Create a "fresh from the bakery" moment in your kitchen using the tangzhong method to bake soft hot cross buns full of flavour and brandy soaked sultanas. These are the Easter buns you have been looking for.
I know it's a big call saying "these are the best hot cross buns you will ever bake". They may or may not be, but they are certainly the best ones I have.
Soft bakery style fluffy hot cross buns. Packed with brandied sultanas, fragrant spices, honey, and a hint of orange. Leave those stodgy Woolworths and Coles hot cross buns at the supermarket.
A yeast dough, therefore they do take a little time to make. They can be baked in advance, frozen and re-heated for Good Friday breakfast. After a recipe not using yeast? Try my quick hot cross buns recipe.
If you haven't tried the tangzhong method before, it's a game changer in bread baking. These Easter fruit buns are the perfect addition to the Easter recipe collection on Belly Rumbles.
Sara xxx
What's in this post
Hot Cross Bun Facts
Hot cross buns may take anywhere from two to three hours to make. It depends on the weather and how long the dough takes to rise. On a hot day, the dough could rise in 45 minutes, if it is cold, it may take 90 minutes or 2 hours.
No, if you want to double this recipe then make two batches. The recipe makes 12 buns, if that is too many for you to eat, freeze some for later.
Not only does the tangzhong method create soft hot cross buns it increases their shelf life. Stored in an air-tight container they will keep for up to 4 days. Or freeze them for up to 6 months.
I use a slightly unusual ingredient in this recipe, vanilla powder. Vanilla powder is ground dried vanilla pods. You can purchase it at speciality food stores.
You can substitute vanilla bean paste for vanilla powder.
Ingredients
A full printable recipe card can be found at the end of this post with recipe ingredient measurements and the method.
Below isn't a complete list of ingredients. Instead, it is a highlight of key ingredients used in this recipe.
- Sultanas: Sultanas are soaked in brandy or cognac to give them extra flavour and plump them up. Substitute with black tea or orange juice.
- Tangzhong: Tangzhong is a cooked flour and liquid roux added to the dough ingredients resulting in soft hot cross buns that stay softer for longer.
- Bread Flour: Bread flour (OO flour) is best for this recipe. All-purpose flour can be substituted but the final result will alter.
- Vanilla powder: Vanilla powder is finely ground vanilla pods, available at speciality food shops. Make your own by drying vanilla bean pods (after using the seeds) and grinding to a fine powder. Substitute with vanilla bean paste.
- Spices: Always use fresh spices. If they have been open in your spice draw for a long time it's best to replace them.
- Honey: Honey can be substituted with golden syrup or maple syrup.
I don't like sultanas!
Many people dislike sultanas and prefer fruitless hot cross buns. It's okay, leave the sultanas out. A few suggestions of alternative hot cross bun flavours, substitute 1 cup of sultanas for the below.
- Chocolate Chip: 1 cup of chocolate chips, dark, milk or white.
- Dried Blueberries: 1 cup of dried blueberries.
- Honeycomb: 1 cup of chunky crushed honeycomb.
- Dried Raspberry & White Chocolate Chips: ½ cup dried raspberries and ½ cup white chocolate chips.
- Caramilk: 1 cup Caramilk baking chips.
- Biscoff Stuffed Hot Cross Buns: Bake fruitless hot cross buns. Glaze and allow to cool. Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip. Fill the bag with Biscoff spread, push the piping tip into the middle of the bun and fill with Biscoff. Repeat with the remaining buns.
- Apple & Almond: Peel, core and dice 1 apple, plus ½ cup of toasted slivered almonds.
- Sour Cherry & Dark Chocolate: ½ cup dark chocolate chips and ½ cup dried sour cherries.
- Maple Pecan: Swap out honey for maple syrup in the dough and the glaze. Add 1 cup of chopped toasted pecans.
- Fruitless: Don't add anything and leave the sultanas out.
How to Eat Hot Cross Buns
Traditionally hot cross buns are served for breakfast on Good Friday. Even though they are available in Australia from Boxing Day, I can't break my tradition of eating them when they are traditionally meant to be. Otherwise, they are no longer a special Easter treat.
The best way to eat hot cross buns is when they are still warm from the oven, slathered with a copious amount of good quality butter.
Do you toast hot cross buns, and can I put jam on them? You can. It is the best way to eat them when they are a few days old. Marmalade or strawberry jam is great.
Important Recipe Steps
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the complete method and printable recipe.
Plumping the Sultanas
Add some life back into dried sultanas by fattening them with brandy or cognac. The booze also adds another dimension of flavour to the buns.
You can soak them overnight, I prefer to follow the method in my boozy banana bread. Place the sultanas and brandy in a small saucepan, bring to a low simmer and stir until the liquid has infused into the fruit.
If you do not want to use alcohol replace it with black tea or orange juice.
Get your Tangzhong on
You may not have heard of the tangzhong method before, but I am sure you're familiar with soft and fluffy bread from Asian bakeries. Tangzhong is the Chinese version of this simple dough improver. It's very similar to the Japanese Yudane method.
It's an important step in creating soft hot cross buns. A small portion of the flour is cooked with a liquid (milk in this instance). This gelatinizes the flour's starch and makes it swell up and thicken.
This one extra step will increase the shelf life of the buns. They will stay soft and fluffy for longer.
The Crosses
It simply isn't an Easter hot cross bun without the cross. The cross is a simple paste made from flour, milk and oil.
Oil isn't a common ingredient in the paste for crosses, generally, it is made only with flour and water. The result is Piped crosses that are more elastic and hold their shape well.
Glaze for Hot Cross Buns
The glaze is a simple honey syrup and enhances the flavour of the honey in the buns. In a small saucepan combine caster sugar, honey and water, stir until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a simmer. The glaze is brushed onto the hot cross buns as soon as they come out of the oven.
Printable Recipe
Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Sultanas
- 150 g (1 cup) sultanas
- 125 ml (½ cup) brandy or cognac
Tangzhong (roux)
- 35 g (¼ cup) bread flour (00 flour)
- 125 ml (½ cup) milk
Hot Cross Buns
- 490 g (3¼ cup) bread flour
- 1 tablespoon dry instant yeast
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder (or vanilla bean paste)
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice (not mixed spice)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 tablespoon orange zest (zest from 1 orange)
- 125 ml (½ cup) milk
- 90 g (¼ cup) honey (or golden syrup)
- 2 eggs
- 60 g (2.12 oz) butter
Paste for Crosses
- 50 g (⅓ cup) flour
- 60 ml (¼ cup) milk
- 1 teaspoon light-tasting olive oil (or vegetable oil)
Glaze
- 3 tablespoon caster sugar (super fine sugar)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
Preparing Sultanas
- Place sultanas and brandy/cognac in a small saucepan. Bring to a low simmer stirring the sultanas until they have absorbed all the liquid and have become plump.
- Set the sultanas aside to cool while making the tangzhong (roux).
Tangzhong (roux)
- Place flour and milk in a saucepan over low heat. Whisk (use a whisk) until flour and milk are combined. Increase heat to medium-low and continue whisking until the mixture forms a paste.
- Scrape tangzhong into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap until needed.
Hot Cross Buns
- Set up your stand mixer with a large bowl and dough hook. If you don't have a stand mixer with a dough hook you can make these the old-fashioned way using elbow grease.
- Place flour, yeast, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla allspice, and cloves into the mixer bowl. Using a clean whisk quickly whisk the ingredients to combine (or use a spoon).
- Add orange zest, milk, honey, eggs, and tangzhong to the bowl.
- Mix ingredients on a low speed until a dough has formed. Then turn the speed up to medium-low (or knead speed mark on the mixer) until a smooth, silky dough has formed.
- Continue kneading and add butter, a tablespoon at a time, until completely combined into the dough.
- The dough is ready when it is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl, and is stretchy and elastic.
- The dough will be sticky, but if you find it too sticky knead through 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour.
- To test if the dough is ready, pull at a piece of the dough and let it go. It should move back to where you pulled it from.
- Add sultanas and knead briefly until mixed through.
- Form dough into a smooth ball, place in a clean greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to double in size. This can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours depending on how warm the day is.
- While dough is rising line a baking tray with parchment/baking paper.
- Once the dough has risen, turn the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough ball into a round disk and cut it into 12 even-sized wedges.
- Shape the hot cross buns by grabbing a wedge of dough and folding the outer edges of the dough into the middle a few times creating a ball.
- Pinch the seam together to seal and place the seam side down on the lightly floured surface. Cup your hand over the dough ball and move your hand in a circular motion, rolling the dough under your hand to form a smooth round ball.
- Place the ball on the lined baking tray and continue with the remaining dough.Leave a little room between each dough ball.
- Cover the dough balls lightly with plastic wrap and leave to rise until they have doubled in size. While the balls are rising make the paste for the crosses (see below) and pre-heat the oven to 180°C/ 360°F.
- Once the balls of dough have risen cut the end from the disposable piping bag and pipe crosses onto the buns.
- Place hot cross buns in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. While buns are baking make the glaze (see below).
- Once buns are baked remove them from the oven, and while still hot, brush them with glaze.
- Buns will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container. Hot cross buns can also be frozen for up to 6 months.
Paste for Crosses
- Place flour, milk and oil in a small mixing bowl. Mix until a smooth paste has formed. The paste will be elastic and sticky.
- Scrape the paste into a small disposable piping bag or piping bag fitted with a small plain round piping tip.
Glaze
- Place caster sugar, honey and water in a small saucepan. Over low heat stir until sugar has melted. Bring mixture to a simmer, remove from heat and set aside until needed.If the glazed becomes too thick to brush while waiting for the buns to bake, return to the stove top and heat through gently (without stirring) until it becomes more fluid to brush.
Oven Temperatures
All oven temperatures are fan forced.
Measurement Notes
All measurements are Australian metric standard. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified. 1 teaspoon = 5ml / 1 tablespoon = 20mls / 1 cup = 250ml /4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
Recipe Notes
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
The recipe's nutritional information is an approximation based on an online calculator. It is meant solely for reference purposes. If you're looking for precise details, be sure to double-check with your own research.
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