Hot Cross Buns
It’s taken me a while to perfect a hot cross bun recipe – and boy, it was worth the wait! They’re not at all hard to make but like all good bread recipes, they take a little time. To get the buns super light and soft, you make a yeast ‘super booster’ at the start to get it all going. It adds a smidgeon more time to the process, but it’s so worth it. And you probably only make hot cross buns once a year, so what’s your rush? Just enjoy the magic of breadmaking and then stuff yourself with the spiced buttered deliciousness. (And yes, you can add chopped up dark chocolate instead of fruit, you naughty people!)
VEGAN VERSION: Use 1 tbsp ground flaxseed (linseed) soaked in 3 tbsp water instead of the egg, and firm coconut oil (chopped up finely) instead of butter.
GLUTEN-FREE: Sorry, but you can’t use GF flour for this one, it just won’t work. Try my gluten-free hot cross bun cakes instead.
Makes 16 buns
Prep time – 30 minutes, plus 3-4 hours rising time
Cooking time – 17-20 minutes
Ingredients
Super Booster
1 ¼ cups high grade white flour (or strong flour)
1 ½ cups milk
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp active dried yeast (check expiry date)
Fruit
1 ½ cups raisins, sultanas, chopped apricots or a mixture
Zest and juice of 2 oranges (I like to strip the peel off with a peeler then chop finely)
Dough
3 cups high grade white flour (or strong flour)
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
50g chilled butter
‘Super Booster’ (see recipe above)
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
Glaze
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup reserved fruit liquid from above (make up with water if need be)
Crosses
½ cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
3-4 tbsp water
½ tsp baking powder
Method
Fruit
Heat the orange juice and zest in a small saucepan until hot. Add the fruit to a bowl or a resealable bag and pour the orange liquid in. Seal/cover and leave for an hour or so, or overnight. Drain the fruit in a sieve before using and reserve the liquid.
Super Booster
Add the first measure of flour to a large mixing bowl.
Add the milk to a heatproof bowl and microwave in 20 second increments until it reaches skin temperature – about 32c is ideal. If it gets too warm, just let it cool down to skin temp before using.
Add the sugar and yeast and whisk gently for 20 seconds or so.
Make a well in the flour and pour in the milk mixture, stirring to combine evenly. Cover with a clean damp cloth or a plastic bag, and leave somewhere draft-free* for about 45 minutes. It should be bubbling away nicely and puff up.
Dough
Once the superbooster has risen, add the second measure of flour, sugar, spices and salt to a large metal or plastic mixing bowl and stir. The bowl needs to be big enough for the dough to double in size in later.
Finely chop the chilled butter and add to the flour mixture along with the Super Booster mixture and egg. Stir with a wooden spoon to bring it all together into a rough dough.
Tip it out a clean benchtop you’ve cleared some space on. Start to knead – it will feel very wet and sticky at first and your hands will feel caked in dough. You can rub your hands in a little more flour to clean them, adding the crumbs back to the dough. Keep kneading and eventually, the dough will stop sticking to your hands and the bench so much. Don’t be tempted to add heaps of flour – a little bit at the start is OK, but a sticky dough will produce much better buns than a dry dough. My tip is to invest in a dough scraper to clean the bench as you go – it’s a lifesaver.
Knead firmly for 10 minutes – it needs to be very smooth and stretchy (see tips below). You should be puffed with a mild sheen of sweat by the time you’re done (it’s good fitness). I literally stand one leg and throw all my weight into it. Once it’s ready, leave to sit for 5-10 minutes to relax before adding the fruit.
Drain the fruit well in a sieve and tip on to the benchtop. Squash the dough out on top and knead it all together for another minute or so. It will feel slippery and weird to start with – just persist with gentle kneading and it will all come back together into a cohesive, very sticky dough eventually.
Add the dough back to the mixing bowl, pop a plastic bag on top and leave in a draft-free place* (see tips below) until it’s doubled in size – usually an hour or two – it depends on the temperature of the surroundings, among other things. It’s a visual clue, not a timed one.
[At this point, you can punch the dough right back down in the bowl so all the air is gone, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Then continue to the next step].
Tip the dough out on a clean benchtop and divide into 15-16 even pieces (you can weigh them if you have electric scales). Firmly roll (and I mean firmly – I use the bench and really roll it around hard with one hand) each portion until you have a fairly smooth ball.
Place the balls nearly touching on a baking tray/metal roasting pan/enamel roasting dish lined with baking paper (mine was about 30 x 20cm). My buns were pretty much touching start with, so all the buns joined up nicely as they rose. If you use a thin metal roasting pan with sides to support the buns as they rise, they will look more like mine in the photo.
Cover with lightly oiled clingfilm (or I prefer uncovered in the turned-off oven with the bowl of boiled water) and leave to rise again for another hour or so until puffed up into proper bun size – they don’t rise any more when cooking, like cakes do.
Preheat the oven to 180c regular bake.
Crosses
Only do this just before you pipe the buns, or the mixture goes claggy. Stir the flour, baking powder, water and sugar together with a fork to form a smooth paste. Add to a piping bag with a small round nozzle (or a snaplock bag with a tiny corner cut off). Pipe thin crosses on top of each bun.
Bake immediately in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes – or until dark golden brown all over. You can turn the oven up to 200c for a couple of minutes if they aren’t browning.
Glaze
Use the reserved fruit liquid and any water needed to make up 1/3 cup of liquid total. Add this to a heatproof bowl with the sugar. Microwave on high for 1 minute then whisk to dissolve the sugar. Brush on top of the buns as soon as they come out of the oven.
You did it! Homemade hot cross buns! They won’t look perfect because it’s home baking and you can’t produce buns like the bought ones – nor should you want to. No matter what they look like, you’re an absolute legend and they will taste better to you that anything you’ve bought a shop.
If eating them more than half a day later, I’d toast them.
*Dough rising
There’s no set time for dough to rise, room temperature is usually OK in the warmer months. It will rise slowest in cold conditions and faster in warm humid conditions (ideal temperature is about 32c). Try placing a bowl or tray of just-boiled water in a turned-off oven and pop the covered dough in there with it. Shut the door and there will be enough warmth trapped in there to help it rise nicely. It’s worth noting that yeast dies at temperatures above 50c, so don’t be tempted to warm it up too much.
Tips
Kneading
Proper kneading at the start means a lighter bun at the end. Knead by pushing the dough away – literally stretching it out – downward and away from you with the heel of your hand, then grabbing it and bringing it and repeating. You’re stretching out the gluten strands in the flour so the dough can rise properly. At the end, try to stretch and coax a piece of the dough out into a ‘window’ with your fingers – when the dough is ready, it should stretch enough you can see light through a thin pane of ‘glass’. If it’s not ready, it will just tear. You’ll get there – just keep going until you do. It’s a good workout!
Using a machine
I prefer not to use a machine – it actually ends up taking longer to achieve the result you want. However, if you must, you can use the dough hook on the machine to start the kneading process. Use a low speed for 5 minutes. You’ll need to finish the kneading by hand for another 5-10 minutes to get the ‘window-pane’ result I’ve mentioned above, which is critical.
Can you use this recipe in the bread maker on dough setting?
I haven’t tried it, sorry! I’m a hot cross bun purist ;)
Would they work gluten free swapping the flour?
Hi there, just curious if you have any tips when using gluten free flour?
Should the dried active yeast dissolve in the booster? Not sure what it’s supposed to look like
Now when can someone come up with GF hot cross buns that arw light and fluffy like normal buns……
Hi Chelsea have you tried making gluten free hotcross buns, something I miss but not keen on rock buns!! Looking for a good recipe!
Hi Chelsea,
I’m allergic to oranges, will lemon work? or something else?
Thanks Kim
You could just leave the orange out!
Hi Chelsea, your recipes are fantastic! These are awesome buns but just wondering if there is a way to speed up the process, can you leave the super booster or the shaped buns over night? Thanks :)
Time consuming but absolutely worth it! They turned out fabulous! Yum yum yum! Sending the recipe to my friends
Absolutely yummy…we are eating a hot one now and they are delicious.. And thank you for the tip about proofing in the oven; worked well.
Hi Chelsea. If I’d like to bake these fresh for a morning, what steps should I take to refrigerate the dough? Like, at which point should I cool it and how long before baking should I allow for the dough to come back up to room temp and rise before baking?… Or is it just best to cook them the night before and have slightly old buns reheated? They’re so damn good fresh..
These were delicious!! First time making bread of any sort- holy moly had to eat two straight away. took a long time though but def worth it haha xxx
Hi Chelsea, is there any step at which you could fridge the dough overnight, to allow the buns to be baked fresh first thing in the morning? (I’m living in Germany – so can’t buy hot cross buns fresh for breakfast like we usually would!) Thanks.
Hi Chelsea,
Am I able to make the dough the night before and leave the buns in the fridge overnight, take them out on Sunday morning and let them come to room temp before baking? I’ve seen this option on another recipe, but want to try yours.
Hi Chelsea, just wondering if you can you do the first prove in the fridge overnight so that the buns can be finished off in the morning? Thanks Mary
Hi Chelsea
Can I prepare the dough and leave it overnight to rise?
Oh my word – these are fabulous. Making second batch as they’ve all gone xxx
Chelsea,Thanks so much what an awesome Easter bun recipe they are delicious I made 18 ,was a real challenge,a friend has now taken the recipe as well,your recipes are always so tasty. Happy Easter to you.?
@Jasmine I just took some out of the oven that I made with normal flour (10.5 g of protein per 100g) and they look (and smell) amazing! Check the nutritional guide on the flour to check it’s more than 10g per 100 and I think it will work.
These have got to be the most delicious Hot Cross Buns I have ever made, or eaten in fact. Just follow the instructions to the letter and they will turn out great. The rising in the oven thing was brilliant. Thanks Chelsea
The best Hot Cross Buns ever. I have tried lots of other Hot Cross Bun recipes and they’ve never been a success. This one is fantastic. Thank you.
Hi Chelsea what is the difference between the granula yeast and the powdery yeast?
Can the bun dough be left overnight to bake in the morning? Put in the fridge in baking tray? Totally underestimated time needed for the whole process so don’t think they’ll be ready until after dinner at this rate which seems a waste……thanks :)
Hi Chelsea,
Can you get the dough to the stage where you have put in balls on baking tray, then leave them in a warm spot overnight and cook in the morning?
My batch of these just came out of the oven. The whole house smells divine. I made the dough last night up to just before the shaping stage – knocked the dough back, covered the bowl and left it in the fridge overnight. This morning I shaped the buns and continued as normal. They took a bit longer to rise but came out great! Delicious with a bunch of butter melting on top :)
I know it’s been a while…but I have done this and it keeps rising in the fridge ???? did you put in balls and then place in fridge…or just leave as a whole and put in balls in the morning?
Hey Chelsea just giving these a go. I’ve got a steam oven and I can do steam heat combination. Do you think it would work or should I just use regular oven? Thanks Pip
Jasmine it may also be called “strong” flour i believe that is the same as high grade ?
Correct!
Hi Chelsea, living here in the Middle East I can’t buy high grade flour. There is ‘bread flour’ which is hideously exspensive, is this the same? Is there anyway you can make or substitute high grade flour?
Yes that’s what you need :)
Hi Jasmine,
We are also in Saudi Arabia, and have come to accept that the flour milled and on sale here is the only flour that there really is, it’s slightly higher protein than ideal for ‘tin loaf’ style baking, but you just go with it. Give it some extra care and love and it will work, my Wife and Son just made a batch of traditional Fruit and a 2nd batch of Original Chocolate and the local Saudi flour worked just fine. Just try and find a good baking powder, as the old edmonds baking powder is still using a ingredient banned in most countries in the world e541 )Sodium Aluminium Phosphate) it’s a suspected contributor to altzehiemers and dimentia due to the aluminium content. NZ is one of the only places it is still legally allowed to be sold. Chelsea, very interested to know what baking powder you use?
Bread flour (aka strong flour or high grade flour) has a higher gluten content than all purpose flour so it will give a more stretchy dough that will hold its rise better.
It’s not impossible to use standard all purpose flour it’s just likely that your final product won’t be as soft and fluffy. I’ve heard that you can buy gluten separately and strengthen standard flour by adding it in but I’m not sure if that’s available I the Middle East either. Missy baking sites I’ve read think that yippy probably won’t notice the difference unless you’re a professional! Would be interested to hear how you get on.
although no longer useful to you
perhaps this tip will help someone else
if you make the booster with very fine semolina and regular flour- i went 1cup very fine milled semolina and 1/4 C plain flour you can use regular plain white unbleached flour for the rest
the semolina (durum wheat) has very high gluten content which will balance out the plain flour .. you can’t use 100% as sub for “strong/bread/high grade flour as it has too high protein.. and therefore too dense – however for the purpose of injecting some extra gluten which will give you a nice tight spongy bun… you ‘kneed’ ????????♀️those strands of gluten
#Jackpot
during covid lockdown .. bread ..ah… ah… ah -finds a way
i also used fresh yeast as granular sold out everywhere so asked for a chunk from the supey bakery dept for a princely sum of 99¢ for 100g -a few batches in that ..
so much better !! especially for pizza /calzone- and can be frozen in vacuumed packed portions –
-you’re welcome
will they be a disaster if i use regular plain flour?
Hi is it 3 teaspoon active dry yeast or 3 tablespoon surebake active yeast is that the right conversion
Can you make the dough the night before and cook in the morning? If so what stage do I stop at? And do you put in fridge? Thanks
eeeppp im excited to give these a go. Just went and bought some yeast!
Never even made bread before, but i’m sure this easy to follow recipe will work out a treat!
Hi Chelsea
what brand yeast do you use. I have the Edmonds Surebake active yeast mixture. It is the one recommended for bread makers but is it ok to use for this recipe?
Tried making these for the first time last night. Yum! They came out great. I did a cranberry & apricot mix since I dont like cooked sultanas. Question though. How long could I get away with resting the dough for? Would it last overnight so I could bake fresh in the morning?
Been trying to find a tasty bun recipe for the kids and I to do together over the weekend. This one looks a treat. Thank you for sharing
Hi Chelsea, I’m wanting to serve these for brunch but don’t think there will be enough time before all those steps unless I’m up at crack of dawn. Could I do right up to before baking and then refrigerate till morning?
Can you leave the dough to rise overnight, so they’re ready to cook on Easter Sunday morning?
So looking forward to tasting these yummy morsels. It’s hot cross buns that are my downfall at Easter, you can keep the Easter eggs and chocolate, just give me those hot cross bunnies. Looking forward to making your recipe over the weekend. Yummo!
Do you think this would work as well in the breadmaker (for the mixing dough process?)
Cannot wait to try. Your pavlova was an absolute hit which was a first time for me. Fingers crossed for the hot cross buns
Chelsea, this looks like a great recipe. I am allergic to oranges though. What would you suggest I replace that with? I can have other citrus.
Hi Chelsea, I have been on the lookout for another hot cross bun recipe as I have tried them in the past, but they were dense and heavy. So I am going to try your one on Friday and I too love freshly baked hot cross buns, I am so excited!
Hi Chelsea,
Just checking I have read this correctly- the super booster has to double in size before it is added to the dough mixture and that too has to rest to double in size? Potentially 1-3 hours each? Just trying to work out how long I need to allow. Thanks!
Is it possible to make the dough the night before and then bake the prepared dough on Good Friday? Would love to have fresh buns for breakfast ?
Hi Chelsea, I was so excited when I saw this recipe!!!! Like Hannah above, you’ve revolutionised my ability and interest in cooking :) Just a question about this one…if we don’t have oranges (because I have everything else but!) do we need to add anything else to replace the orange juice?
Looks spectacular. Think the orange is a lovely touch. You’re so right, what’s the rush? Enjoy the process and then enjoy scoffing homemade hot cross buns. Yummo!
Woohoo! I’m excited to give these a go for Easter, my partner loves Hot Cross buns so this will be a nice surprise for him on Sunday.
Thanks for posting this! ?
Not Sunday! Friday! Good Friday is when you eat hot cross buns. Sunday = eggs!
Would it be ok to make it all and leave it overnight before cooking? Fresh hot cross buns for breakfast mmmmmm
You absolutely rock Chelsea. I have never been much of a cook before, but since I have got a new kitchen I LOVE it and I swear by all of your recipes. Thanks a bunch for helping cooking-challenged people such as myself – all of your recipes are easy to follow and so tasty!!!
Thanks for this recipe Chelsea – would it still work without the egg?