This is a customary, mildly sweet, spicy dish eaten on Good Friday and during Lent. Serve heated or at room temperature.
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 12 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 52 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 16 buns |
Ingredients
- ¾ cup lukewarm milk, divided
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided, or more as needed
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ cup softened butter
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup golden raisins, chopped
- 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Stir 1/4 cup milk, yeast, and 1 teaspoon sugar together in a small bowl; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Whisk 3 cups flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Stir yeast mixture, 1/2 cup milk, softened butter, and eggs into flour mixture with a wooden spoon until well incorporated; stir in raisins and marmalade. Dough will be sticky.
- Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup flour onto work surface; turn dough onto surface and knead, incorporating additional flour as needed, until tacky but not sticking to fingers, about 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball.
- Place dough in a large, lightly-oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with a clean towel and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
- Deflate dough; divide into 16 equal pieces and form into round buns. Place buns 1 1/2 inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheets; cover with a light cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Whisk egg white and 1 tablespoon milk together in a small bowl. Use a sharp knife to score a deep cross on top of each bun; brush buns with egg wash.
- Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Remove to cool completely on a wire rack, about 15 minutes.
- Place confectioners’ sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons milk in a plastic sandwich bag; knead the bag until combined. Snip off one corner of the bag; pipe a cross into the scored lines on each bun.
- This is my method for forming 16 equal pieces of dough: Cut dough in half. Work with one half at a time. Hand roll into a log; cut in half again. Roll each piece again; cut in half again; repeat once more; you will have 8 pieces. Repeat the process with the other half of the dough for a total of 16 pieces.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 186 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 32 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 186 mg |
| Sugars | 12 g |
| Fat | 4 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
My family loved them! Would have turned out prettier had I remembered to egg-wash them before baking… haha! Super easy using my stand mixer and dough hook to knead it for me 90% of the way. Saved time, too.
Loved, very easy to make, I swapped out the vanilla frosting with powder sugar and milk with a touch of vanilla extract and just drizzled on top! I will be making these again!
I would use less milk or more sugar for icing as Directv
My husband who loves hot cross buns devoured two at once. Love the flavour. Used bread maker for dough
Love the flavour
Wad disappointed,would use twice as many spices
I’ve been looking for years for a really good hot cross bun recipe for my husband for Good Friday and this is it! I used my heavy mixer with dough hook for the kneading so it was easy to make and the texture and flavor were authentic. This is the recipe I’ll use from now on!
I just made these and the dough didn’t rise much at all. I used the same yeast I’ve made bread with several times in the past month. It worked fine then. Any suggestions?
My British houseguest says these are exactly like his mum’s, and my 11-year-old devoured them, so I guess that’s four thumbs up!