Hot cross buns

Hot cross buns

Make the most of the long Easter weekend and fill the house with the smell of spiced buns baking

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Makes 12

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 45 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Plus rising and proving
Freezable

Low-fat

Method

  1. Put the flour, yeast, caster sugar and 1 tsp salt into a large mixing bowl with the spices and dried fruit and mix well. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, 50ml warm water, the beaten egg and the melted butter. Mix everything together to form a dough - start with a wooden spoon and finish with your hands. If the dough is too dry, add a little more warm water; if it's too wet, add more flour.
  2. Knead in the bowl or on a floured surface until the dough becomes smooth and springy. Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave in a warm place to rise until roughly doubled in size - this will take about 1 hr depending on how warm the room is.
  3. Tip the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for a few secs, then divide into 12 even portions - I roll my dough into a long sausage shape, then quarter and divide each quarter into 3 pieces. Shape each portion into a smooth round and place on a baking sheet greased with butter, leaving some room between each bun for it to rise.
  4. Use a small, sharp knife to score a cross on the top of each bun, then cover with the damp tea towel again and leave in a warm place to prove for 20 mins until almost doubled in size again. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
  5. When the buns are ready to bake, mix the plain flour with just enough water to give you a thick paste. Spoon into a piping bag (or into a plastic food bag and snip the corner off) and pipe a white cross into the crosses you cut earlier. Bake for 12-15 mins until the buns are golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. While still warm, melt the granulated sugar with 1 tbsp water in a small pan, then brush over the buns.
Try

More Easter baking

Once you've mastered these simple buns, you can use the same dough to make James's teatime Chelsea buns and delicious fruit loaf (see 'Goes well with') - just mix up the spices a bit and swap the currants for other dried fruits and nuts.

PER BUN

242 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 6 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 1g, sugar 14g, salt 0.46 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 41-52

  • Binder photo little farm girl

    25 February 2012

    little farm girl rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made them for the first time for my husband who loved them so mush that i had to make them again 2 days later, I have one question can you use fresh yeast or do you have to use dried.

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  • Binder photo Lizznaylor

    16 March 2012

    Lizznaylor rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Fay

    31 March 2012

    Fay rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I was a bit hesitant at making an "easy" version of hot cross buns but WOW they are great and the white paste beats all the pastry lays.

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  • Binder photo wendywoo

    06 April 2012

    wendywoo rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Tasted great and easy enough to make. Prefer the taste of shop-bought ones though - oops sorry!

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  • Binder photo bluebell

    07 April 2012

    bluebell commented on this recipe

    Easter is tomorrow, so i am making t he dough now and cooking them ready fro tomorrow morning. Kids are going to love them, I omit the currants. Happy Easter to All.

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  • Binder photo Rebecca Falkner-Jones

    08 April 2012

    Rebecca Falkner-Jones rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    a great success everytime and always gone within a day of making them! Perfect!

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  • Binder photo mrshendo77

    08 April 2012

    mrshendo77 commented on this recipe

    I added 1.5 times spices as we liked the spicier flavours. Keeping the cross paste really thin with an icing pen also helped with the cross part. Love them!!

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  • Binder photo Ilovefood123

    09 April 2012

    Ilovefood123 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very nice texture and not too tricky to make, with the help of my 11 year old. Needed more spice for me though, hence the 4 stars, would use 1 tsp mixed spice next time.

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  • Binder photo Planetbake

    26 June 2012

    Planetbake commented on this recipe

    This very strange - the best I've always made

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  • Binder photo Bianca Fattilips

    25 March 2013

    Bianca Fattilips rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    These are delicious to eat on Easter Sunday. We have a family tradition of watching Mel Gibson's wonderful film "The Passion of The Christ" and we eat these whilst watching, beats popcorn any day, yummy!

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  • Binder photo Erin

    28 March 2013

    Erin rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have these in the oven ready to take round to my father in law this afternoon, I am soo excited, they smell wonderful and are looking great!

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  • Binder photo Lavender

    02 April 2013

    Lavender rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Excellent - they have the flavour I remember from childhood, and are especially good split in half and toasted under the broiler. However, I find that the buns should be scored just before baking, not before the second rising, because otherwise they tend to open out too much. Also, I found the paste crosses became unpleasantly tough and chewy after a few hours (although they seldom last that long if I have the family at home!)

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Makes 12

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 45 mins

Cook time

Cook 15 mins

Plus rising and proving
Freezable

Low-fat

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGH

  • 450g strong white flour , plus extra for dusting
  • 2 x 7g sachets easy-blend yeast
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 150ml warm milk
  • 1 egg , beaten
  • 50g unsalted butter , melted, plus extra for greasing
  • oil , for greasing

THE SPICES AND DRIED FRUIT

  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp mixed spice
  • ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
  • 100g currants

TO DECORATE

  • 4 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
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PER BUN

242 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 44g, fat 6 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 1g, sugar 14g, salt 0.46 g

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