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.
Method
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.Step 2:
KNEAD Tip onto a lightly flour dusted surface and knead for 10 minutes (or use the dough hook attachment on your mixer).
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.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.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).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.
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
- 500g Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour
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
Recipe Reviews
Lovely. I added an extra teaspoon of mixed spice. Then after kneading and first proving, I halved the batch
First half with sultanas, mixed peel. also added a small amount of marizipan into each one
Second half, zest of one large orange and 50g dried cranberries.
Once they were shaped I used marizpan to make the crosses. Left to prove before baking. After baking all glazed with warm apricot jam
Really good recipe and I love them. I recommend a extra tablespoon of sultana because they kind of dissolve as they're baking a little.
Very easy and so much nicer than shop bought!
The house smells amazing too!
I was bit unsure of how “wet“ my dough was meant to be, but I stuck with it. I can safely say that these are the best hot cross buns I've ever made.
Looked online at a few recipes for these and decided this one looked the best. I did add an extra teaspoon of spice, added mixed dried fruit instead of the sultanas and also added a small grated apple to add extra flavour and prevent them from being too dry. Worked a treat, absolutely delicious.
Followed the recipe except used semi skimmed milk with great result, really delicious buns and even nicer when toasted. Love bakingmad bread recipes as they always seem to work perfectly. Thx!!!
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
- 500g Allinson's Strong White Bread Flour
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