Hot cross buns
See this recipe step by step

Hot cross buns

Follow master baker Paul Hollywood's ultimate step-by-step guide to creating perfectly decorated fruit buns

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

MAKES 15

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

plus proving
Freezable

Method

  1. Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature. Put the flour, salt, sugar and yeast (see Tip, below) into a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour in the warm milk and butter mixture, then add the egg. Using a wooden spoon, mix well, then bring everything together with your hands until you have a sticky dough.
  2. Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead by holding the dough with one hand and stretching it with the heal of the other hand, then folding it back on itself. Repeat for 5 mins until smooth and elastic. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hr or until doubled in size and a finger pressed into it leaves a dent.
  3. With the dough still in the bowl, tip in the sultanas, mixed peel, orange zest, apple and cinnamon. Knead into the dough, making sure everything is well distributed. Leave to rise for 1 hr more, or until doubled in size, again covered by some well-oiled cling film to stop the dough getting a crust.
  4. Divide the dough into 15 even pieces (about 75g per piece - see Tip below). Roll each piece into a smooth ball on a lightly floured work surface. Arrange the buns on one or two baking trays lined with parchment, leaving enough space for the dough to expand. Cover (but don't wrap) with more oiled cling film, or a clean tea towel, then set aside to prove for 1 hr more.
  5. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Mix the flour with about 5 tbsp water to make the paste for the cross - add the water 1 tbsp at a time, so you add just enough for a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag with a small nozzle. Pipe a line along each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create crosses (see Tip below). Bake for 20 mins on the middle shelf of the oven, until golden brown.
  6. Gently heat the apricot jam to melt, then sieve to get rid of any chunks. While the jam is still warm, brush over the top of the warm buns and leave to cool.
Try

EQUAL SIZE

I always weigh each lump of dough before shaping to make sure they are all the same size and cook evenly.

PIPING THE CROSS

Pipe the crosses over the buns slowly so that the paste 'hugs' the curves on each bun.

FLOUR

Brands of flour can differ, so you might need to vary the amount of liquid. If your mix is dry and crumbly, add a splash more milk to bring it together.

YEAST

I use fast-action or easy-blend yeast, which can be added straight to the dry ingredients. This is different from dried yeast which needs to be dissolved in liquid first.

PER SERVING

226 kcalories, protein 5.0g, carbohydrate 41.0g, fat 4.0 g, saturated fat 2.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 14.0g, salt 0.5 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2012.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo thejollybaker

    31 March 2012

    thejollybaker commented on this recipe

    Will be trying this recipe on Eater Sunday. I can't wait to bake them!

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  • Binder photo cowen84

    01 April 2012

    cowen84 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made these early last month when my subscription came through. This was the 1st time I have ever made hot cross buns and for my 1st attempt I was very impressed with them. I think they could do with a little more spice, and I made a sugar glaze to go over them rather than the apricot jam with 50ml water and 50g sugar dissolved in a saucepan then brushed over the warm buns. They freeze really well and we finished off the last of them yesterday with the in-laws. Will definitely be making again. Check out my baking blog http://bumblebakery.blogspot.co.uk

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  • Binder photo Piglet

    01 April 2012

    Piglet rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    They were cooked after about 12 minutes. I used golden syrup to glaze the buns as I'd run out of apricot jam which worked well. These were really good and I'll be making another batch next week.

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  • Binder photo AngelaPiggott

    04 April 2012

    AngelaPiggott rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was my first attempt at hot cross buns and they have turned out well. I also took mine out after about 13-15 minutes

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  • Binder photo susiebake

    04 April 2012

    susiebake commented on this recipe

    I made these today and was very pleased with the result. The buns are light and well-textured and size was just right. However, next time I would add the spices and fruit to the dry ingredients before kneading to ensure better distribution through the dough. I would also increase the spices to 2 teaspoons ( mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg and/or mixed spice. Best hot cross bun recipe I have tried - wil definitely make again.

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  • Binder photo Sharon B

    05 April 2012

    Sharon B commented on this recipe

    Buns are beautiful & suprisingly easy to make....more spice needed though & a little less time in the oven - will definately make again.

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  • Binder photo USFoodLover

    06 April 2012

    USFoodLover rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Perfect hot cross buns. I followed the recipe exactly, even weighing each ball of dough and they turned out perfectly. The only thing that I would change would be to use a sugar glaze. I found the apricot glaze messy and difficult to make look neat.

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  • Binder photo Melanie

    06 April 2012

    Melanie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I'll never buy hot cross buns from a shop again after making these! Like other people, who have rated these, I found that the buns were cooked in approx 15 mins and I would also add a little nutmeg as well as the cinnamon next time. I also did weigh each ball of dough but had no problem with the apricot glaze. I found it hard to wait for the buns to cool down as the smell of the buns cooking was so tempting!

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  • Binder photo Anne S.

    06 April 2012

    Anne S. rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made these yesterday and found there was a little too much liquid but that is because of the flour that is available here in Crete. The finished result was very good though. I make hot cross buns every Easter and this will be my recipe of choice from now on.

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  • Binder photo SyrilSquirrel

    06 April 2012

    SyrilSquirrel rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely delicious and much lighter than any I have made before. Easy enough recipe to follow although very time consuming with all the risings. More spice needed and shorter time in oven. Used sugar glaze as recommended.

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  • Binder photo JennyH10

    06 April 2012

    JennyH10 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    These are lovely although when I started out I hadn't realised they needed to prove 3 times so I ended up making them on my own once the children got bored! I found them even more time consuming than expected. I had no mixed peel in the cupboard so I used the zest of a lemon as well as an orange. I added 50g of glace cherries too. On reading the comments I decided to add more spices so I used 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp mixed spice and some freshly ground nutmeg and I am very glad I did. The mix was very wet so I had to add a bit more flour for kneading and shaping. I found they required less time in the oven too, 15 mins was fine. I would make these again.

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  • Binder photo PanClanger

    06 April 2012

    PanClanger rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really enjoyed making these, and was very pleased with the results, generally. They have a lovely light texture but I agree with the other commenters who say that they need a bit more spice - wish I'd checked here before diving in! Will definitely use this recipe again but will add some mixed spice next time.

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  • Binder photo Helen

    07 April 2012

    Helen commented on this recipe

    The process was a bit long and unfortunately I found that there wasn't enough yeast as the dough didn't rise very much. Added other spices too as I felt they were lacking. Will try again and will add more yeast. A bit disappointing though.

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  • Binder photo old fogey

    07 April 2012

    old fogey rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I agree with most of the comments here, very tasty, lots of time proving, more spice and less cooking time. I used diluted Golden Syrup for the glaze because I didn't have apricot jam. But; am I the only one who is left wondering what to do with 2 tablespoonsful of full cream milk that I seem to have left over?

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  • Binder photo Julie Bahrain

    07 April 2012

    Julie Bahrain rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really pleased with how these turned out :-). Yes, they need more spice. I should have chopped my apple much smaller and my dough was very wet to start with (I used Hovis Strong Bread flour) which was a bit of a worry, but my only other attempt at hot cross buns, many years ago, yielded rock hard cannon balls, so these are jolly good hot cross buns.

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  • Binder photo PanClanger

    07 April 2012

    PanClanger commented on this recipe

    old fogey - think the extra milk was incase you needed it to get the dough to the right consistency (see the 3rd point, "flour" under the "Try" heading under the main instructions). that was my interpretation, anyway. I was also a bit confused about the tbsp of sunflower oil, before I realised they must mean to oil the bowl and clingfilm. Strange to list it inbetween the sugar and the yeast, though. Oh, and Paul? it's HEEL, not HEAL of the hand.

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  • Binder photo Rae Singh

    07 April 2012

    Rae Singh rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made these today. Time-consuming, yes, but well worth the effort. I substituted currants for mixed peel (because mixed peel is wrong on all sorts of levels), added lemon zest to the orange zest and threw in a teaspoonful (or thereabouts) of freshly grated nutmeg. Delighted with the results.

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  • Binder photo Babaconda

    08 April 2012

    Babaconda commented on this recipe

    Great recipe even though I was still making them at 1am as the dough didn't rise very well, but that could just be the temperature of my kitchen. The dough was very wet so I needed a few extra tablespoons of flour to make it workable. After reading comments here I used a teaspoonful of mixed spice in addition to the cinnamon but next time I would add more. The buns were cooked through and golden after 15 mins and I used warmed, sieved orange marmalade to glaze as I didn't have any apricot in. Really pleased with the results as I'm not normally much good with yeasted dough

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  • Binder photo Bex

    08 April 2012

    Bex rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    These turned out great, and so easy to make. I didn't add mixed peel or apple, but added a teaspoon of mixed spice with the cinnamon to the dry ingredients at the beginning. Perfectly cooked on fanbake at 200 degrees after 15 mins, and as suggested here earlier I used a sugar glaze. Everyone loved them, and I'll definitely be making them again.

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  • Binder photo Pendleberry

    08 April 2012

    Pendleberry rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made a batch of these this morning, but missed out the egg as my mother-in-law is allergic to eggs. I did add a little more milk to compensate and the dough was a nice, soft consistency. I'm taking the buns to my in-laws this afternoon, but we couldn't resist scoffing a couple already! The baker's prerogative I think.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

MAKES 15

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

plus proving
Freezable

Ingredients

FOR THE BUNS

  • 300ml full-fat milk , plus 2 tbsp more
  • 50g butter
  • 500g strong bread flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 7g sachet fast-action or easy-blend yeast
  • 1 egg , beaten
  • 75g sultanas
  • 50g mixed peel
  • zest 1 orange
  • 1 apple , peeled, cored and finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

FOR THE CROSS

  • 75g plain flour , plus extra for dusting

FOR THE GLAZE

  • 3 tbsp apricot jam
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PER SERVING

226 kcalories, protein 5.0g, carbohydrate 41.0g, fat 4.0 g, saturated fat 2.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 14.0g, salt 0.5 g

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