These whole-wheat hot cross buns are soft, fluffy and oh-so delicious. They are topped with a thick layer of icing and perfect to serve with a cup of tea.
Hot cross buns are traditionally made on Good Friday and in fact I made them with my daughter on Good Friday. I posted them on Easter weekend on my Instagram. But they don’t need to be limited to just one day of the year. These little sweet buns are perfect to serve with tea or coffee any time of the year.
When I am baking, I usually substitute up to half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I like the added fiber and love myself a second serving because they are less guilty. This recipe is from 'King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking' cookbook.
What are hot cross buns?
It is believed that these soft and fluffy sweet yeast buns have been around from 14th century. The cross on top represents the crucifixion of Jesus. Dried fruit and spices are added to the dough for flavor.
Hot cross buns were originally made with chopped, candied citrus peel, but they can be subbed with currants or other dried fruit (cherries, apricots, cranberries and so on).
Ingredients
The dough to make these whole wheat hot cross buns is enriched with dry milk powder, egg (I use egg replacer powder) and butter. These make the dough soft and very easy to work with. Here's what you need to make these:
- whole wheat flour - I use white whole wheat flour, but feel free to use regular. Using whole-wheat flour gives these buns a nice earthiness and makes them hearty.
- all-purpose flour
- orange juice - helps to mellow the bitterness of whole wheat flour
- instant yeast or rapid rise yeast
- currants or raisins
- salt, light or brown sugar
- unsalted butter, chopped
- spices - ground nutmeg and cinnamon
Instructions
- The process starts with soaking currants or raisins in rum to plump them up and add some flavor. Set aside. Make note that the currants are kneaded into the dough after the first rise.
- In a large bowl of a bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients, except for the currants/ raisins. Mix and knead until a soft, smooth dough forms. Then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and set aside to rise until the dough is quite puffy, about 1~2 hours.
- Lightly grease a 9"x2" cake pan.
- Gently deflate the dough and transfer to a lightly greased work surface. Knead in the currants/ raisins into the dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll them into round balls.
- Place the balls, smooth side up and about ¼" apart in the greased cake pan. Cover and set aside to rise for 1~1½ hours, or until they are nicely puffy and touching one another.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Uncover and bake the buns until they are light golden brown on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Let the buns cool 15 minutes or so before icing. Don't wait for too long, icing won't stick to the buns.
How to make the cross on hot cross buns?
There are 2 ways of getting the cross design on hot cross buns.
- Make a flour and water slurry. Pipe this on the risen buns just before baking and bake until golden. Step by step photos show this process.
- A confectioners sugar icing is added on the top of warm baked buns. This is the effect on the buns in the photos.
Whole wheat Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
For the Buns:
- ½ cup Currants or Golden Raisins
- 1 cup White Wholewheat flour
- 1¼ cups All purpose flour
- 1¼ tsp Instant Yeast
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 3 tbsp Light or Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 tbsp Nonfat Dry Milk powder
- ¾ tsp Salt
- ⅓ cup Lukewarm Water
- 3 tbsp Orange juice, freshly squeezed preferred
- 1 tbsp Egg Replacer powder whisked with 3tbsp water (1 large Egg)
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp Ground Cinnamon
For the Icing:
- ¾ cup Confectioners Sugar
- ½ tsp Vanilla extract
- Pinch of Salt
- 2~3 tbsp Milk
Instructions
Make the Buns:
- Combine currants or raisins with 1tbsp rum or water in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl of a bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients, except for the currants/ raisins. Mix and knead until a soft, smooth dough forms. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover and set aside to rise until the dough is quite puffy, about 1~2 hours.
- Lightly grease a 9"x2" cake pan.
- Gently deflate the dough and transfer to a lightly greased work surface. Knead in the currants/ raisins into the dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll them into round balls.
- Place the balls, smooth side up and about ¼" apart in the greased cake pan. Cover and set aside to rise for 1~1½ hours, or until they are nicely puffy and touching one another.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Uncover and bake the buns until they are light golden brown on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Let the buns cool 15 minutes or so before icing. Don't wait for too long, icing won't stick to the buns.
Make the Icing:
- Combine all the ingredients for the icing in a small bowl.
- Using a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with a snipped off corner, pipe icing over slightly warm rolls in the traditional cross pattern. Let them cool and serve.
Notes
- Hot cross design on the buns can be achieved by adding a flour slurry in a cross pattern before baking. Here's how to make it: combine 3 tablespoons flour with 3-4 tablespoons water and make a thin paste. Pour this into a ziplock bag, snip a corner off and pipe cross pattern on the buns right before putting them in the oven. Bake as directed in the recipe.
- To get a shiny coating on the hot cross buns, heat 2 tablespoons golden syrup until melted and brush on warm buns. Let cool completely before serving.
Tips
- Feel free to soak in water, if you do not want to use alcohol.
- Here's how to bake the cross design into the buns: combine 3 tablespoons flour with 3-4 tablespoons water and make a thin paste. Then pour this into a ziplock bag, snip a corner off and pipe cross pattern on the buns right before putting them in the oven. Bake as directed in the recipe.
- To get a shiny coating on the hot cross buns, heat 2 tablespoons golden syrup until melted and then brush on warm buns. Let cool completely before serving.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87.
More Sweet bread recipes on the blog:
Vaishali
Hot cross buns look amazing , those currants are looking fabulous and would taste awesome . The buns look fluffy and Pavani you have rocked with the whole grain theme . Looking forward to Monday and a new theme 😊
Sharmila - The Happie Friends Potpourri Corner
Healthy and beautifully bakes buns!! Looks fantastic.. Lovely share..
Gayathri Kumar
Oh, these hot cross buns look so soft and fluffy Pavani. Love to try t his recipe for whole wheat bakes,. As usual the pictures are so beautiful..
Harini
Those look so good, Pavani. Feel like grabbing from the screen. How I wish we were neighbors 🙂
Sandhiya
Hot cross buns looks awesome, Pavani. It looks so soft and delicious !!! Wish i could grab from the screen ,it's too tempting !!
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan
Perfect buns and love the texture... They are indeed oh so delicious.
kalyani
whenever u bake breads, I simply drool at the pics, Pavani 🙂 this is no exception.. I must hv so many breads from ur blog already bookmarked adn this is added to the to-do list ! lovely....
Priya Suresh
Whole wheat hot cross buns looks ultimate and prefect to indulge with a cup of tea or coffee. How soft and beautiful those buns looks. Lovely Baked goodies.
sapana
I have always been looking for whole wheat buns recipe and this one is just perfect to try. Love the soft and tasty hot cross buns and I am sure they must have tasted yummy.
Srivalli
wow those buns are super pretty looking ones Pavani, the buns have turned out so good..and making it with wholewheat is simply rocking..very nice one..I enjoyed your theme and can't wait to see what next!
Mayuri Patel
Wholewheat hot cross buns and baked in a pull apart style... brilliant. The whole preparation looks so neat and perfect. I've bookmarked hot cross buns for a very long time but haven't got down to baking them. Every easter something or the other comes up. I should perhaps bake them anytime but around Easter 🙂
Manjula Bharath
Oh my gosh !! those hot cross buns look fantabulous, The bread looks like masterpiece pavani , so perfectly made !! And wonderful use of egg replacer ..
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
Oh Wow! Look at that texture. I am personally crazy about whole wheat bakes and i would definitely want to give this recipe a try. Lovely clicks Pavani!
Suma Gandlur
The buns look excellent and I love that texture. Those buns with the icing look so yummy that I wish I could grab it from the screen.
Priya Srinivasan
These buns too gorgeous pavani! Love that beautiful color and amazing texture ! They must taste delicious as such but I won’t mind a wonderful cup
Of coffee with it!!
Padmajha PJ
I know I say this often but your clicks are so beautiful that I don't even have the mind to read the ingredients! The texture looks so good and the one with the currants is so inviting!