Learn how to make the perfect spiced buns from scratch with this easy hot cross buns recipe! Made using yeast, currants and fragrant spices, complete with a sweet and sticky glaze, these incredibly soft and fluffy buns are the perfect way to celebrate Easter!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Like this collection of Easter recipes, spiced Easter buns slathered with butter are a great way to add a delicious homemade touch to an autumn or Easter brunch menu. They also make your house smell amazing!
- All of the ingredients are simple pantry staples. So you can make these buns without a special trip to the supermarket!
- Store-bought buns just can’t compare to the homemade version! Making your own hot cross buns from scratch is incredibly easy with this simple recipe and step-by-step photos.
- These buns are freezer friendly, so you can make them in advance and re-heat on the day you want to serve them. The un-baked dough can also be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer.
Ingredients you will need
** This post contains tips and instructions to achieve the best possible results. The photo above is a great guide for when you are in the supermarket, but for full ingredient quantities and methods, please scroll down to the detailed recipe card below!
Ingredient notes
- Milk. I use full cream dairy milk in this recipe. You can also try them with your preferred milk of choice.
- Yeast. Dry, instant yeast is the ingredient that makes the dough rise and become light and fluffy. Fresh yeast can be used instead (you will need to double the amount compared to dry yeast), simply crumble and dissolve in milk or water.
- Sugar feeds the yeast, which helps the dough to rise.
- Flour. Plain white flour is used in this recipe. Or, baker’s flour can be used for a finer, softer dough. You can read about the differences in baking flour here.
- Mixed spices. For that classic hot cross bun flavour, use a combination of cinnamon and mixed spice.
- Dried Fruit. I use a combination of sultanas and currants. Raisins or mixed peel can also be used. For juicier sultanas or raisins, you can soak them in water for 20-30 minutes before draining and adding them to the dough.
Step by step instructions
While this recipe is super easy, it does take a little time to complete due to the dough resting/rising times. ** If you need them faster, I recommend making the dough the day before and keeping it in the fridge overnight.
Here are the basic steps;
- Activate the yeast.
- Make the bread dough
- First rise. Cover the dough and let it rise for 1-2 hours.
- Knead. Punch down the dough to push out the air bubbles.
- Divide and shape the dough into balls.
- Second rise. Cover the rolls and set them aside for an hour to rise again.
- Pipe the crosses over the top.
- Bake according to the instructions below, until fluffy and golden brown.
- Glaze.
To activate the yeast, gently heat the milk and sugar in a saucepan until it is lukewarm to touch (around 37 °C/98 F). Note: be careful not to make the milk too hot, as yeast is a living thing and will be killed off at high temperatures.
Whisk in the yeast and set is aside to activate. This should take around 10 minutes and the mixture will start to bubble and look frothy.
The dough is made by mixing the flour, spices and salt together and then rubbing the butter into the mix until completely combined. The yeast mix is then added, along with the egg and dried fruit.
Mix the dough using your hands or a mixer and knead for 2 minutes.
First rise. Cover the dough and allow it to rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours. During this time, the dough should almost double in size. Note: If the weather is colder, wrap the bowl in a warm towel or place it in a sunny spot- or even at a safe distance in front of a heater.
Once the dough has risen, knead it for around 10 minutes to push out the air bubbles and make the dough stretchy.
Divide it into 12 balls of equal size and place the balls in a lined oven tray, ready for the second rise. Cover and set aside in a warm place for around an hour, to rise before baking. Once risen, pipe on the crosses over the buns.
Bake according to the instructions below and then brush over the sticky glaze. Serve hot with butter, or let them cool and store them for later in an airtight container.
Expert tips
- Check the yeast! Before starting, check the expiry date on the yeast and ensure that it has been stored in a cold, dry place. The yeast won’t be effective if it has been stored incorrectly or passed its use-by date.
- Don’t over-heat the milk. When heating the milk to activate the yeast, it needs to be warm but not scalding. Hot milk will kill the yeast. Heat it on low heat in a saucepan until warm to touch, without burning.
- Avoid too much flour. Soft, sticky dough is best and will rise better than dry dough with too much flour. If your dough is too sticky when kneading, slowly sprinkle in a little more flour until soft. The dough will feel firm before kneading, but after 10 minutes it should feel much more soft and elastic.
- Find a nice, warm spot for the dough. In some climates, this can be tricky. My house is always cold around Easter time, so it can be challenging to find a warm spot for the yeast to work its magic. If you have a warm, sunny spot that’s great. If not, try adding it to a warmed and turned off oven on very low heat (around 30-40 C).
- For even cooking, weigh the dough when dividing the mixture into balls. To ensure that all of the buns cook evenly, I cut my dough into portions, weighing the balls to ensure they are a similar weight. This is not necessary, but helps ensure that all of the buns have finished cooking at the same time.
- Storage: This recipe can also be made ahead of time and the dough stored in the fridge or freezer. Allow the dough to return to room temperature before baking, as cold dough will not rise. Store the uncooked dough in the fridge for up to 5 days, or cover and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Cooked/ready made hot cross buns can be cooled and kept at room temperature for 1-2 days, or frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Imagine having a stash in your freezer, ready for whenever the desire for toasted hot cross buns with butter hits!
- Don’t want hot cross buns with fruit? Try adding some chocolate baking chips instead! Or even some dried cranberries or raspberries with white chocolate.
FAQs
Hot cross buns are best served the traditional way, warm and soft or toasted, with salted butter. Slice the buns in half and add butter to each side. You can also add your favourite jam, or eat them plain.
First, check the temperature of the room. One reason dough isn’t rising is because it needs to be in a warm place. If the room temperature is cold, set your oven to a low temperature (30-40 C) and place it inside, or on top of the oven to see if this helps. Secondly, check your yeast. Check the expiry and make sure it has been stored correctly. Yeast should activate and bubble in the milk before being added to the dough. If your yeast isn’t working, the dough can be rescued by adding a new packet of yeast.
Flour contains gluten, which stretches as you knead it. The dough needs to be kneaded for a sufficient time (around 10 minutes) to make the dough elastic and give structure to the buns. If the gluten in the dough is not worked enough, the buns can be a little dense or hard.
You can re-heat hot cross buns in a number of ways. For a light, toasted bun, slice them and add them under a pre-heated hot grill/broiler in your oven. Keep an eye on them, as 1-2 minutes is all you will need. Turn them when they are a light golden brown and toast the other side before removing from the oven and adding butter. For a soft, warm bun, microwave individual buns for around 20 seconds, until soft and heated through.
More Easter recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating or leave a review below and let me know how you went!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for the latest recipes and news.
Hot Cross Buns Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- ⅓ cup caster sugar
- 6 tsp dry, instant yeast if using fresh yeast, dissolve in a little water and use double the amount of dry yeast.
- 4 cups plain flour
- 4 tsp mixed spice
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 6 tbs butter around 90 grams
- ½ cup sultanas
- 1 cup currants
- 1 large egg
For the crosses
- ½ cup flour
- 4 tsp caster sugar
- 6-8 tbsp water
For the glaze
- ⅓ cup water
- 4 tbsp smooth apricot jam
Instructions
- Stir the milk and sugar together in a small saucepan over low heat, until lukewarm. The milk should be warm, but not hot to the touch.
- Transfer the milk to a small bowl and whisk in the yeast. Cover the bowl and set aside for 10 minutes, until the yeast becomes frothy.
- While the yeast mix is resting, add the flour, spices and salt into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until the butter is completely combined.
- Add the currants, sultanas, yeast mix and egg to the flour/butter mixture and mix with your hands or a stand mixer until a soft dough forms. If the dough is a little dry, you may need to add a small amount of water. Mix for 2 minutes.
- Cover the dough and allow to rest in a warm place (see notes below) for 1-2 hours depending on how much time you have. During this time, the dough should double in size.
- After an hour, knead the dough on a lightly floured surface (or with a stand mixer) for ten minutes. It will start off feeling very firm and hard to work, but will soften and become more stretchy as you knead.
- Divide the soft dough into 12 even portions and roll them into balls.
- Evenly place the balls, almost touching, onto a greased or lined tray and cover. Cover and stand in a warm place for 30 minutes to an hour to rise again.
- Pre-heat oven to 220 C°.
To mix the flour paste for crosses
- Mix the flour, sugar and water together until a smooth paste forms. You may need to add a little more water to reach a thick paste that can be passed through a piping bag.
- Pipe the crosses over the top of the uncooked buns and bake for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through. To test, tap the top of a bun. If cooked, it will sound hollow.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the buns to a wire rack to rest.
For the glaze
- Mix the apricot jam and water together in a small saucepan and stir until the jam dissolves. Bring to a low simmer for 3-4 minutes and then remove from the heat. Lightly brush the top of the warm buns as soon as the glaze is done (before it becomes too sticky).
To serve
- Enjoy these hot cross buns warm from the oven, or lightly toasted, with butter.
Notes
- Check the yeast! Before starting, check the expiry date on the yeast and ensure that it has been stored in a cold, dry place. The yeast won’t be effective if it has been stored incorrectly or passed its use-by date.
- Don’t over-heat the milk. When heating the milk to activate the yeast, it needs to be warm but not scalding. Hot milk will kill the yeast. Heat it on low heat in a saucepan until warm to touch, without burning.
- Avoid too much flour. Soft, sticky dough is best and will rise better than dry dough with too much flour. If your dough is too sticky, slowly sprinkle a little more flour until soft. The dough will feel firm before kneading, but after 10 minutes it should feel much more soft and elastic.
- Find a nice, warm spot for the dough. In some climates, this can be tricky. My house is always cold around Easter time, so it can be challenging to find a warm spot for the yeast to work its magic. If you have a warm, sunny spot that’s great. If not, try adding it to a warmed and turned off oven on very low heat (around 30-40 C).
- For even cooking, weigh the dough when dividing the mixture into balls. To ensure that all of the buns cook evenly, I cut my dough into portions, weighing the balls to ensure they are a similar weight. This is not necessary, but helps ensure that all of the buns have finished cooking at the same time.
- Storage: This recipe can also be made ahead of time and the dough stored in the fridge or freezer. Allow the dough to return to room temperature before baking, as cold dough will not rise. Store the uncooked dough in the fridge for up to 5 days, or cover and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Cooked/ready made hot cross buns can be cooled and kept at room temperature for 1-2 days, or frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Imagine having a stash in your freezer, ready for whenever the desire for toasted hot cross buns with butter hits!
Nutrition
Are you following us on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest?
Update notes: This recipe was originally published in March 2019, but was re-published with new information and photos in March 2021.
Leave a Reply