Hot-Cross Buns Recipe (2024)

Sorry to say this, but here's a much better recipe, one that really looks and tastes like a Hot Cross Bun from England. It's by Paul Hollywood (of BBC's British Baking Show): https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2066661/hot-cross-buns

They tasted great, just enough spiciness to make things interesting but not too much to overpower the flavor. One thing I will definitely change though is the baking time. 20 minutes at 400F was WAY too much in my oven. The second batch I baked at 380 for 12 minutes and they were just right.

This is nothing like a chelsea bun and this is also not a hot cross bun! They need the cross on the top made from a white dough (flour and water) not slash marks, they need a glaze and you always toast them.Never ice them. Go to the BBC good food recipe for an actual English hot cross bun.

Hi – my recipe (Australian) for hot cross buns has mixed peel added (dried orange and lemon peel) and some sultanas (dried sultana grapes –not what Americans call raisins; the dried fruit we call raisins come from the bigger muscatel style grapes and make larger squashier dried fruit) as well as currants. The peel gives it a more sophisticated, slightly piquant flavour. If you have some left-over buns the following day moisten with milk and reheat in the oven – still absolutely delicious.

Add a teaspoon or so of lemon zest!

How many grams are in "! package active dry yeast"? Sometimes things don't translate across borders...

No, a Chelsea bun is more like our cinnamon roll, but with sugar and currants. A hot cross bun is quite different from those in the stores here; Elizabeth David is the best source for a recipe. She refers to it as a spiced bun with a cross on it (not frosting). Eaten on Good Friday, traditionally.

These are currant buns NOT a Chelsea Buns! Chelsea Buns are rolled like cinnamon buns with currents and sugar and raisins, and they seensugar dusted.

Whoever wrote this recipe has never been to the UK. Sinead is right. I believe the cross is actually piped on. Richly fruited with lots of spices and a sugar and water glaze, they’re real treat toasted. Only the very best are really good untoasted and very fresh.

Chelsea buns and hot cross buns are two very different animals. That said, these are not traditional hot cross buns either.

Can the dough be made and frozen and/or saved in refrigerator for any period of time before baking?

Very tasty. The milk & sugar glaze was a nice change from the usual icing. Substituted a cup of whole wheat flour for the white, & they were still light enough. The yeast could not have been said to be 'frothy'…just a few bubbles here & there with rapid rise yeast. Still worked.

In England we call these Hot Cross Buns and are traditionally made around Easter and are very popular. They are the same as currant buns but made with the addition of a pastry cross. I have never personally seen them in England with a cut cross. The Chelsea Bun is different in that it is rolled up dough and is therefore heavier and more dense. I like the American idea of making the cross with icing.

Hot cross buns in England usually have candied citrus peel in them as well as currants and/or golden raisins (sultanas).They are not the same as Chelsea buns. Chelsea buns are more similar to a cinnamon roll but with dried fruit between the layers instead of cinnamon.

I agree with Juliet Jones, Paul Hollywood’s version of the English hot-cross bun is much better. Further, as others have said, it does not even resemble or taste like a Chelsea bun—the latter is made from a much richer dough and would not need slathers of butter. If you are interested, the best recipe for a Chelsea bun can be found in Elizabeth David’s classic book, English Bread and Yeast Cookery. This recipe, if I remember correctly, dates back to the 18th century.

The recipe grandmas are right: 20 minutes of cooking time at 400 would give you hot cross briquets. And they were right to add orange and/or lemon zest. I cooked mine for 10 minutes and they were done.

15 minutes at 350 would suffice.

Finally a recipe for hot cross buns with spices!

I was wondering if one could use the brandied dried fruit (by Yewande Komolafe) in this recipe?

375 for 14 minutes was good. 350 might better

One of the rare times that The New York Times really missed the mark. These are sweet dinner rolls with currants. Where is the glacé orange peel, lemon peel and citron? And call me down market but I like the icing cross. No, No NYT this one's not good.

Tastes like a spicy dinner roll - very bready. Temp and time seem off - I also did 380 and took out early and the bottoms were burnt. Overall it’s a meh from me but I’m not especially skilled so I probably just did something wrong.

More spice - like 150 percent and orange glaze rather than lemon

I concur the temp suggested is too high. I will try the 380 suggested for 12 minutes next time. Mine were dry and over browned. I will try the flour-water cross vs cutting. These didn’t turn out like what we get in England or NZ. But I will seek to get a better outcome the next time.

A Chelsea bun is NOTHING like a hot cross bun. Also the crosses are made of a contrasting coloured flour paste. No no no no no.

Lovely recipe but all the yeast is gone!

It’s not the same as a Chelsea bun and English bakers don’t slash the top or lay pastry on the top!! It’s a flour and water mixture that is piped on top to make the cross!

And, where are we supposed to find active dry yeast??

Chelsea Buns are more like cinnamon rolls. And they are impossible to find these days. I would add a photo but seems the website won't let me.

This recipe does not resemble what we English call a hot cross bun at all! It's also nothing like an English Chelsea bun. To paraphrase a quip someone once made about English shoes, it looks like it's been made by someone who had heard them described but never seen any.