What’s Easter without a warm, freshly made hot cross bun? While there are plenty of different varieties available in the supermarket or at your local bakery, there is nothing quite like making them yourself from scratch at home.
Below is our most popular classic hot cross bun recipe, perfect to attempt on a cool autumn weekend!
Keep on scrolling to read the full recipe, and discover more eggs-cellent Easter favourites on Women’s Weekly Food.
Try these delicious buns out during your next rainy afternoon at home. (Credit: (Image: The Australian Women’s Weekly))
Hot cross buns
Makes 12. Prep time is one hour, plus proving time.
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (375ml) milk
- ¼ cup (55g) caster sugar
- 2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
- 4 cups (600g) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 60g butter, softened
- finely grated rind of 2 oranges
- 1½ cups (250g) sultanas
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/3 (50g) cup self-raising flour
- 2 tablespoons apricot jam
Method
- In a microwave-safe jug, heat the milk on HIGH 100% power for 60 seconds or until warm.
- Add the caster sugar and stir until dissolved; gradually whisk in the dried yeast. It is important at this stage that the milk is warm enough to activate the yeast but not too hot. Stand yeast mixture in a warm place for about 10 minutes or until it froths up a little.
- Sift flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in butter. Add orange rind and sultanas. Add eggs and yeast mixture; mix until it comes together in a sticky dough.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured bench and knead by hand for 5-10 minutes until stretchy and smooth.
- Alternatively, place in the bowl of an electric mixer with the dough hook attachment and knead for 5 minutes on low speed. Place dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover and place in a warm place for 45 minutes until it rises to almost twice its size.
- Turn the dough onto the bench and knead the dough for a couple of minutes, then divide and roll into 12 balls.
- Place the balls 1cm apart on a greased baking tray. Cover loosely and leave in a warm place for another 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). In a small bowl, combine the self-raising flour with 50ml of water and mix well.
- Place in a small piping bag with a small plain tube, or a plastic bag with a tiny piece of the corner snipped off. Pipe a cross onto each of the buns. Bake for 25 minutes or until the buns are golden brown.
- Heat the jam with 2 tablespoons of water in the microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 30 seconds; strain and brush over the hot buns to glaze.
Suitable for freezing. Not suitable for microwave.
How best to serve a hot cross bun?
There are plenty of ways to serve a hot cross bun. We don’t judge here! Classic is butter and jam, or simply warmed. It can all depend on what flavour your hot cross bun is.
In the April 2025 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly, we served up Hot Cross Bun Waffle Wafers drizzled in maple syrup and with ice cream. Yum. Get the recipe here.
What are the best hot cross bun flavours?
Although we love the classic recipe above, choc chip is always a winner as well, as is fig and walnut, or get a little more creative with Women’s Weekly Food’s Hot Cross Bun Tiramisu Loaf!
