Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Indulge in the timeless tradition of Easter with our delightful hot cross bun recipe! Soft, spiced dough infused with cinnamon and nutmeg, studded with plump raisins, and adorned with the iconic cross topping. Perfectly sweetened and irresistibly aromatic, these homemade buns are a treat for both the palate and the soul. Whether enjoyed warm from the oven or toasted with a dollop of butter, our recipe promises to elevate your Easter celebration with every heavenly bite. Let's bake up some seasonal joy together!

Hot cross buns can be a little time consuming but there is nothing that can beat homemade hot cross buns, not just the flavour but the smell that drifts through the house when they bake. So yes, a time consuming labour of love but in my opinion well worth it!

Ingredients 

500g Strong plain flour 

75g caster sugar

2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon 

Zest of 1 lemon finely grated

10g dried baking yeast

10g salt

40g melted butter slightly cooled

1 egg beaten

300ml of milk at room temperature 

200g Raisins

50 mixed peel.

Topping

70g plain flour

100ml water

2 tbs golden syrup warmed 

Method

Weigh the flour and add into the bowl the spices, cinnamon, lemon peel, salt and yeast. Keep the salt and yeast separate at this stage at either side of the bowl.

If you have a stand mixer use a bread arm or if mixing by hand use hands to bring the dough together or Danish dough whisk and add melted butter, egg and milk and mix. If mixing by hand once it comes together, tip onto a floured surface and knead. When the dough is kneaded well around 10 minutes by hand and the dough starts to feel elastic and smooth, flatten the dough and put the fruit in the centre drawing the dough in and begin to knead until the fruit is evenly distributed, you can return the dough to the stand mixer and do this.

Now leave the dough to rise for one and a half hours.

Turn the dough out and knead again for a further 5 minutes and return to the bowl for the second rise, around one hour until the dough has doubled in size. 

Turn the dough out once again to a floured surface, line a baking tin with parchment and knead the dough and split into 12 portions, knead each into a bun shape and place on the baking tin so the buns are not touching. Leave the buns to prove for an hour , I cover mine with a tea towel or cling film.

Once the buns have risen, mix together the flower and water and push the mixture into a piping bag and carefully pipe lines first one way and then the other over the buns to make the cross design.

Bake at 200 for a fan oven for 15 to 20 mins. 

While the buns are still warm, gently warm the golden syrup and brush the tops of the buns to give a beautiful sticky gloss to the top. If you don’t have golden syrup I sometimes use warmed apricot jam which is just delicious!

I use Mary Berry’s Hot Cross bun recipe, I find her recipes so simple and I love her books. One of my favourites is the Mary Berry's Baking Bible, it gives me the confidence to give baking a try and with great results and it also makes a really lovely gift to get someone baking!

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