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235Total Time
220Prep Time
15Bake Time
12Serves
Easy

Hot Cross Buns

20 Reviews

About our hot cross buns recipe

Who say's Hot Cross Buns are just for Easter? Fresh out the oven, sliced and spread with butter, hot cross buns are a true classic and are great to enjoy any time of the day. Toast and spread with butter in the morning with a cup of tea, or cosy up on the sofa with a warm hot crossed bun on a wintery evening - sounds yummy, right?

Filled with fruit and piped with a white cross, replace your shop bought hot cross buns with these deliciously homemade buns - you won't regret it, promise.

What are hot cross buns filled with?

Hot cross buns are filled with lots of fruits and spiced to give a warm, well flavoured flare to a basic dough base. With mixed spice, sultanas and fresh mixed peel each bite is full of flavour and a firm favourite sweet dough in our recipe book.

Need a helping hand? Learn everything from how to knead dough right through to piping the cross on the top of the buns.

235Total Time
220Prep Time
15Bake Time
12Serves
Easy

Method

  1. Step 1:

    MIX

    Bring the milk to the boil, then remove from the heat and add the butter. Leave to cool until it reaches hand temperature. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a big bowl. Mix the milk and the beaten egg into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.

  2. Step 2:

    KNEAD Tip onto a lightly flour dusted surface and knead for 10 minutes (or use the dough hook attachment on your mixer).

  3. Step 3:

    RISE

    Lightly grease the mixing bowl with some oil. Put the dough back in, cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size – up to 2 hours depending on how warm your kitchen is.

  4. Step 4:

    SHAPE

    Sift the mixed spice over the dough, then knead in with the sultanas and mixed peel. Cut the dough into 12 even pieces (use a weighing scales if you like). Roll each piece into a ball and arrange on a baking tray lined with baking parchment with space between for them to grow.

  5. Step 5:

    PROVE

    Cover the dough again with a clean tea towel and leave to prove until almost doubled in size again. Preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6).

  6. Step 6:

    BAKE Mix the plain flour with a tbsp of water at a time to a thick paste and spoon into a piping bag (or into a plastic food bag and snip the corner off). Score a cross in the top of each bun with a small, sharp, floured knife and pipe crosses on the buns in the cuts you made. Bake the buns for 12-15 minutes or until golden. If you tap the base of a roll it should sound hollow.

  7. Step 7:

    GLAZE

    Melt the jam in a small pan, then sieve out the lumps of fruit. Brush the apricot glaze over the freshly baked buns and then cool on a wire rack.

Ingredients

  • For the Dough

    • 500g Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour
    • 7g Allinson's Easy Bake Yeast
    • 275ml Whole milk
    • 50g Unsalted butter (cold, diced)
    • 1 Medium free range eggs (beaten)
    • 75g Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
    • 1 1/2 tsp Salt
  • For the Toppings

    • 2 tsp Mixed spice
    • 75g Sultanas
    • 50g Mixed peel
    • 100g Allinson's Plain White Flour
    • 50g Apricot Jam

Utensils

  • Mixing bowl
  • Baking sheet
  • Piping bag
  • Small knife
  • Heatproof bowl
  • Pastry brush

Nutritional Information

per 90g
  • 298cal Energy
  • 5.4g Fat
  • 3g of which Saturates
  • 53g Carbohydrates
  • 17g of which Sugars
  • 7.8g Protein
  • 0.7g Salt

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