They’re an Easter tradition, a soft, slightly sweet, spiced yeast roll speckled with currants and often candied citron. The buns are marked with a cross on top (hence the name), signifying a crucifix, and are typically served on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday.
A Traditional English Treat
Hot cross buns are a rather old English tradition, dating back to the Saxons who marked buns with a cross in honor of the goddess Eostre, the goddess of light, whose day of celebration eventually became Easter. Inspired by a nursery rhyme, Garrett McCord and I got together over the course of several weeks to try to come up with the best hot cross buns recipe we could make. Our first attempts were surprisingly bad—dry, hard, and tough. After several iterations (many eaten, many thrown out), and consultation with chefs, websites, and cookbooks (thank you Elizabeth David, Shirley Corriher, and Bernard Clayton), we finally hit gold with this one.
The Trick to the Best Hot Cross Buns?
The trick was actually to reduce the amount of sugar and fat in the dough. I’m used to thinking that adding sugar or fat will make a baked product more moist, but when it comes to yeast doughs, both sugar and fat can have the opposite effect, making the resulting bread tough. So if you limit the sugar and fat, which we are doing in this recipe, the buns turn out tender and lovely.
What Do Hot Cross Buns Taste Like?
These buns are lightly sweet, and include ground spices, grated orange zest, and currants. They taste warm and spicy with a touch of citrus. The sugar crosses piped on top add another sweet note.
Making the Cross on Top of Hot Cross Buns
You can make the cross on the top of the buns in three ways: For this recipe, we are piping crosses on the buns after baking, with an icing of powdered sugar and milk.
Make-Ahead Hot Cross Buns
These hot cross buns are best eaten fresh and out of the oven. That said, you can form the buns the day before and let them rise in the refrigerator overnight, then bake the next day. Or, you can make the dough through the first rise, refrigerate the dough overnight, and then shape and bake the buns the next day. These buns do freeze well. Once you’ve baked the buns, allow them cool completely, but do not pipe the cross on the top. Wrap the buns in plastic and then aluminum foil, then freeze for up to a month. Thaw overnight on the counter. Heat in a warm oven or microwave to take off any chill. Let cool and pipe the crosses on top before serving.
Looking for More Easter Treats?
Carrot Cake Hummingbird Cake Parker House Rolls Lemon Meringue Pie Coconut Macaroons
You may use any mix of ground spices (such as cinnamon, mace, allspice, cardamom, and cloves) you like, but aim for them to total 2 teaspoons.
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup currants (can sub half of the currants with chopped candied citrus peel)
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
For the egg wash
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
For the frosting
1 1/2 teaspoons milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Using a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment of your mixer, mix the ingredients until well incorporated. The mixture should be shaggy and quite sticky. Add in the currants, candied peel, and orange zest. Slowly sprinkle in additional flour, a tablespoon at a time, kneading to incorporate after each addition, until the flour is still slightly tacky, but is no longer completely sticking to your fingers when you work with it. Total kneading time should be about 7 minutes in a mixer or 10 minutes by hand. Take the individual pieces and form them into mounds, placing them 1 1/2 inches apart from each other on a greased baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and then work the remaining dough into 8 equal pieces and place them in mounds on a baking sheet, again cover with plastic wrap. If you want, you can score the top of the buns with a knife in a cross pattern. You will want to make fairly deep cuts, for the pattern to be noticeable after they’re done. Using a pasty brush, brush on the egg wash over the dough mounds. The egg wash will give them a shiny appearance when cooked. Remove from oven and let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer the buns to a wire rack to cool. Place in a plastic sandwich bag. Snip off a small piece from the corner of the bag and use the bag to pipe two lines of frosting across each bun to make a cross.
