Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns. Not just for Easter Sunday, these delicious, fragrant, yeast raised sweet rolls have become a brunch staple year round at our house.
Originally published March 2015.
Here's an Easter specialty that will be much appreciated after the morning egg hunt. The scent of these cinnamon and vanilla infused buns baking will wake the entire house in eager anticipation.
I like sultana raisins in mine but dark or golden raisins or currants are also good. If your family is not fond of dried fruits, these are also exceptionally delicious with chocolate chips substituted for the raisins.
If you're looking for an incredibly easy and totally delicious Easter Ham recipe for lunch, I highly recommend Our Brown Sugar and Dijon Glazed Ham.
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2019 UPDATE We now have a new version of Christmas Hot Cross Buns!
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Hot Cross Buns
Not just for Easter Sunday, these delicious, fragrant, yeast raised sweet rolls have become a brunch staple year round at our house.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup lukewarm water, around 100 degrees F
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 envelope regular yeast, 2 ½ to 3 tsp
- 3 cups flour
- pinch salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sultana raisins, or golden raisins
- 1 egg yolk, reserved from preparing the dough
- 1 ½ tablespoon water
For the vanilla glaze
- ½ cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 teaspoon milk
Instructions
- Dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Do not stir. Let stand for 15 minutes.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment or in a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, salt cinnamon and sugar.
- Add the prepared yeast along with the melted butter, 1 egg, 1 egg white, and vanilla extract.
- Knead with the mixer's dough hook for about 5 minutes or mix together with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together, then knead by hand for about 10 minutes. You may need to dd a little more flour as you knead, if your dough is too sticky. This is not unusual when making yeast doughs of any kind.
- Whether you are using an electric mixer of making the dough by hand you should always knead the raisins into the dough by hand; the mixer tends to crush the raisins and you want to keep them intact, so gentle hand kneading is best to incorporate the raisins into the dough.
Proofing the dough.
- Cover and let stand in a draft-free, warm place for 30 - 40 minutes.
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form into balls.
- Place them in the prepared pan and let rise for about an hour or until about doubled in size.
- Whisk together the reserved egg yolk and 1 ½ tablespoon water. Brush over the tops of the buns before baking. You need not use it all. This step makes a glossy finish to the tops of the buns.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes or a little longer.
- Remove from pan and let rest on a wire rack for about 15-20 minutes before piping on the vanilla glaze crosses.
For the vanilla glaze
- Mix together the icing sugar, vanilla extract and milk until smooth. You will want this to be quite a stiff glaze so only add enough milk to bring it to a thick consistency.
- Pipe crosses onto the tops of the warm buns. A Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off works well for this if you do not have a piping bag.
Notes
The total time in this recipe does not include time for the dough to proof. Allow 1 ½ to 2 hours additional time for this. Warmer kitchens may take less time, colder kitchens will take longer.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 384Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 57mgSodium 138mgCarbohydrates 68gFiber 3gSugar 28gProtein 6g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
These were really good! But I did have to alter it to make it work for me... I had to use a smaller baking dish than 9x13 and I only cooked them for 20 minutes at 350. Any longer and they would have burned.
Just hauled these out of the oven and the are delicious!! I used my bread maker on the dough function to mix everything together and then shaped 12 rolls for the 9x13 dish, weighing them for even sizing. I also only baked them for 20 minutes, I'm not sure if my convection oven had anything to do with that but they were very dark on the top. Next time I make them I will make 15 rolls, with 12 I had buns a little bigger than my fist.
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! 🙂
Well I did it and I am very please with how it turn out sorry I added a few more spices I was celebrating for every process when I saw dem raising yeah thank you so much for sharing will try again Nassau Bahamas
I made these yesterday, making a second batch today. I used scalded milk instead of water, and I used 1tsp cinnamon and 1/2tsp of allspice. They came out AWESOME!!!
Barry
Two questions: Will instant yeast work in this recipe (the kind you mix in the flour)?
I have vanilla powder from Mexico. How would I use it in this recipe?
Thanks, MJM
Instant yeast should work. I've never heard of vanilla powder though.
Vanilla powder is just ground vanilla beans.....a good source of antioxidants. You would add 1 tsp. to a regular cake recipe..........
Adds a lovely flavour.
I'd do the same here then. Sounds interesting.
If I wanted to double this recipe would I need to double the yeast as well?
Yes, all ingredients are doubled, just like you are making the recipe twice.
Looks great! Can't wait! Could I let the dough rest/ proof overnight and bake in the morning?
Cold proofing overnight should be fine.
Can you please explain how to do this? And at what point in the recipe?
Cold proofing happens when the buns are in the pan. Let them rise for an hour or two depending on room temperature, then put the pan into a plastic bag in the fridge overnight. Preheat oven and bake. They may take an extra few minutes to bake because of the temperature of the dough but generally just a few minutes.
Can I make these in a glass dish?
Yes, cut the temperature by 25 degrees is the rule for glass bakeware.
Have you noticed any difference in what type baking pan you use? Any preference to glass or metal?
Hello again Barry
Made these last night. Excellent taste. I did add an extra half cup of raisins because I like a lot of them in my baked goods. My husband ate one before I had a chance to put the piped icing on and then had two more after that. Lol I have made so many of your reciipes that I might as well get rid of all my other cookbooks. Thanks again for these tried and true recipes.
Barry: Do you plump the raisins in hot water and drain well or just as they are from the store? I sometimes find the raisins very dry and hard from the store.
If they were hard I would plump them, but it's usually not necessary.
I have been wanting to make Hot Cross Buns for quite some time and was delighted to find your recipe online. I made them today for the first time and as with every single one of your recipes I have tried, these buns are absolutely delicous!! So light, fluffy and flavourfull! Thank you for sharing!! I will definitely be making them again. Happy Easter!
Do glad you enjoyed the recipe! Happy Easter.
I made these buns yesterday in hopes of Easter Sunday morning with a cup of tea. Not a one left this Sunday morning for tea. However your complete Ham dinner is on for later today and since the ham is in the oven (with a pad lock), hopefully there will be some for the Easter feast. I made your cheesecake for dessert and am looking forward to seeing the smiles and hearing the sighs of a wonderful Easter feast well enjoyed by all. Happy Easter.
Is this suitable for a bread machine?? Thx. Or just the dough cycle??
I don't own one.
Could you bake as a loaf in the bread machine??
I don't own one.