I absolutely LOVE hot cross buns – in fact, it´s a real shame that they are only around over the Easter period. Although, probably that´s a good thing or I´d be eating them all the time. Whilst hot cross buns are currently available in every supermarket, this year I really wanted to try and make them myself. This recipe is my own version of hot cross buns, with loads of spices and dried fruits – juts the way I like it!
What are Hot Cross Buns?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the hot cross bun, it´s a sweet, spiced bun that has been made in Britain during the Easter period for centuries! Traditionally, they were eaten on Good Friday, with the cross on top of the bun reminding one of Jesus´ crucifixion. Like I said though, they can be bought here in the UK probably from February onwards, and it´s difficult to resist the temptation of buying them then already!
Hot Cross Buns are usually filled with a variety of dried fruits like raisins, sultanas, currants and mixed peel. A good hot cross bun is also packed with spices, traditionally a mix of ground cloves, coriander, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cinnamon. In the UK you can buy pre-made mixed spice, if you can´t find it in shops, you could also make your own (e.g. follow this recipe here).
How Do You Make Hot Cross Buns?
Hot Cross Buns are made with an enriched dough. An enriched dough is basically a bread dough, that has been “enriched” with ingredients such as eggs, milk or butter. Or all three – like in this recipe! The melted butter is added last, which really brings it together (in the same way it does when I make my German Nusszopf).
You can of course knead the dough by hand (which I normally do). But as this dough is quite sticky, I´d recommend using the dough hook of an electric whisk to knead the dough before the first prove.
A triple prove for extra flavour and fluffiness!
This dough is proved three (yes, three!) times – which gives it maximum flavour and beautifully fluffy buns! First, it gets its flavour from the spices and citrus zest added at the start. As fruit makes the dough heavier and makes it more difficult for it to rise, the fruit isn´t added until the second prove. Once the dough has proved twice, it is shaped into the round hot cross buns. They are placed on a tray and left to prove one last time. This will allow the dough to relax and help it maintain its shape, whilst at the same time growing a bit more until it touches the surrounding buns. This will ensure fluffy edges and a tear-and-share end result!
Adapting This Recipe
You can adapt the amount of spice and fruit in these buns depending on how you like it and according to what you have in your cupboards at home.
In terms of spice – I love a well-spiced bun! In this recipe I have used about double the amount of spice I have found other recipes use. If, like me, you like spice, then the amount below is a good amount to add. If you want a less heavily spiced bun, feel free to cut back a bit.
When it comes to fruit, you can add as much or as little fruit as you like. I used 300g of fruit – a combination of raisins, currants and mixed peel. This is quite a lot of fruit, but I like it that way. Feel free to add less if you are not a fan, and use a mix of whatever dried fruit you like or have to hand. You could also omit the lemon or orange zest, or use the zest of a mandarin or something similar as a substitute. The flavouring of the buns is very easy to play around with and can be adapted to the flavours you enjoy!
What´s the Best Way to Eat a Hot Cross Bun?
Hot Cross Buns are best eaten warmed or toasted, sliced open, with lashings of butter and jam. My favourite is raspberry jam, but of course, you can have it with any jam you like! A red jam works best though.
It´s also really easy to freeze hot cross buns – just put them in a freezer bag and defrost them when you are ready to eat them. I have also seen a lot of recipes that use leftover hot cross buns to make a bread and butter pudding… That might be something I will give a try – looks delicious!
More Easter Recipes🐣🐰
Why not check out some of my other Easter recipes? I have both great sweet and savoury recipes that you might be interested in:
- Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake Traybake
- Spiced Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
- Classic Fruit Scones with Orange Zest
- Chocolate Easter Egg Cupcakes
- Mini Egg Chocolate Brownies
- Mini Egg Cookies | Easter Baking Recipe
- Red Onion and Balsamic Soda Bread
- Lemon and Poppy Seed Drizzle Cake
- German Nusszopf | Sweet Nut and Chocolate Loaf | German Baking Classic
- Cheddar Cheese and Chive Scones
- Seeded Sourdough Loaf
- No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake with a Ginger Nut Base
- Caramelised Onion and Thyme Sausage Rolls
- “Laugenbrezeln” | Pretzels | Classic German Baking Recipe
- Crusty Sourdough Loaf | Homemade Sourdough Bread
- Homemade Mini Pork Pies
- Hot Cross Buns | Classic British Easter Recipe
- Lemon Yoghurt Cake
Hot Cross Buns – With Extra Spice and Fruit
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE ENRICHED DOUGH:
- 500g strong white flour
- 75g caster sugar
- 4 tsp mixed spice
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 lemon, zest only
- 1 orange, zest only
- 10g salt
- 10g fast-action dried yeast
- 40g butter, melted
- 300ml milk, lukewarm
- 1 medium egg, beaten
- 100g sultanas
- 100g currants
- 100g mixed peel
- 3 tbsp black tea (or orange juice)
FOR THE CROSS:
- 50g plain flour
- 30-40ml water
TO GLAZE:
- 3 tbsp golden syrup
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- Free-standing or electric hand-mixer with a dough hook attachment (optional, but recommended)
- A 36.5x26cm traybake tin (I use this one from Lakeland) or a large baking tray
- Piping bag (or freezer bag)
- Silicone pastry brush
Method:
- Place the raisins, currants and mixed peel into a small bowl, add the three tablespoons of tea and mix. Cover with clingfilm and leave to soak until you need them.
- To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar, spices, lemon and orange zest into a bowl and mix together.
- Add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other and then first carefully stir into the flour on their respective sides. Then create a well in the middle of the flour mix.
- Add the beaten egg and half the milk to the well and start mixing with the dough attachment of a free-standing or electric hand whisk. Once the dough starts to come together, add the remaining milk and continue to mix. Then add the melted butter.
- Knead the dough with the electric mixer for 5-10 minutes, until it is less sticky and start to pull away from the sides of the bowl and wrapping itself around the dough hook.
- Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the dough to prove on the counter for about an hour, or until doubled inside.
- Next, tip the dough onto a floured surface and sprinkle over the soaked fruit. Work the fruit into the dough until it is evenly distributed. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with the cling film again and leave for another hour to double in size.
- Line a baking tray or a ~36.5x26cm traybake tin with baking paper.
- Turn the proved dough out onto a floured surface and divide it into 12 equal pieces. An easy way to do it is to divide the dough into quarters, and then divide each quarter into 3. If you want to be very accurate, you can weigh the dough and divide the weight by 12, to find out exactly how much each bun should way.
- To shape your hot cross buns, cup you hand over a piece of dough and shape into a round ball by making quick circular movements with your hands. Repeat with all 12 buns.
- Place the hot cross buns onto the baking tray, with about 0.5-1cm space between them. Cover the tray with the cling film again and leave to prove for a final 30 minutes.
- Near the end of the proving time, preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
- Then, you can prepare the flour mix to pipe the crosses. Put the flour into a bowl and gradually add the water (you may not need all of it) until you have a thick, pipeable paste that drops off of a spoon. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag (or you could use a freezer bag) and snip off the end, to create a hole about 4mm in diameter.
- Once the hot cross buns have had their final prove, you can pipe on the crosses. To do so, start at one end of a row of buns, and pipe a continuous line of the flour mix across the middle of the buns, dipping down at the edges of the buns. Do the same for the other rows, then turn the tray by 90° and repeat to make a cross on all the buns.
- Bake the buns in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and springy to the touch. Once they have almost finished baking, gently heat the golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat.
- Remove the baked hot cross buns from the oven and use a silicone pastry brush to brush the warmed golden syrup over the baked buns.
- Leave the buns to cool completely or enjoy whilst they are still warm.
