Hot Cross Buns!

These lightly spiced hot cross buns combine a rich, enriched dough packed with juicy raisins and bright orange zest, topped with classic flour crosses and a sticky apricot glaze. Requiring 40 minutes of active preparation and baking time (plus 2 hours of proving), these iconic Easter treats are surprisingly simple to master at home.

Notes from The Patisserie

While they are universally pushed to the forefront during Easter, hot cross buns are entirely deserving of a spot on your baking roster all year round. There is something deeply therapeutic about kneading a sweet dough, watching it double in size, and filling your entire home with the nostalgic aroma of warm cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Whether you enjoy yours split and toasted with a thick layer of salted butter, a dollop of jam, or even a cheeky slice of sharp cheddar cheese (trust us, the sweet and savoury combination is a revelation), making them from scratch elevates this humble classic to a gourmet experience.

The timeless appeal of a hot cross bun relies on the precise mechanics of an enriched dough. Unlike standard lean bread doughs, which contain only flour, water, salt, and yeast to create a chewy, rustic crust, an enriched dough introduces fat and sugar via whole milk, butter, and eggs. These fats coat the gluten strands, weakening them just enough to transform what would be a chewy loaf into an incredibly soft, pillowy, and tender crumb.

A classic enriched dough

If you have never baked bread before, an enriched dough can seem intimidating, but it is actually wonderfully forgiving to work with. To guarantee structural success i use the following ingredients:

• Milk – I always tend to use whole milk because the fat content creates the best bake in my opinion. You also want it warm to activate the yeast.
• Bread flour – I use a basic strong white bread flour as it works wonderfully
• Sugar – a little caster sugar for the sweetness in the dough, and to feed the yeast in the process 
• Yeast – I use a dried active yeast that doesn’t need activating, but make sure to check your packet. If it does need activating, add it to the milk before using 
• Salt – bread dough needs salt!! 
• Flavours – Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and orange for me create a wonderful flavour 
• Butter – it’s best to use a block butter and not a margarine for a bread dough 
• Fruit – raisins, for me!
• Eggs – this makes the dough richer and delicious 

When mixing the base, cold block butter is rubbed directly into the dry ingredients until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. This technique ensures the fat is evenly dispersed before the warm milk and eggs are introduced, resulting in a uniform, elastic dough that becomes incredibly smooth and springy after a 5 to 10-minute knead.

Balancing fruits, spices and citrus

I like raisins and sultanas, but personally things such as mixed peel or too many lumpy bits inside the hot cross buns is too far for me. In other bakes, these ingredients can work well… but it’s just too much for me in my buns.

I love ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg in my hot cross buns, and raisins. It’s quite simple a mix really, but with a dash of orange zest in there too, you have a delicious and winning bake. If you can’t eat orange, you can leave it out, or replace with lemon. 

Perfecting the cross 

That distinctive white cross on top of the bun isn’t made of icing, it is a simple, baked on paste of equal parts flour and water. Whisking them together creates a thick, pipeable mix that holds its shape perfectly in the oven without melting away.

To get that signature sticky, professional bakery gleam, brush the buns with a tablespoon of apricot jam the exact second they come out of the oven. The residual heat of the hot buns thins the jam naturally, allowing it to sink into the crust and dry into a gorgeously glossy, sweet glaze.

FAQs

Storage and freezing

These are best on the day of baking, but can be fine for a couple of days – they might just need reviving in the toaster a bit as the lack of additives compared to shop bought means they can harden. They will freeze for 3+ months.

Related recipes

So even though I have admitted how much I love these all year around, they are a firm easter favourite. They are synonymous with Easter, and I am not mad about it because it means you guys will enjoy this recipe more. 

For me, the classic is iconic and can’t be beaten, and I also use them in my hot cross bun pudding. My hot cross bun addiction has gone quite far at this point as I now also have my chocolate hot cross buns, my hot cross loaf,  and I even have a recipe for hot cross scones now. The obsession is real.