Hot Cross Buns are a traditional bread for Good Friday. They're a yeasted bread, flavored with dried fruits and spices, and then finished with a piped cross on top before serving.
Jump to RecipeWant to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Easter dinner is heaped in traditions all over the world, both because of the religious meaning of Easter, and the fact that it roughly coincides with the beginning of spring.
Hot cross buns, a traditional Good Friday bread, are spiced, sweet yeasted rolls, made with currants or raisins, and finished with a piped white cross on top.
Many variations of this theme abound, and after some fun experimenting, my favorite version now includes dried cherries and dates along with the traditional currants, and a mixture of cinnamon and cardamom spices.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- I strongly recommend only making this dough using a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Like many sweet yeast doughs, it's fairly sticky, and difficult to knead by hand.
- Feel free to use dried fruits to your choosing. Dried apricots would be another wonderful option.
- Like my other yeasted breads, I like to do the first rise by tucking the dough into a bowl, covering it loosely with plastic, and tucking it into my microwave oven with a cup of very hot water to keep the space nice and warm.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Buns
- 1 ½ packages active dry yeast
- 1 cup 2% milk
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (15.7 ounces)
- 1 ½ teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup mixed dried fruit I use a combination of currants, dates, and cherries
- Olive oil
Glaze
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon milk ideally whole milk
Icing
- 1 teaspoon milk
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Warm the milk to 105 -110˚ F. Stir in the honey and add the yeast. Stir vigorously, and set aside to allow the yeast to bloom, about ten minutes.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the whisk attachment, whisk the flour, orange zest, lemon zest, salt, and spices together. Create a well in the flour mixture, and pour in the melted butter, foamy yeast and milk mixture, and eggs. Using the dough hook, begin to mix on the lowest speed of the mixer. Once the liquid begins to be absorbed by the flour, increase the speed of the mixer to a moderately low speed until the liquid is completely absorbed and the dough becomes soft and elastic (about five to seven minutes). Once the dough can be stretched several inches without breaking, it’s ready for it’s first rise. Just add the cup of dried fruits with a few turns of the dough hook and you’re done with this step.
- Pro-tip: A great way to test the elasticity of the dough is by removing the dough hook from the mixer, dipping it into the bottom of the dough, and stretching it upwards. If the dough readily snaps, it’s not elastic enough.
- Lightly oil a bowl or container large enough to accommodate the dough rising and scrape the dough into it. Lightly cover with plastic and place it in a warm, draft-free place in the kitchen. Allow the dough to double, about ninety minutes.
- Pro-tip: It can be a challenge to find a great spot for bread to rise. Here's what I do. Warm up a cup of water in the microwave, tuck it into the back corner. Set the covered bowl of dough next to it, and close the door. Now you have the perfect warm incubator to allow the yeast to grow undisturbed.
- Lightly flour a workspace, and transfer the dough onto it. The dough will be sticky, so lightly flour the surface and your hands before working with it. Knead it a couple of times to start to shape it into fat sausage. Cut it in half with a bench scraper or sharp knife. Cover one of the halves with plastic while you work with the other half.
- Roll the dough into a sausage roll, and cut into eight equal pieces. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and mold the eight pieces into balls the size of a small lime, flouring your hands as needed. Place the dough rounds about one inch apart on the prepared baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic, and repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Cover all the dough rounds with plastic and place in a warm, draft-free place in the kitchen for the second rise. Allow the buns to rise for thirty to forty-five minutes. They should be starting to touch each other. Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
- Mix together the egg yolk and milk in a small bowl for the Glaze. Remove the plastic from the mounds. Lightly baste their tops with the yolk and milk mixture. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes, or until the buns are lightly browned and feel firm to the touch. Remove, place on a cooling rack, and allow to cool slightly.
- Combine the Icing ingredients in a small bowl to form a paste. Spoon into a small Ziplock baggie, snip off a very small tip from one of the corners, and pipe white crosses on the tops of the buns. Allow to firm up, about thirty seconds.
- Serve and enjoy!
Choc Chip Uru
These buns look perfect my friend so delicious 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much CCU 🙂
apuginthekitchen
I love hot cross buns and I love your recipe. Saved!!! Hope to make them for Good Friday!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Suzanne! I hope you like them. And I hope you're feeling better 🙂
TasteFood
Beautiful buns, Susan! I've been eating these all month, but never made them myself.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Lynda! With a standing mixer, they're really easy to make 🙂
Terra
Gorgeous! Working with yeasted dough makes me so happy, the smell alone makes my tummy happy! I have been very intrigued to try hot cross buns, they seriously look amazing! Hugs, Terra
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Me too, Terra! I just love everything about making bread!
Miriam
Wow, great tip re putting the dough in the microwave. I bake bread very week and this just never occurred to me. Genius-:)
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks Miriam! It's been my go-to all year round. We get a lot of damp foggy weather in the San Francisco area, so I had to find a solution 🙂 Glad you like it!
mjskit
These look so good and would be a perfect addition for any Easter table! Thanks for the cooking notes. I using do all my breads by hand, so knowing I need the mixer is helpful. Have a wonderful weekend.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I love making breads by hand, and you could theoretically do this one that way, but it's pretty sticky, and I like to minimize the flour if I can. Hope you're having a great weekend, MJ!
Hannah
Lovely, Susan! I haven't had hot cross buns before but they sound divine and perfect for a holiday celebration. Happy Easter to you!