Easy Hot Cross Bun Recipe

Traditional Hot Cross Buns

Feel free to vary the dried fruit if you want. Use mixed fruit, add peel or any other dried fruit you choose. Just keep the total amount of fruit to around 1 cup.

Dough Ingredients
4 cups Bread Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 sachets Dry Yeast (14 grams)
2 tablespoons Softened Butter (or Margarine)
3/4 cup Dried Sultanas
1/4 cup Dried Currants
1 Egg
1 cup Warm Water

Cross Batter Ingredients
1/2 cup Plain Flour
4 tablespoons Water

Glaze Ingredients
1/4 teaspoon Gelatine (optional)
2 tablespoons Hot Water
1 tablespoon Sugar

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1. Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and add the dry yeast. Stir until the yeast is evenly dispersed.

2. Add the egg, salt, sugar, butter, spices and half the flour. Mix well and then add the remaining flour gradually. Work into a soft dough. You may need to add a little more flour or water to get the right consistancy. You want a soft dough but not too sticky.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or table and start kneading. Work the dough for 5 to 10 minutes until it appears smooth and satiny.. Now fold in the dried fruit and continue to knead for a few more minutes until the fruit is distributed evenly.

4. Place the dough into large greased bowl (you can re-use the mixing bowl for this). Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and place in a warm place until the dough doubles in size. This should take about 1 hour.

5. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and then turn it out onto your floured board or table. Divide the dough into 16 evenly sized portions. Roll the pieces into rounds and place into a well greased baking tray. It's best if the tray has high sides to help keep the buns batched close together. Cover the buns with a damp cloth and again allow to rise until doubled in size.

6. While the dough is rising, pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees celcius. Mix the ingredients for the batter to prepare for crossing the buns before they go into the oven. Place the batter mix into a plastic bag and snip the corner to make a simple piping bag.

7. Once the buns have risen, pipe crosses onto them.

8. Place the tray in the pre-heated oven for around 20 minutes. Ensure they have an even dark golden brown colour before taking them out of the oven. Once the buns are removed from the oven, carefully tip them out onto a wire tray.

9. Prepare the glaze by dissolving the ingredients in the hot water. Brush the glaze over the buns while they are still hot to give them a sweet and shiny finish.

Enjoy your buns hot or allow them to cool and eat them later. Either way, your family will love your fresh baked Hot Cross Buns.

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Hot Cross Bun History

In modern times Hot Cross Buns have become associated with the Christian Easter Festival although they do have a much older history. In Christian cultures the buns are eaten on Good Friday with the cross as a symbol for the Crucifixion.

Before Christianity, it is believed that Hot Cross Buns were made to honour the Saxon Goddess, "Eostre". On the Saxon lunar based calendar, Eostre-monath was the month that falls around the time of April on the modern calendar. It marked the beginning of the Spring/Summer Season, a time of re-growth or re-birth. The cross symbol on the hot cross bun is said to represent the four quarters of the moon. There are also other claims that the Greeks marked cakes with the symbol of a cross in honour of other deities much earlier than the Saxons.

The Christian church eventually adopted the time of the Eostre festival for it's own festival of re-birth or resurrection. The incorporation of Heathen customs into early Christianity was carried out upon the orders of Pope Gregory.

Early Protestant monarchs in England began to see the buns as a dangerous holdover of Catholicism and tried to ban the production of crossed buns by bakers. The popularity of the buns resulted in the failure of this action and eventually Queen Elizabeth I conceded by passing a law allowing the baking of the buns but only at the times of Easter and Christmas.