to 20 minutes to reach the window pane consistency. If you are kneading this dough by hand - add the milk to the flour and mix through before adding any of the other ingredients. And allow the mixture to stand for 15 to 30 minutes. This will allow the milk to hydrate the flour and begin the gluten formation, giving a head start in the kneading process.

Weighing Ingredients

Weighing ingredients is more accurate than measuring cups overall, and this is my recommendation for my recipes as they are all developed and tested using grams only.

However, I have activated the grams-to-cup conversions on the recipe card. Simply click on "cups" underneath the ingredient list. For these conversions, cups are equal to 236mL/8 fluid ounces, tablespoons are 15mL and teaspoons are 5mL.

Measuring cups and spoons are an essential addition to every kitchen! Especially if you don't use a kitchen scale. Invest in a set to ensure you add the correct ingredients for accurate measuring. When in doubt - always use a level spoon or cup measure.

The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F, or the gas mark by 1.

For best baking results invest in an oven thermometer, as the temperature dials on the oven may not be accurate.

Bakeware: Metal bakeware is superior when it comes to baking biscuits, cookies, brownies, muffins and quick bread, scones, cakes. These heat up and cool down faster than glassware. Glassware is heavier, heats up and cools down slower than metal and is more suited for bread puddings, pies, crisps, crumbles and cobblers.

All my recipes are currently tested at sea level.

Storage and Freezing

Store hot cross buns in an airtight container for 3 days in a cool, dry place. These buns can be frozen by individually wrapping the buns in cling film and placed into an airtight container for up to 2 months. Allow to defrost in the fridge overnight, and heat up the next day for serving.

Hot Cross Buns FAQ

When are hot cross buns eaten?

Traditionally hot cross buns are eaten on Good Friday to signify the end of Lent. However, these deliciously spiced fruit buns can usually be found on the supermarket and bakery shelves not long after Valentine's Day, and well past Easter.

What is the origin of hot cross buns?

Hot cross buns as we know them today originated in 12th England, and have synonymous with Good Friday and Easter. These buns are common in England, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

How are hot cross buns served?

Hot cross buns are best eaten warm. The buns can be sliced in half (like a hamburger bun), buttered and sandwiched back together. These buns can also be sliced open, toasted and served with butter. When toasting, be careful to not burn the bun!

Can you reheat hot cross buns in the microwave?

Yes! I like to pop singular buns in the microwave for 10 seconds to heat them up. Especially if they are a day or two old.

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Hot Cross Buns

What You Need for this Recipe

Equipment