Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns

Name: Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 22 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup warm milk; 2 tsp dry yeast; 2 tbsp honey; 1 tbsp yogurt; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp cardamom powder; 1/4 cup melted butter; 3 cups flour ((divided into 2 cups and 1 cup)); 1 tsp baking powder; 1/4 cup dried fruit ((soaked in 2 tbsp water)); 1/4 cup butter ((room temperature)); 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1 tbsp cinnamon powder; Pinch of salt; 3 tbsp butter; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 8 tbsp icing sugar; 1 tbsp double cream; Double cream ((to brush the buns before baking)); Honey ((to brush the buns once baked))

If hot cross buns married cinnamon buns these fluffy, gooey and buttery buns would be the outcome. They are sweet, packed with flavor and the perfect bread baking recipe.

This recipe came up because I absolutely love cinnamon buns and hot cross buns. I have recipes for each of them that are absolutely perfect. Not to mention the fact that I take pride in them being the best recipes out there. Having said this, it seemed only fitting to make a recipe that combined both these favourites of mine into one. So here we are.

I will admit I have only made this recipe by hand as it doesn’t need a lot of your elbow grease and a little arm workout hurt nobody – if you call this an arm workout. It is very simple to make but you could use your stand mixer to make this easier. I must admit – the only thing you need while making this recipe is patience as we let the dough rise 3 times.

Let us look at each rise:

1st Rise –

The flour needs to hydrate with all the wet ingredients so we let the sticky dough sit for 30 minutes before continuing the kneading process.

2nd Rise –

We now need the gluten in the flour to develop, after al the kneading we want this dough fluffy and light like a cloud so the resting time does just that in 1 hour.

3rd Rise –

Before they can get baked we need the gluten to relax and start the rising process hence 15 mins is good enough to get the buns risen.

What ingredients do you need to make these Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns?

Dry ingredients –

We need flour, sugar, salt and dry yeast for the dough. We also need cinnamon powder and cardamom powder. You can use bread flour here if you have it. If you are using fresh yeast, you need half the amount of the required amount. I used regular white sugar but you can use brown sugar or honey.

Wet ingredients –

Warm milk, butter, yogurt, honey and dried fruit. I used whole milk here but you can use any you like. The butter should be melted and it is used for the dough, the egg adds flavor and makes the dough rich but you can use 50gm full fat yogurt instead to make this eggless. For the dried fruit I have used a mixture of golden raisins, black raisins, fruit peel, chopped dates and black currants, I soak them in warm water for around 10 minutes before adding them to the dough to hydrate them. We need the honey to brush over the buns once they are baked to make them sticky.

Vanilla frosting –

This is a simple buttercream that uses butter, icing sugar, double cream and vanilla extract. We pipe this frosting over the buns to make the crosses.

What equipment do you need to make these Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns?

I have used a large mixing bowl and my hands to bring the dough together. You can use a stand mixer if you like. I have used a rollin pin to roll out the dough and a pizza cutter to divide the dough. We need a brush to brush the buns with honey once they are baked, we also need a piping bag to pipe over the crosses. I have baked these buns in the oven on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

How to make these Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns?

We start by making the dough, in a bowl add the 3/4th of flour, salt, sugar, yeast, cardamom powder and using your hands stir it around. Add the warm milk, melted butter into the mixture and using your hands start mixing the dough together. We are not kneading at this stage we just want the mixture well combined. It will be a little sticky which is fine. Cover the dough with a tea towel and let it rip for 30 mins. The dough will have risen in this time, on a clean kitchen surface add the remaining flour and 1 tbsp baking powder, knead the dough until it is soft and not sticky. This should take 8 mins by hand and 3 mins in a stand mixer. Once all the flour is used up and the dough has come together, transfer to the bowl and cover, let this rise for 1 hour.

In this time soak the dried fruits in a little warm water and set aside. We then get on to making the cinnamon butter for the dough, in a mixing bowl add room temperature butter and beat with a spatula, add the brown sugar, cinnamon powder and beat well until it is combined – there should be no lumps, set aside. We can make the vanilla frosting now, I like using a whisk for this. In a bowl add the room temperature butter and vanilla, whip this well until pale and fluffy. Add the icing sugar and beat well. If your icing sugar has lumps, sift it. Whisk until all the sugar is dissolved and add the double cream, beat again and transfer to a piping bag.

The dough will have doubled in size by this time. Dust the kitchen surface with flour and roll out the dough 1/4 inch thickness and it doesn’t have to be perfect but try rolling it out to a rectangle or square shape. Spread the cinnamon sugar over the dough evenly and sprinkle over the dried fruit (drain out any excess liquid before doing this). Using a pizza cutter cut the dough into 6 strips and roll up each strip into a little cinnamon bun. Transfer them to a baking tray and cover for 15 mins. Preheat the oven to 180℃ at this time, once they have risen bake the buns for 18-20 mins until golden and risen. As soon as they come out of the oven brush them with honey and let them cool down a little. Pipe over the crosses and dig in with a glass of milk or cup of coffee.

Storing these Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns?

They keep well at room temperature for a couple of days. You can store them in the fridge for a week and in the freezer for up to one month. You can make the dough and cut the buns the night before and let it rise in the fridge. The next morning, let it come to room temperature before you bake them off.

If you are looking for other Easter recipes to make check out my Easter egg brownies, Hot cross buns, Shepherds pie, Chicken puffs, Protein easter egg, Carrot sheet pan cake, No bake carrot cake balls are a few.

Now that we have covered how to make this Hot Cross Cinnamon Buns, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it. Don’t forget to follow along for more fun recipe inspiration.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.