Easter Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross bun on a pink plate split open and served with butter.

5 from 1 vote

This Easter recipe for homemade hot cross buns makes 12 big beautiful buns flavoured with a mixture of cinnamon, raisins, and candied peel. The buns are brushed with maple syrup just after baking which gives them a gorgeous shiny, sweet finish.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Rising time2

Total Time2 55

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: British

Servings:

Calories: 375kcal

Author: Janice Lawandi

Equipment

Ingredients

Bun dough

530 grams bleached all-purpose flour you may need 60 grams (½ cup) extra flour if the dough is too sticky so have it ready!
100 grams granulated sugar
13.75 mL ground cinnamon
8 grams instant yeast 1 small packet
2.5 mL ground nutmeg
2.5 mL ground ginger
2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
1.25 mL ground cloves
375 mL milk (2 %) warmed to ~95°F
58 grams unsalted butter melted
1 large egg(s) room temperature
240 grams sultana raisins or a mixture of golden raisins and sultanas (or whatever I have in the cupboard)
55 grams candied mixed peel (orange, lemon, citron)

Cross paste

65 grams bleached all-purpose flour
80 mL water
5 mL canola oil
2.5 mL granulated sugar

Glaze

60 mL pure maple syrup

Metric - US

Instructions

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, yeast, sugar, spices, and salt. Stir on low to evenly disperse everything together.
Add the milk, melted butter, and egg. Mix on low for a minute until the ingredients are well mixed. Then add the raisins and candied peel, and mix again to combine everything. Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
Switch to the dough hook attachment and knead the dough in the mixer on low speed (speed 2) for 5 minutes.
Check the texture of the dough. The dough should not stick too much to the sides of the bowl and should have formed a ball in the bowl, wrapped around the hook. It should feel slightly tacky when you press it with your fingers. If it’s too wet and not forming a cohesive ball of dough at this point, you may add up to 60 grams (½ cup) of extra flour. Start by working in 30 grams, then add another 30 grams if necessary. Continue kneading for another 5 minutes (this is essential to get a good bun texture).
Form the dough into a ball and place it in a greased, large bowl (rolling it in the bowl to grease the dough). Cover the bowl with saran wrap.
Let rise until the dough has doubled in size, in a warm, draft-free location, like in the oven with just the light turned on. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on how warm your kitchen is.
Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
Portion out the dough into 12 equal pieces (about 120 grams dough per bun). Roll each piece into a ball and place on the prepared pans, staggered. You can place all twelve buns on one sheet pan to create pull-apart buns or split them between two pans to create perfectly rounded buns.
Cover the pans with saran wrap and let the buns rise until they have doubled (about 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature).
Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
Prepare the cross paste: mix the flour, water, oil, and sugar. Using a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip (6 mm tip), pipe thinly onto the top of each bun just before baking. The dough should be thin enough to pipe, but thick enough not to spread too much.
Bake the buns on the middle racks for 25–30 minutes, or until the buns are deep golden colour. If you are unsure, use a thermometer to check the middle: for buns made with eggs, milk, and butter, meaning enriched breads, the internal temperature should be at least 190 °F (88 °C) when baked. I've gone as high as 212 ºF or 100 ºC without problems.
Remove the buns from the oven and brush with maple syrup a couple of times as they cool (note that as the buns cool, the maple syrup will form a sweet sticky glaze on the buns). Serve the buns when they are slightly warm, with salted butter. You can reheat them in the oven the next day.

Notes

salt: I bake with Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount to avoid the bread being too salty
without raisins: if you want to make hot cross buns without raisins, replace the raisins with chocolate chips, cup for cup. I recommend dark chocolate chips in this recipe
cranberry or cherry: you can also replace the raisins with dried cranberries or dried cherries for a delicious variation of the classic
ginger: replace the candied peel with chopped crystallized ginger for a spicy change
active yeast: if you prefer to use active dry yeast in place of the instant/rapid-rise yeast, you can. You will have to modify the method, dissolving it in the warm milk before adding it to the mixer. Otherwise you may end up with lumps of dry yeast in the dough in patches.
glaze options: instead of glazing with maple syrup, you can try a few other things:
- Donna Hay uses a gelatin glaze (a mixture of powdered gelatin hydrated in cold water) brushed onto the hot buns which melts the gelatin. This works extremely well, but it's bland and doesn't do anything for the buns except making them shine
- Neutral glaze is what bakeries would use. It's a flavourless sweet commercial glaze that comes in a tub
- Melted apricot jam or apple jelly will also work here, but again, the finish will be a little sticky
- Simple syrup is another great glaze option for you to try and a traditional glaze for babka, actually!

Nutrition