Easy Hot Cross Buns using this easy dough from my Bagel Recipe. No yeast, no boiling, no fancy mixer. Bake them in the oven or in the air-fryer!
Hot Cross Buns
Serve them Easter morning with some hard boiled eggs and fruit! More sweet brunch additions I love are No-bake Strawberries and Cream Crepe Cake, Honey lemon Bars, and Chocolate Drizzled Coconut Macaroons.
Confession, I have never had a hot cross bun, although I did play it on my recorder in grade school! But I looked at several recipes and noticed the dough was pretty similar to my bagel dough, with the addition of raisins, cinnamon and a glaze on top. I tested them out keeping the sugar on the lighter side, since the glaze on top adds more sweetness and we loved them. I guess you can call them bagel cross buns, if you wish!
How To Make Easy Hot Cross Buns
Tips for perfect hot cross buns:
- Use a silpat or parchment paper sprayed with oil to prevent them from sticking to the baking sheet.
- Bake them on the top rack so they don’t brown too much on the bottom.
- Greek yogurt instead of plain is a must, if there’s any liquid in the yogurt be sure to drain it. I tested with Fage and Stonyfield Greek, both worked great. Chobani has been giving people sticky dough, so I would stay away from that brand for this recipe.
- If your dough is sticky add more flour or use less yogurt.
- You can easily double or triple this recipe to make more. You can also half or quarter it to make less.
- To make them with self rising flour omit the salt and baking powder.
Tips for dairy-free hot cross buns:
I tested this dairy-free a few different ways with success.
- You can use a thick dairy-free Greek yogurt, Kite Hill (blue label) was the brand I found and tested. This yogurt is not 0 Freestyle Points.
- Use water instead of milk for the glaze.
Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour, whole wheat or gluten-free mix*, (5 oz)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder, make sure it’s not expired or it won’t rise
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, use less if using table salt
- 1 cup 0% Greek yogurt, not regular yogurt, it will be too sticky
- 3 tablespoon raisins
- 1 egg white, beaten (whole egg works fine too)
Icing (only half will get used)*:
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon milk or water
Instructions
Oven Method:
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Place parchment paper or a silpat on a baking sheet. If using parchment paper, spray with oil to avoid sticking.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt and whisk well.
- Add the yogurt and raisins, mix with a fork or spatula until well combined, it will look like small crumbles.
- Lightly dust flour on a work surface and remove dough from the bowl, knead the dough a few times until dough is tacky, but not sticky, about 10 to 15 turns (it should not leave dough on your hand when you pull away).
- Divide into 8 equal balls. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Top with egg wash. Bake on the top rack of the oven for 25 minutes. Let cool at least 30 minutes before icing.
For the icing:
- In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar with milk until smooth. Transfer to a small ziplock bag and cut the tip. Ice the tops of the rolls in a cross pattern.
Air Fryer Method:
- Preheat the air fryer 325F degrees and set for 11 to 12 minutes.
- Transfer in batches without overcrowding and bake 11 to 12 minutes, or until golden. No need to turn.
- Let cool at least 30 minutes before icing.
Last Step:
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Notes
Nutrition
