Hot Cross Buns
This is the best Hot Cross Buns recipe ever! Soft, sweet rolls made with a spiced dough are an easy classic for Good Friday.
No Easter menu is complete without warm, fluffy, fragrant Hot Cross Buns fresh out of the oven! Featuring a no-knead yeast dough infused with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and raisins, these rolls are piped with a pastry cross and a sweet orange zest icing. Each bite is absolute perfection!
Say “Yes!” to the Yeast
I get it – yeast dough can be intimidating, but don’t let that stop you! The rolls you buy at the grocery store cannot hold a candle to the flavor or fluffiness of these remarkably delicious Hot Cross Buns!
So, break out your stand mixer, and I’ll walk you through each step of this no-knead dough. You’ll be amazed how easy it is to bake these mouthwatering, homemade hot cross buns! In a year or two, everyone will ask you to make your “famous Hot Cross Buns” for Easter dinner!
Other Recipes to Serve for Easter
- Juicy, tender Lamb Chops deserve to be the center of your Easter dinner!
- Delicious Roasted Asparagus will brighten up your Easter table!
Ingredients
Dry Dough: The foundation for Hot Cross Buns consists of all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and active dry yeast (either rapid or instant rise will work).
Wet Dough: To the dry ingredients, we’ll need melted butter, warmed whole milk, real vanilla extract, and eggs.
Flour Cross: A little all-purpose flour and water will make a thin dough for piping the cross onto the top of the rolls.
Spices and Seasonings: The cross on top of these buns makes them distinctive, but the spices make them uniquely delicious! We’ll use cinnamon, sea salt, nutmeg, and allspice.
Fruit: Classic Hot Cross Buns use raisins, but you could also use currants or dried cranberries.
Icing: The orange glaze is the “icing on the cake” of this recipe – powdered sugar, whole milk and orange zest are the trifecta of tastiness!
How to Make Hot Cross Buns
STEP ONE: In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix flour, sugar, yeast packet, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Lightly whisk to combine. Set that aside for now. Add butter to a small saucepan over low heat and melt. Add the milk and heat until steaming but not boiling. Pour this mixture into the stand mixer and gently mix with a spatula.
STEP TWO: Add in the remaining flour, two lightly beaten eggs, raisins, and vanilla. Mix on the lowest setting for 5 minutes using the dough hook attachment.
STEP THREE: Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl, and allow to rest for 10 minutes in a warm location.
STEP FOUR: Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and place them in the baking dish. Cover and allow them to rise and double in size. (A warm location works best!) This should take 45 minutes or so.
STEP FIVE: When the buns have risen, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk the last egg and brush it over the tops of the buns. Then, in a small bowl, mix the flour and water you’ll need to cross the flour. Transfer the flour mixture to a piping bag (or small baggie with a corner snipped off.) Make a horizontal dough line on each bun, then a vertical line on each one to form a cross.
STEP SIX: Bake the buns for 18-20 minutes or until they’re lightly golden on top but not brown. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and allow the buns to cool on a wire rack.
STEP SEVEN: Make the icing by combining the powdered sugar, milk, and orange zest in a medium bowl. Whisk everything until creamy and thick, then add it to a piping bag. Pipe the orange icing over the cross lines and serve!
Tips for Success
- While oil and sugar make cakes and cookies soft and moist, they have the opposite effect on yeast dough, so don’t be tempted to add more butter or sugar to the recipe!
- To plump the raisins, soak in hot water for 8-10 minutes before adding to the dough. You can do the same with craisins or currants.
- Make the dough on Thursday and bake fresh and hot on Good Friday!
- Check the expiration date on your yeast packet!
- Allow these buns to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving, or they will be doughy inside.
- Adding the milk should feel like comfortable bath water to your finger.
- Heat a mug of water in the microwave for 2 – 2 ½ minutes. Remove the mug quickly, and immediately place your dough into the moist, warm microwave to rise. (Do NOT run the microwave.)
What Are Hot Cross Buns?
Hot Crossed Buns are part soft dinner roll and part fluffy cinnamon roll, adding other aromatic spices, a little dried fruit, and a sweet orange glaze crossed on top. The orange glaze is piped over a pastry cross on the top of these classic Easter buns – this crucifix is the ultimate symbol of Good Friday.
Can You Make Hot Cross Buns in Advance?
You bet! The best way to make these ahead of time is to follow the recipe up to the point of dividing the dough into balls and letting it rise. Cover the baking dish airtight and place in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Remove from the fridge, bring to room temperature, and finish per the instructions for warm, fluffy rolls (with an already cleaned-up kitchen!).
Other Easy, Exceptionally Delicious Easter Recipes
- Easter Egg Sugar Cookie
- Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese
- Mini Quiche Lorraine
- Mississippi Sin Deviled Eggs
- Apricot Glazed Ham
- Scalloped Potatoes
Hot Cross Buns
Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (440 grams) divided
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 0.25 ounce instant yeast (1 packet)
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ¾ cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Flour Cross
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 ½ tablespoons water
Icing
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 tablespoon orange zest plus more to taste
Instructions
- Start the dough by adding ¾ cup (100 grams) of flour along with the sugar, instant rise yeast, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and allspice to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and stir to combine. Set aside.
- To a small saucepan, add the butter and place over low heat. Cook until the butter is almost fully melted, then add milk and heat to 120-130 degrees F. Pour the mixture into the stand mixer and mix with a spatula until it just start to come together.
- Add the remaining 2 ¾ cups (340 grams) of flour, 2 eggs (lightly beaten), raisins, and vanilla to the stand mixer bowl. Turn on the lowest setting and mix for about 5-6 minutes. Remove the dough hook and scrape any excess dough off of it and back into the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rest for about 10 minutes. *Pro Tip: I like to let the dough rise in my oven with the light on to have a bit more consistency and control on the temperature. (The oven should not be turned on.)
- Lightly grease 9-inch x 13-inch ceramic baking dish. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions, roll them into balls, and place them into the dish. (I like to weigh the dough on a scale and divide the total weight by 12. Then I weigh each ball to keep them as even as possible.)
- Cover the baking dish with a kitchen towel and allow the dough balls to double in size, about 45 minutes. (Again, I do this in my oven with the light on). Once doubled in size, remove the buns from the oven if you had them in there to proof.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush the egg wash over the top of the buns.
- Create the flour cross mixture by mixing the flour and water in a small bowl. Place the mixture into a piping bag (or food storage bag) and cut the tip off. Run a horizontal line of the flour mixture over each row and then pipe a vertical line to make a cross on each bun.
- Bake the buns for about 18-20 minutes, until nicely golden on the top.
- Carefully remove the dish from the pan and trasnfer the buns to cool on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the icing by combining the powdered sugar, milk, and orange zest in a small mixing bowl. Put the icing in a piping bag. Pipe the icing over the buns following the lines of the flour cross and enjoy!
