Hot Cross Buns

These hot cross buns are a traditional treat loaded with delicious spices and a variety of dried fruits! They are perfect for Good Friday and Easter, which are the times of the year when these classic yeast rolls are traditionally enjoyed. Of course, these soft and sweet rolls are so aromatic while rising and baking that you won't be able to resist enjoying them throughout the year.

Jump to:

• 🌎 Origin
• 📖 Variations
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🥣 Equipment Needed
• 🔪 How To Make Hot Cross Buns
• 💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
• 🥡 Storing
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 🐰 More Easter Treats
• 📖 Recipe Card
• 💬 Reviews

These fluffy and fragrant hot cross buns are just as delicious as any you could get at a bakery. Seriously, once you try them homemade, you will never go back to buying them prepackaged from the store again.

The wonderful smell of these spiced fruit rolls is so amazing. It makes it hard to wait for the buns to cool enough to finish them off with their cross made of thick icing!

🌎 Origin

Growing up, these hot cross buns were always served on Good Friday and they are traditionally associated with the Christian holidays remembering the crucifixion of Christ (the cross on the bun tops represents the cross of crucifixion, and the spices used in the buns represent the embalming spices used for Christ's funeral).

The old English superstition and folklore around these sweet, fruit-studded rolls is a history lesson in itself! The properties that they supposedly possessed range from medicinal purposes to protecting ships at sea, but most commonly they were hung in kitchens to prevent fires so that all baking turned out perfectly...with the moldy buns only being replaced once yearly!

📖 Variations

Now, the cross can be made in a few different ways. A (shortcrust) pastry cross is the most common or the easiest method, typically made with some combination of confectioners' sugar.

Sometimes, the cross is piped into an already cut cross in the tops of the buns. Other times a combination of flour and water is used as the cross that is piped on top. Of course, our favorite is the cross made with sugar.😉

Many stores offer hot cross buns in non-traditional flavors, like apple cinnamon, orange cranberry, chocolate, sticky date, coffee, caramel, or toffee (and all of them are delicious!). Any way you make your hot cross buns, the results are addictive!

🥘 Ingredients

I know this is a long list of ingredients, but everything should be easy to find at your local grocery store. Trust me, these tasty spiced fruit rolls are worth it!

Hot Cross Buns

• Rum - ¼ cup of rum (or apple juice).
• Raisins - ½ cup raisins (or currants).
• Dried Cranberries - ¼ cup of dried cranberries.
• Dried Cherries - ¼ cup of dried cherries (unsweetened).
• All-Purpose Flour - 3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour.
• Bread Flour - 1 cup of bread flour.
• Instant Yeast - 2 ¼ teaspoons of instant yeast (or 1 packet).
• Ground Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
• Ground Cloves - ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves.
• Ground Nutmeg - ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg. Allspice or cardamom can be substituted if needed.
• Salt - 1 ½ teaspoons of salt.
• Baking Powder - 1 tablespoon of baking powder.
• Light Brown Sugar - ¼ cup of light brown sugar, packed.
• Butter - 6 tablespoons of butter at room temperature.
• Eggs - 2 large eggs at room temperature.
• Egg Yolk - 1 large egg yolk (room temperature - save the egg white for coating the rolls).
• Milk - 1 ¼ cups of milk at room temperature.

Egg Wash

• Egg White - 1 large egg white (reserved from earlier).
• Milk - 1 tablespoon of milk.

Icing

• Confectioner's Sugar - 1 cup of confectioner's sugar, aka powdered sugar.
• Salt - 1 pinch of salt.
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract.
• Heavy Cream - 1-2 tablespoons of heavy cream or half & half (use enough to make a thick pipeable icing).

*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*

🥣 Equipment Needed

You will need a few common baking tools to pull off this recipe. First, some measuring utensils and a microwave-safe Pyrex or measuring cup.

You will also need plastic wrap, a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, a whisk, a basting brush, a 9x13 baking pan, and a wire cooling rack for the buns. For the icing, you'll need a small mixing bowl and silicone spatula, as well as a piping bag or Ziploc with the corner cut off.

🔪 How To Make Hot Cross Buns

There are a few steps to this recipe, but there is nothing too complicated. It's a labor of love and well worth the delicious results.

One batch of dough will make 12 large rolls, or you can make about 14 smaller rolls.

Make The Dough

1. Quick soak the fruit. Place all of your dried fruit (¼ cup of cranberries, ½ cup of raisins, and ¼ cup of cherries) in a Pyrex or microwave-safe measuring cup and pour ¼ cup of rum or apple juice over your mixed fruit. Cover with cling film and microwave in 30-second intervals until the cling film is shrink-fit to the top of your measuring cup (usually 1-2 minutes total).
2. Let the fruit cool. Set the heated measuring cup of fruit aside and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes.
3. Combine the yeast and flour. In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 1 packet of instant yeast, 3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour, and 1 cup of bread flour.
4. Add spices. Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg, 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and ¼ cup of packed light brown sugar. Use a whisk or fork to quickly combine the dry ingredients.
5. Add wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients (6 tablespoons of butter, 2 eggs, 1 large egg yolk, and 1 ¼ milk) and combine, kneading until an elastic dough is formed (about 3 minutes with a stand mixer).
6. Add the fruit. Mix in the cooled fruit and all of the rum or apple juice that was left in your measuring cup until evenly distributed.

Let Rise and Form Rolls

1. Let rise. Cover the dough with cling film or a warmed tea towel and allow to rise for an hour (your dough may not double during that rise, but will increase in bulk).
2. Knead and shape. Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Divide your dough into approximately 12 portions (I usually fill my 9 x 13 pan with rows of 3 x 4 buns for my 12 portions). Round each portion into a nice bun, placing the buns seam side down in your lightly greased pan.

Bake The Buns

1. Let rise again. Cover the buns with cling film or your warmed tea towel again, and allow them to rise for an additional hour. Or until they have increased in size enough that they are touching each other in the pan.
2. Brush with egg wash. (When your dough is almost completely risen) Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Mix the reserved large egg white with 1 tablespoon of milk, whisk, and then brush over the tops of each of the buns.
3. Bake. Bake the hot cross buns for 25-30 minutes for a dozen, or 20-25 minutes if you have made 14 portions (or more). The buns will be golden brown when done.
4. Cool completely. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire cooling rack (the buns will pop out as one sheet of buns). Allow your hot cross buns to cool completely before making the cross with your icing.

Hot Cross Bun Icing

1. Combine icing ingredients. In a small mixing bowl, combine confectioners 1 cup of sugar, 1 pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of vanilla (or almond) extract, and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.
2. Stir and adjust. Stir until you have a nice thick icing (using more heavy cream if needed).
3. Add to a piping bag. Transfer icing into a piping bag with a small round piping tip or into a Ziploc baggie and snip a small tip off to pipe through.
4. Pipe a cross. Make a cross on top of each of your buns.

💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes

• Using room temperature ingredients (eggs, butter, cream, milk) for the buns will help them incorporate into the dough better.
• You can use only all-purpose flour if you don't have bread flour on hand, or you can make your own bread flour!
• Don't skip cooling the buns! Not only will the icing melt and run off the top of the roll, but the inside of the buns may still seem somewhat doughy. They need about 20 minutes to cool fully and finish baking all the way through.

🥡 Storing

Once cooled, you can keep your homemade buns in an airtight container somewhere cool and dark, like a pantry or bread box, for up to 3 days.

Hot cross buns can be frozen, baked, or unbaked. Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight container or heavy-duty freezer bag for up to 2 months.

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❓ Recipe FAQs

🐰 More Easter Treats

• Easter Fudge Covered Oreos - Chocolate-dipped Oreo cookies with festive Easter sprinkles!
• Easter Basket Cupcakes - Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and cute candy eggs!
• Easter Basket Cookies - Soft sugar cookies topped with buttercream frosting, coconut 'hay', and mini chocolate eggs!
• No Bake Easter Peeps Nests - Chewy chocolate no-bake cookies topped off with adorable marshmallow Peeps in a nest!
• Pineapple Sunshine Cake - Soft and fluffy pineapple cake with a sweet whipped cream frosting and chunks of cherries and pineapple.
• Strawberry Dump Cake - An easy-to-make cake made with fruity strawberry pie filling and yellow cake mix.

📖 Recipe Card