Fruity, spicy delicious homemade hot cross buns! Step by step photos and instructions to help you make the perfect Easter buns this year!
This post was originally published in March 2016 – it has been retested, rephotographed and republished (to make it better for you!) in April 2019
It's nearly Easter! And guess how many Easter Eggs I've already eaten? Trick question. Actually none. Probably because we are still working our way through the mountain of Christmas chocolate we were given. Yes, we are thooooose people that can sit in a room with chocolate and not eat it. How? No idea, but the pull of the miniature Reese's Pieces Eggs is getting stronger. I give it til Wednesday. Until then, let's make my favourite Easter treat...hot cross buns!
Before we start I'd like to point out that making bread is a long process. The whole process from start to finish will take you about 3 hours, maybe longer if you dawdle...as I tend to do. But don't fret! This does include about 2 hours rising time so it's not all hands on, leaving lots of time for kitchen dance parties and watching Adele carpool karaoke on YouTube.
The ingredient list also looks quite long, but it's all simple stuff. It may seem daunting, but I can assure you, it will be totally worth it. The smell of freshly baked hot cross buns is drool worthy, and they taste SO much better than the buns you get from the supermarket. Especially with a 4 day weekend coming up (YAY)...do it!!
Click here to pin this to your Easter recipes board on Pinterest to save it for later!
Quick bread making tips:
Quick bread making tips:-
- Use high grade flour - this is a simple step and a really important one. High grade flour has a higher protein (gluten) content which is what gives the bread its delicate texture. It costs the same as plain flour and makes a world of difference when making bread.
- Use fresh yeast. Don't be pulling an old jar of yeast out of the pantry and expecting it to work wonders. Test it for freshness by dissolving 1 teaspoon sugar in ½ cup warm water (45°C/115°F). Sprinkle 2-¼ teaspoons active dry yeast ( I use Edmond's Surebake Yeast) over it, stir and let stand for 10 minutes, If it's active it will start to bubble and will look sort of foamy. If not, the yeast is dead. If in doubt, throw it out and start again.
- If it's warm where you are, leaving the dough to rise on a sunny windowsill will work perfectly. If it's cold, put it in the hot water cupboard, on top of the fireplace or in the warming draw of your oven.
And to make it even easier for you, I've added step by step photos and a break down of the time involved at the bottom of the post.
So now that the serious stuff is out of the way, let's talk about these buns.
It is a basic sweet bread dough made Easter-y with the addition of cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg and is chock-full of currants, raisins & mixed peel. If you are one of those weird people that can't stand dried fruit you can leave it out of these and just have spiced buns. They won't be as good, but that's your call!
The piped crosses on top are also optional but if you leave them off you have to call them Easter Buns instead....beeeeecause I said so. And there would be no hot cross on it...duh. Plus piping is fun. So I guess this step just became compulsory.
These buns are sweet, spicy, fruity and just plain delicious. Smother them in buttah, serve with a coffee and Happy Easter to you my friend. My other favourite way to eat them? Covered in NUTELLA!! It's almost a sin to cover something so perfect in chocolate buuuut...do it anyway. And don't tell my grandmother.
Step by step:
(Note: I used to add the fruit after the first rise as pictured below, I have changed this and now add them at the beginning with all other ingredients, just to keep it simple! The recipe card details how I do it now.)
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- Make the dough - 15 minutes
- Knead the dough - 10 minutes
- First rise - 1 ½ hours
- Shape the buns - 5 minutes
- Second rise - 40 minutes
- Pipe the crosses - 5 minutes
- Baking - 20 minutes
Total time: About 3 hours
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Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon active dried yeast
- 2 ½ - 3 cups high grade (or bread) flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¾ cup raisins or currants (or a mixture)
- ¼ cup mixed peel
- 75 grams butter melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the crosses
- ¼ cup flour
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Glaze
- ¼ cup water
- 3 Tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Add the milk, water and brown sugar to a microwave proof jug or small pot and heat until warm to the touch (about 45°C/110°F) Whisk well to dissolve the sugar. Pour into a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top, stir in and leave to sit for 5 minutes.
- While you are waiting, add 2 ½ cups of flour, salt, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg, raisins/currants and mixed peel to the bowl of a stand mixer or other large bowl and whisk together.
- In another small jug melt the butter, add the egg and vanilla and whisk together until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Once the yeast has started to bubble, add the flour mixture and butter mixture to the yeast mixture and using the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer, knead for 7-8 minutes until the dough springs back when you press it. If kneading by hand, combine the dough with a wooden spoon and then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Add a little more flour if the dough is really sticky.
- Cover the dough in gladwrap or a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down gently and turn out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Split the dough into 10 evenly sized pieces roll into balls and place on a baking tray lined with a silicone liner or baking paper, so that they are almost touching. Cover with gladwrap that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil and leave to rise in a warm place for 40 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- While the buns are rising, make the mixture for the crosses. In a small bowl whisk together milk, flour and sugar until smooth. Once the buns have risen, pipe the crosses on the buns, by putting the cross mixture into a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner snipped off. If you don't have a piping bag or ziplock bag, you can carefully drizzle it with a spoon.
- Bake the buns for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. While the buns are baking, prepare the glaze by mixing the sugar and water in a small bowl and microwaving until the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove from the oven and brush the buns with the sugar glaze and allow them to cool slightly.
- To serve, slice the buns in half, spread with butter and enjoy!
- Buns will keep in an airtight container for 3 days or can also be frozen. They are definitely best served the day of baking but you can zap them in the microwave or toast them on day 2 or 3 and they're almost as good!
Nutrition
Really Awesome! Good Texture and Flavour. Its our go to recipe for hot cross buns
Great, easy recipe. Soaked the fruit first so they weren't so dry and subbed wholemeal flour for about a quarter of total flour and buns still came out light. Rising time was shorter due to nor'wester blowing through, baking time also shorter as I made slightly smaller buns. Delicious, not too sweet, highly recommended.
These are the best Hot Cross Buns ever! We have made them for the last 2 years and will never buy them again. They are so delicious, family and friends all love them.
Fantastic recipe that was so easy to follow. 🤩
Is it possible to make these and let them rise for the last time overnight so they can be baked first thing the morning ?
Yes it is! Just make sure you do the second rise in the fridge overnight and allow plenty of time for them to come to room temperature in the morning before baking.
At the ripe old age of 81 I’ve just made my first hot cross buns. I’ve never ventured into yeast cookery until now.
Have made these twice now, but didn’t bother with crosses or glazing. They were delicious and very light. Now a family staple. Thank you
I'm so glad you have been enjoying them! Perfect for all year round, not just Easter! Laura
Best Recipe I have come across love it !! And it's so easy to follow
So happy to hear that Nicole!
Wonderful recipe thank you its came out beautifully, made 20 medium and small by increasing quantities slightly, a very forgiving recipe, rising beautifully, good idea piping with a zip lock bag. Delicious and spicy with the decent quantities of cinnamon and all spice, fruit soft and delicious and the crosses give it a cultural significance that's cool.
These turned out absolutely picture perfect. Was a cold-ish day and the oven was full of roast lamb so the second rise was more like 1.5 hours but they were amazing (maybe even better for it!) Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Brilliant! So happy to hear that Liz, Happy Easter! Laura
Beautiful recipe.. works perfectly. Thanks
Thanks so much for the feedback Mery! 🙂
Gorgeous! How good are homemade Hot Cross Buns? These look beautiful!!! I'm so jealous that you can also keep chocolate in the house and not eat it - I am definitely NOT one of those people. lol. Happy Easter!
Thanks Jessica! Haha it's a special talent! Happy Easter 🙂