The traditional hot cross bun recipes that you will surely love!
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We previously shared an article about the newest and most exotic hot cross bun flavours available on the market right now and we received a number of comments requesting that we share a couple of more traditional recipes.
Well, members, your wish is our command!
So, without further ado, we would like to share with you two recipes for traditional hot cross buns — the regular variant using truly traditional ingredients, and the gluten-free variant using almost-truly-traditional ingredients that are safe to eat for those with coeliac disease.
Aussies typically enjoy hot cross buns on Easter. Credit: Getty Images.
Traditional Hot Cross Buns recipe
Hot cross buns are delectable treats made from iced buns containing dried fruit like currants and raisins, and spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.
The buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday but are now available all year round.
This recipe shared by Coles uses the traditional ingredients used in making the original hot cross buns.
So, how can we make these decadent treats?
Credit: YouTube/Coles
Ingredients:
Buns:
Flour paste:
The first step is to place the milk and the butter into a small saucepan and put it on low heat for two minutes or until the butter is melted.
Next, combine your dry ingredients — plain flour, dried fruit of your choice, sugar, yeast, mixed spices such as a mixture of nutmeg and cinnamon, and salt — into a large bowl before pouring the milk mixture.
Then, crack one egg over the mixture and mix until well-combined.
Once the mixture forms into a dough, flour the surface of your workstation or cover it with parchment paper before you take the dough out for kneading.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Once the dough reaches a smooth and elastic consistency, return it to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or cloth.
Place the bowl in a warm, draught-free place for an hour or until the dough doubles in size.
While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
You’ll also need to prepare the pan by greasing it with some butter or your grease of choice (grease spray, oil, etc.).
Combine all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl before adding the milk mixture. Credit: YouTube/Coles.
For this recipe, it is advised to use a 22 cm square cake pan.
Once the dough doubles in size, take it out of the bowl and knead it until it goes back to its original size.
Then, divide the dough evenly into 16 portions before rolling each portion into a ball and arranging them side by side in the prepared pan.
The next step is to set the dough balls aside in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes or until the balls rise by 2cm.
While waiting, you can prepare the flour paste!
Simply combine the flour with water in a small bowl until you make a smooth paste.
Keep in mind that you should only add an adequate amount of water so the paste isn’t too runny.
If you're unsure whether you’ve added enough water or not, feel free to add it gradually so you can test the consistency as you go.
Place the paste in a piping bag. If you don't have a piping bag, you can place it in a sealable plastic bag and cut off one small corner so you can use it as a pipe.
Once the dough balls are ready, pipe the flour paste over the tops of the buns to make cross shapes.
Bake the buns for 10 minutes before reducing the heat to 180 degrees Celsius and baking it further for 20 minutes or until the buns turn golden brown.
Put the buns onto a wire rack to cool.
It is advised to knead the dough for 10 minutes. Credit: YouTube/Coles.
The final step is to prepare the "glaze" of the hot cross buns to make them look glossy and delicious.
All you need to do to make the glaze is to heat an apricot jam on high heat and cook it for two minutes or until it gets a melted / runny consistency.
Once melted, strain the jam through a fine sieve and brush it over the buns.
Serve the buns warm or toast them with butter for the full experience!
Gluten-free Traditional Hot Cross Buns recipe
One thing that is difficult to replicate when creating gluten-free versions of some traditionally gluten-containing pastries is the texture of the treats — gluten-free ingredients have no “stretch” to them even if you mix them with liquids, making gluten-free baked goods more “stiff” or “brittle” depending on the type of pastry that you’re cooking.
Keeping that in mind, we would like to warn our members who give this recipe a go that the finished product may be a little different to what you’d expect, given that some of the ingredients are tweaked to fit the requirements of those who are gluten-intolerant.
So, for those who are keen to try making a gluten-free version of this delectable treat, we are delighted to share with you this recipe!
YouTube content creator and chef, Steve Owens, revealed his recipe for the gluten-free version of hot cross buns that he guarantees “taste as great”.
Credit: YouTube/Steve Owens
Ingredients:
He starts the video with a caveat, saying: “I've got some bad news for all of you. it isn't easy to create a lovely elastic hot cross bun.”
“But the good news is I've come up with a recipe which I think works and tastes great.”
Steve reveals that he used a mix of rice flour and tapioca flour to create a gluten-free dough, combining 250 g of each type of flour into a mixing bowl.
Next, he adds some leavening agent into the flour mixture, adding a teaspoon of baking powder and baking soda into the bowl.
It should be noted that when baking gluten-free, it is often necessary to add a leavening agent to the recipe in order to help the baked goods to rise properly. Without a leavening agent, gluten-free baked goods can be dense and heavy.
Steve also notes that you need to make sure that you use gluten-free baking powder as there are gluten-containing brands.
Next, he adds his homemade mixed spice, noting that you can adjust the amount depending on your taste.
While the chef did not disclose what's in his mixed spice recipe, the common spices used for making delicious hot cross buns include allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. You may also want to add some pumpkin spice to the mix, as advised by Steve.
The chef then adds the dried fruits to the mixture before sprinkling a pinch on top of the fruits.
For sweetness, Steve says that he used "a couple of tablespoons" of soft brown sugar, emphasising that you can adjust the amount based on your preference.
He also advises that the ideal amount of brown sugar is 2 tablespoons — just enough for those who are craving the original taste of these treats.
Steve then uses a fork to mix the dry ingredients together before pouring in a cup and a half of buttermilk.
For those of you who do not have buttermilk or are looking to cut down on fat in their diet, regular milk works just as well, according to the chef.
He says: "I've got a little extra buttermilk which we'll be using to make the cross on top of our buns."
Steve mixes the ingredients using a fork until they start to "bind together", prompting him to use his hand to knead the mixture.
The chef explains: "The beauty of gluten-free dough is you can't really overwork it and make it tough now."
"Just keep working it until it all comes together like that into one solid dough
so there is that beautiful dough ready to make our hot cross buns."
The gluten-free ingredients don’t have any “stretch”, so you only need to knead them until they form a firm dough. Credit: YouTube/Steve Owens.
Steve also shares some reminders when baking gluten-free dough.
He advises: "Don't go and bake it all at once unless you're going to eat it all at once of course."
"The secret to good gluten-free bread is not to bake it and keep it for too long."
"This sort of bread will get dry very quickly so what I suggest you do is covered this with a damp towel or at least seal it and when you feel like hot cross buns because they only take 10 to 15 minutes to bake, you can just take it out of the fridge shape them up, pop them on a tray, and bake them."
He cuts a portion of the gluten-free dough and divides it into 6 equal portions, noting that he will save some for future use.
Steve then shapes a portion into a ball and repeats the step for the remaining five dough portions.
He places the dough balls side by side onto a baking tray, noting that you need to place them close to each other as they do not rise while baking, unlike their gluten-containing counterparts.
Steve then preheats the oven to 200 degrees Celsius before preparing the flour paste for the cross markings on the buns.
The chef mixes a teaspoon of buttermilk with some flour — rice or tapioca, whichever you prefer — until the mixture forms a thick paste.
Similar to the previous recipe, you can transfer the flour paste into a piping bag or a resealable bag with a cutout corner.
Once the flour paste is ready, he pipes them onto the dough balls, creating a cross marking on each bun.
Steve then pops the buns into the oven.
"They're going to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes just keep an eye on them as they puff up and get golden brown," he says.
The chef also prepared the "glaze" of the buns, mixing "a little bit" of syrup with water.
Once the buns are ready, he glosses the glaze over the top of the pastry.
Steve then serves the buns after giving them a taste test.
It is normal for gluten-free hot cross buns to have some “cracks” on them as they are not as elastic as the gluten-containing version. Credit: YouTube/Steve Owens.
While there is a noticeable difference in the "stretch" of the bread, the chef says that the buns are like "any other hot cross bun".
"The only thing I would say is these are best eaten before they cool down while they've still got heaps of flavour," he admits.
"I think this is just fine I would put some butter on this a little salted butter and eat it as is granted you've got something that's a little bit of a cross between a scone and hot cross bun."
He also encourages everyone who wants to treat themselves this Easter to give this recipe a go.
"I hope this will give you an excuse to make something a little spicy this Easter," he says.
We hope you enjoy these hot cross bun recipes! Let us know in the comments if you tried making them using the methods described above. We also encourage our members to share their recipes so we can try making them too!
Well, members, your wish is our command!
So, without further ado, we would like to share with you two recipes for traditional hot cross buns — the regular variant using truly traditional ingredients, and the gluten-free variant using almost-truly-traditional ingredients that are safe to eat for those with coeliac disease.
Aussies typically enjoy hot cross buns on Easter. Credit: Getty Images.
Traditional Hot Cross Buns recipe
Hot cross buns are delectable treats made from iced buns containing dried fruit like currants and raisins, and spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.
The buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday but are now available all year round.
This recipe shared by Coles uses the traditional ingredients used in making the original hot cross buns.
So, how can we make these decadent treats?
Credit: YouTube/Coles
Ingredients:
Buns:
- 1 1/3 cups (330ml) skim milk
- 20g butter
- 4 cups (600g) plain flour
- 1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
- 3 tsp dried yeast
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups (240g) mixed dried fruit
- 1 lightly whisked egg
- Apricot jam, to brush
Flour paste:
- 1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
- 1/3 cup (80ml) cold water
The first step is to place the milk and the butter into a small saucepan and put it on low heat for two minutes or until the butter is melted.
Next, combine your dry ingredients — plain flour, dried fruit of your choice, sugar, yeast, mixed spices such as a mixture of nutmeg and cinnamon, and salt — into a large bowl before pouring the milk mixture.
Then, crack one egg over the mixture and mix until well-combined.
Once the mixture forms into a dough, flour the surface of your workstation or cover it with parchment paper before you take the dough out for kneading.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Once the dough reaches a smooth and elastic consistency, return it to the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or cloth.
Place the bowl in a warm, draught-free place for an hour or until the dough doubles in size.
While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
You’ll also need to prepare the pan by greasing it with some butter or your grease of choice (grease spray, oil, etc.).
Combine all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl before adding the milk mixture. Credit: YouTube/Coles.
For this recipe, it is advised to use a 22 cm square cake pan.
Once the dough doubles in size, take it out of the bowl and knead it until it goes back to its original size.
Then, divide the dough evenly into 16 portions before rolling each portion into a ball and arranging them side by side in the prepared pan.
The next step is to set the dough balls aside in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes or until the balls rise by 2cm.
While waiting, you can prepare the flour paste!
Simply combine the flour with water in a small bowl until you make a smooth paste.
Keep in mind that you should only add an adequate amount of water so the paste isn’t too runny.
If you're unsure whether you’ve added enough water or not, feel free to add it gradually so you can test the consistency as you go.
Place the paste in a piping bag. If you don't have a piping bag, you can place it in a sealable plastic bag and cut off one small corner so you can use it as a pipe.
Once the dough balls are ready, pipe the flour paste over the tops of the buns to make cross shapes.
Bake the buns for 10 minutes before reducing the heat to 180 degrees Celsius and baking it further for 20 minutes or until the buns turn golden brown.
Put the buns onto a wire rack to cool.
It is advised to knead the dough for 10 minutes. Credit: YouTube/Coles.
The final step is to prepare the "glaze" of the hot cross buns to make them look glossy and delicious.
All you need to do to make the glaze is to heat an apricot jam on high heat and cook it for two minutes or until it gets a melted / runny consistency.
Once melted, strain the jam through a fine sieve and brush it over the buns.
Serve the buns warm or toast them with butter for the full experience!
Gluten-free Traditional Hot Cross Buns recipe
One thing that is difficult to replicate when creating gluten-free versions of some traditionally gluten-containing pastries is the texture of the treats — gluten-free ingredients have no “stretch” to them even if you mix them with liquids, making gluten-free baked goods more “stiff” or “brittle” depending on the type of pastry that you’re cooking.
Keeping that in mind, we would like to warn our members who give this recipe a go that the finished product may be a little different to what you’d expect, given that some of the ingredients are tweaked to fit the requirements of those who are gluten-intolerant.
So, for those who are keen to try making a gluten-free version of this delectable treat, we are delighted to share with you this recipe!
YouTube content creator and chef, Steve Owens, revealed his recipe for the gluten-free version of hot cross buns that he guarantees “taste as great”.
Credit: YouTube/Steve Owens
Ingredients:
- 250g Rice Flour
- 250g Tapioca Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 2 tsp Mixed Spice or Pumpkin Spice
- 2/3 cup of Mixed Fruit
- 1 pinch of Salt
- 2 tbsp Soft Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 cups of Butter Milk
He starts the video with a caveat, saying: “I've got some bad news for all of you. it isn't easy to create a lovely elastic hot cross bun.”
“But the good news is I've come up with a recipe which I think works and tastes great.”
Steve reveals that he used a mix of rice flour and tapioca flour to create a gluten-free dough, combining 250 g of each type of flour into a mixing bowl.
Next, he adds some leavening agent into the flour mixture, adding a teaspoon of baking powder and baking soda into the bowl.
It should be noted that when baking gluten-free, it is often necessary to add a leavening agent to the recipe in order to help the baked goods to rise properly. Without a leavening agent, gluten-free baked goods can be dense and heavy.
Steve also notes that you need to make sure that you use gluten-free baking powder as there are gluten-containing brands.
Next, he adds his homemade mixed spice, noting that you can adjust the amount depending on your taste.
While the chef did not disclose what's in his mixed spice recipe, the common spices used for making delicious hot cross buns include allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg. You may also want to add some pumpkin spice to the mix, as advised by Steve.
The chef then adds the dried fruits to the mixture before sprinkling a pinch on top of the fruits.
For sweetness, Steve says that he used "a couple of tablespoons" of soft brown sugar, emphasising that you can adjust the amount based on your preference.
He also advises that the ideal amount of brown sugar is 2 tablespoons — just enough for those who are craving the original taste of these treats.
Steve then uses a fork to mix the dry ingredients together before pouring in a cup and a half of buttermilk.
For those of you who do not have buttermilk or are looking to cut down on fat in their diet, regular milk works just as well, according to the chef.
He says: "I've got a little extra buttermilk which we'll be using to make the cross on top of our buns."
Steve mixes the ingredients using a fork until they start to "bind together", prompting him to use his hand to knead the mixture.
The chef explains: "The beauty of gluten-free dough is you can't really overwork it and make it tough now."
"Just keep working it until it all comes together like that into one solid dough
so there is that beautiful dough ready to make our hot cross buns."
The gluten-free ingredients don’t have any “stretch”, so you only need to knead them until they form a firm dough. Credit: YouTube/Steve Owens.
Steve also shares some reminders when baking gluten-free dough.
He advises: "Don't go and bake it all at once unless you're going to eat it all at once of course."
"The secret to good gluten-free bread is not to bake it and keep it for too long."
"This sort of bread will get dry very quickly so what I suggest you do is covered this with a damp towel or at least seal it and when you feel like hot cross buns because they only take 10 to 15 minutes to bake, you can just take it out of the fridge shape them up, pop them on a tray, and bake them."
He cuts a portion of the gluten-free dough and divides it into 6 equal portions, noting that he will save some for future use.
Steve then shapes a portion into a ball and repeats the step for the remaining five dough portions.
He places the dough balls side by side onto a baking tray, noting that you need to place them close to each other as they do not rise while baking, unlike their gluten-containing counterparts.
Steve then preheats the oven to 200 degrees Celsius before preparing the flour paste for the cross markings on the buns.
The chef mixes a teaspoon of buttermilk with some flour — rice or tapioca, whichever you prefer — until the mixture forms a thick paste.
Similar to the previous recipe, you can transfer the flour paste into a piping bag or a resealable bag with a cutout corner.
Once the flour paste is ready, he pipes them onto the dough balls, creating a cross marking on each bun.
Steve then pops the buns into the oven.
"They're going to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes just keep an eye on them as they puff up and get golden brown," he says.
The chef also prepared the "glaze" of the buns, mixing "a little bit" of syrup with water.
Once the buns are ready, he glosses the glaze over the top of the pastry.
Steve then serves the buns after giving them a taste test.
It is normal for gluten-free hot cross buns to have some “cracks” on them as they are not as elastic as the gluten-containing version. Credit: YouTube/Steve Owens.
While there is a noticeable difference in the "stretch" of the bread, the chef says that the buns are like "any other hot cross bun".
"The only thing I would say is these are best eaten before they cool down while they've still got heaps of flavour," he admits.
"I think this is just fine I would put some butter on this a little salted butter and eat it as is granted you've got something that's a little bit of a cross between a scone and hot cross bun."
He also encourages everyone who wants to treat themselves this Easter to give this recipe a go.
"I hope this will give you an excuse to make something a little spicy this Easter," he says.
We hope you enjoy these hot cross bun recipes! Let us know in the comments if you tried making them using the methods described above. We also encourage our members to share their recipes so we can try making them too!
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