Hot Cross Buns

Sounds and reads well, will try recipe for church Easter reception after service.

• Anonymous

• Bedford Virginia

• 3/31/2023

I made these for Good Friday and they were great. I baked them all on one sheet pan and they came out perfect. My family agreed that they had the taste of store bought, but better!!!!

• mamamarge

• Cincinnati Ohio

• 4/7/2021

Made these tonight and they didn't turn out like perfectly shaped buns, more like scones in terms they were not perfectly round and even but rather more "rustic". However they were super tasty and the texture was just soft and fluffy! I took the risk by extending their baking time by another 3 minutes as they looked a tad pale at the 12 minute mark. When i took them out I was afraid they may still be raw but I tapped the bottoms and they sounded hollow like a baked loaf. I used two large oranges for my zest so they are super citrusy, I also used meyer lemons for my lemon zest. I added about 1/2 tsp of cardamom along with the allspice and cinnamon since folks talk about HCB and cardamom. Frankly, I've only had the store bought ones in England which takes like a sweet white bread with raisins. Will definitely make this again, have to figure out how to cut them so they look like the picture!

• sgellen

• 3/24/2018

Flavor was pretty good, but maybe a little soapy (I used fresh-ground allspice, which may have been stronger than they had in mind). Texture was the problem--a very dense, scone-like crumb, as other reviewers have noted, not bready as I had expected. I used fast-acting yeast, and probably should have skipped the proofing step.

• CapitolHillCook

• Washington DC

• 3/31/2012

Perfect outcome on the first attempt, and I'm not much of a baker. Turned out just like mom used to make. I went a bit light on the egg glaze. I'd be more generous next time and make sure I use up all the glaze.

• sdmadison

• San Francisco, CA

• 4/24/2011

Made these today - delicious - Instead of the pastry on top, I used a glaze to make the cross. 1 cup confectioners sugar, 2tsp vanilla,and 4 tsp milk.

• Anonymous

• North Providence, RI

• 4/22/2011

这个审查——最后的警告。当我scoffed at the reviewers who'd said this bun was scone-like, I kind of see what they mean, in that the crumb is pretty loose (rather than light and springy) and the base of the bun is crisp and buttery. I didn't have white all-purpose flour so substituted with 3 cups fine wholewheat bread flour and one cup white cake flour. I also substituted one of the teaspoons of allspice for a teaspoon of cardamom. The flavor was just right -- lightly spiced and not too sweet. I messed up by having to break up the rising time. The first rise was fine, then I had to go out so I punched down the dough and put it, covered, in the fridge. Combined with the w/w bread flour, my other mistake was not leaving it enough time to come to room temperature and rise again before shaping into buns and doing the second rise. The last mistake was accidentally making 12 buns instead of 24! They turned out way too dense and heavy. Finally, the crosses turned out fine, but the half-mixture I used (for 12 buns) was way too much and the pastry was yummy but waaay too rich.

• cardamommy

• sf

• 4/3/2011

令人难以置信的!这些结果如预期般,柔软yeast roll, not a scone. Pretty presentation and great flavor the entire family raved. I read most of the reviewers' reviews which were very helpful, most notably the "Cook from Massachusetts" 04/11/09. I used melted butter instead of crumbled. I added candied orange peel (Epicurious recipe) and chopped dried apricots. After mixing the ingredients I used my Kitchenaide dough hook which saved me some of the kneading time. I formed the buns, covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the refridge overnight and let them rise the next morning before baking. As many suggested, I baked them on one large pan so they would be a bit taller and not spread out. I used a silpat to line the bottom of the pan. I followed the recipe and cooked at 400 degrees for the 12 minutes no longer as another reviewer suggested they would become hard. And as other reviewers suggested I skipped the pastry crosses and piped a simple frosting of 1 cup of powered sugar and just enough heavy cream to be able to pipe them. Well worth the effort!

• Anonymous

• San Diego, CA

• 4/5/2010

My family really enjoyed these Hot Cross Buns. I too slightly changed the recipe by using cardamon instead of allspice. Cardamon is the flavor I associate with hot cross buns. I also melted the butter and added with the eggs. Some of my buns flattened somewhat and I think that may have been because I only had regular damp dishcloths to cover them with during the final rising. I think the air came out of some when I removed the dishcloth to bake. My mom uses a much lighter cheesecloth for rising her rolls and I think that works better. Making these few changes, I would make these again. They were really wonderful.

• MomonaMission

• Frisco, TX

• 4/5/2010

This is an excellent recipe for hot cross buns. I substituted miniature chocolate chips for the currents since I'd forgotten to buy them. They worked just fine, but in the future, I would probably add them after the first rise.

• Dianadomino

• Scottsdale, AZ

• 4/4/2010

I have never made rolls or buns or anything with yeast in my life but I was feeling adventurous and thought I'd give these a try. The first go I killed my yeast and started to lose confidence, but 2nd try was perfect. After reading the reviews I made my own candied orange peel and replaced the zests with that, and then I replaced all the fruit mix-ins with semi sweet chocolate chips (because chocolate makes everything better!) I just made dessert lol these things are AWESOME!!! This recipe gets an A+ for being easy-to-do for an amateur baker and an A++ for being ridiculously tasty!

• Anonymous

• Harrogate, UK

• 4/2/2010

These are excellent. Most recipes I've tried for hot cross buns produce a bun that's fairly dry and uninteresting. These have a high butter content, which makes them very tender, and the flavors are delicious. I'm not sure how these could be described as scone-like - they are very definitely a sweet yeast bread. This will be my recipe of choice from now on.

• Anonymous

• Gaithersburg, MD

• 4/12/2009

I made these for Easter 2009 and they were good, but not what I expected. I changed a few things (melted butter instead of crumbled so they would be more bready, less scony), and used icing sugar crosses after they were baked (1 Cup sugar with 1 Tbsp. milk). I put the buns in the fridge overnight after they were shaped because I didn't have the time to bake them right away, and let them rise for an hour before baking them the next morning. That saved me a lot of time. I baked them on one large pan instead of two so they would rise more. Next time I'll lower the oven temperature to 375 and bake them for 15-17 minutes (they were too dark on the bottom at 400 deg.).

• Anonymous

• Massachusetts

• 4/11/2009

These were delicious and rose well, but seemed to spread out too much - they were much flatter than other recipes I've made. Next time I'll make them all on one baking sheet to get taller buns. I just did a milk-and-powdered-sugar icing for the cross, too.

• Anonymous

• Essex Junction, VT

• 4/10/2009

I did not make the pastry cross but here are some of my tips. Made 'as is' the texture is perfect if you don't leave the buns in the oven for too long. Even a minute more than when they look and feel ready and you'll have very tough buns. Also, when spreading the egg glaze, be sure to do so evenly because it produces a different colour. Finally, when shaping the buns, be sure that there are no seems in the dough: these will unfold when rising for the second time and baking.

• bronwynmaye

• Canada

• 3/25/2008