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Hot cross buns from a supermarket are fine. Hot cross buns out of your own oven, still too hot to butter, are one of the genuinely worthwhile pieces of home baking — and the only real cost is patience, because an enriched dough takes longer to rise than people expect.
Makes 12, about 3 hours, of which maybe 30 minutes is work.
Enriched dough rises slowly — plan for it
This dough has butter, egg, sugar and milk in it. All four slow the yeast down: fat coats the flour and gets in the way of gluten development, and sugar competes with the yeast for water.
So a recipe that says “1 hour until doubled” is describing a warm kitchen in a warm country. In a New Zealand house in February you may need 90 minutes; in a cold one, two hours. Judge by the dough, not the clock — it should be genuinely doubled and the poke test should spring back slowly and only partway.
Under-proved is the single commonest reason home hot cross buns come out dense.
The cross is flour and water, not icing
A lot of home versions pipe icing on after baking. That’s a different thing — sweet, soft, and it slides off.
The traditional cross is a paste of plain flour and water, piped on before baking. It’s tasteless by design, sets firm in the oven, and gives you the matte pale stripe that reads as a hot cross bun. About 1/2 cup of flour to 5 tablespoons of water gives a pipeable paste; you want it like thick toothpaste, not runny.
Snip the corner off a sandwich bag if you don’t have a piping bag.
Glaze them the moment they come out
The shine comes from a sugar syrup brushed on while the buns are still very hot, so it soaks in slightly and dries to a tacky gloss.
Two tablespoons of sugar dissolved in two tablespoons of boiling water is enough for twelve. Apricot jam warmed with a splash of water is the more traditional option and gives a deeper shine.
Do it straight out of the oven. Wait five minutes and it just sits on top wetly.
Soak the fruit
Same reasoning as the date scones. Dry sultanas pull moisture out of the crumb around them and can scorch on the surface.
Ten minutes in hot black tea, or hot water, then drained well. Tea is better — it adds a faint tannic background that suits the spice.
The spice mix
Mixed spice is the New Zealand supermarket standard and it works. If you want to be more deliberate: 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ground cloves for this quantity. Cloves are the one to be careful with — a little reads as Easter, more reads as a dental surgery.
Orange zest is not traditional in every version and improves all of them.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my hot cross buns dense?
Under-proved, almost always. Enriched dough with butter, egg and sugar rises much more slowly than plain bread dough — allow 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the first rise, and judge by whether it’s genuinely doubled rather than by the clock.
What is the cross made of?
A paste of plain flour and water, piped on before baking. It’s deliberately tasteless and sets firm. Icing piped on afterwards is a different, softer thing and tends to slide off.
When do I glaze them?
Immediately as they come out of the oven, while they’re very hot. The syrup soaks in slightly and dries to a gloss. Wait even five minutes and it just sits on top.
Why soak the dried fruit?
Dry fruit draws moisture out of the crumb around it and scorches on the surface. Ten minutes in hot tea fixes both, and the tea adds a faint tannic note that suits the spice.
Can I make the dough the night before?
Yes, and it improves the flavour. Do the first rise in the fridge overnight, then shape and do the second rise at room temperature in the morning, allowing extra time.
Can I freeze hot cross buns?
Yes, baked and cooled, for three months. Refresh from frozen in a 180°C oven for 8 minutes, or split and toast them.
What can I use instead of sultanas?
Currants, raisins, mixed peel, chopped dried apricots, or chocolate chips (added at the end, unsoaked). Chocolate hot cross buns are not traditional and are extremely popular.
Why did my crosses spread out?
The paste was too runny. It should be like thick toothpaste — pipeable but holding its shape.
Variations
- Chocolate chip — replace the fruit with 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips, added at the kneading stage and not soaked.
- Apple and cinnamon — 1 cup finely diced dried apple with the sultanas, and double the cinnamon.
- Fruitless — leave the fruit out entirely for a plain spiced bun, which children often prefer.
- Mixed peel — 1/2 cup mixed peel with the sultanas, which is the more traditional British version.
- Cranberry and orange — dried cranberries and double the orange zest.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
buns
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- 4 cups high grade flour 600 g
- 2 tsp instant dried yeast
- 1/3 cup caster sugar 75 g
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 1/4 cups milk warmed to blood temperature, 310 ml
- 75 g butter melted
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 1/2 cups sultanas or mixed dried fruit 220 g
- 1 cup hot black tea for soaking
- 1/2 cup plain flour 75 g
- 5 Tbsp water
- 2 Tbsp caster sugar
- 2 Tbsp boiling water
Ingredients
Dough
Cross
Glaze
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- Cover the dried fruit with the hot tea and leave 10 minutes, then drain well and pat dry.
- Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, spices and orange zest in a large bowl.
- Add the warm milk, melted butter and beaten egg, and mix to a rough dough.
- Knead on a lightly floured bench for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic and it passes the windowpane test. Enriched dough takes longer than plain — don't stop early, and don't add flour.
- Work the drained fruit through until evenly distributed.
- Put the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and leave somewhere warm until **genuinely doubled** — 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Don't rush this stage.
- Knock back and divide into 12 pieces, about 100 g each. Roll each into a tight ball and sit them in a greased 23 × 33 cm tin, just touching.
- Cover and leave for another 45–60 minutes, until puffy and the poke test springs back slowly and only partway.
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Mix the cross flour and water to a thick pipeable paste and pipe a line along each row in both directions.
- Bake for 18–20 minutes, until deep golden and the base sounds hollow.
- Dissolve the glaze sugar in the boiling water and brush over the buns **immediately** as they come out of the oven.
- Cool 10 minutes in the tin before pulling apart. Eat warm with butter.