Every year as a child, I’d walk with my grandfather to his local bakery in Bombay’s suburb, Bandra to pick up hot cross buns. We’d run home and eat them still warm, split open with cold salted butter. That memory is baked into this recipe as much as the cardamom is.
These are the softest hot cross buns I know how to make, and the technique behind them is worth understanding.
WHAT MAKES THESE HOT CROSS BUNS DIFFERENT
The secret to these hot cross buns is tangzhong, a method borrowed from Japanese milk bread baking. Before you make the dough, you cook a small amount of flour and milk into a thick paste. That paste gets worked into the dough and does something remarkable: the pre-cooked starch holds onto moisture during baking in a way that regular dough can’t. The result is a bun that stays tender long after it comes out of the oven, with a soft, pillowy crumb that doesn’t turn dry or dense by the next morning.
It’s a small extra step: five minutes at the stove and it makes a significant difference.
THE SPICE COMBINATION
Most hot cross buns stop at cinnamon. This recipe uses cinnamon and green cardamom together, which gives the buns a warmth that’s more complex and aromatic than either spice alone. Cardamom has a floral, slightly citrusy quality that lifts the dried fruit and plays beautifully against the golden syrup glaze.
THE FRUIT
I soak the dried apricots, currants, and candied orange peel in St. Germain or whiskey before they go into the dough. The alcohol softens the fruit, making it more tender and flavorful in the finished bun and it adds a subtle depth that you notice without being able to name. If you want to keep it alcohol-free, fresh orange juice works well as a substitute.
A note on quantity: the total fruit is intentionally kept around 4.23 oz [120g]. More fruit than that starts to interfere with gluten development, making the hot cross buns dough harder to work with and shape.
A FEW THINGS WORTH KNOWING BEFORE BAKING
Temperature matters for the yeast. The milk going into the tangzhong mixture should be warm but not hot — around 80F/27C. Too hot and you’ll kill the yeast before it has a chance to activate.
The dough will be sticky. That’s correct. Don’t be tempted to add more flour — the stickiness is part of what gives the hot cross buns their soft texture.
Weigh the dough for even buns. Divide the total dough weight by 16 after the first rise. Each piece gets shaped into a ball. Eyeballing works too, but the buns bake more evenly when they’re consistent in size.
Internal temperature is your best indicator. The buns are done at 200F/93C internally. Ovens vary, and color alone can be misleading — especially since these buns brown quickly on top.
Glaze while hot. The golden syrup goes on immediately out of the oven. Hot buns absorb it differently than cool ones — the surface stays glossy and the glaze sets into a light, sticky coat rather than pooling.
LEFTOVER HOT CROSS BUNS? HERE’S WHAT TO DO
These buns are best the day they’re made, but they keep at room temperature for up to three days. Day-old hot cross buns are excellent toasted and eaten with salted butter — some people argue that’s the best way to eat them.
LIKED THIS HOT CROSS BUNS RECIPE? TRY THESE
Perfect Cinnamon Rolls — same tangzhong dough, different direction. If these buns convinced you the method is worth it, the cinnamon rolls will too.
Chilli Crisp Cream Cheese Stuffed Rose Buns — a savory spin on the same enriched dough. Filled, shaped differently, and completely addictive.
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Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns hold special memories for me. Every year as a child, I’d walk with my grandfather to his local bakery, pick up fresh hot cross buns, and quickly run back home to devour them with cold salted butter. This recipe uses the tangzhong method, which relies on making a thickened paste of flour and water to create a very tender bun. (see also Chilli Crisp Cream Cheese Stuffed Rose Buns and Perfect Cinnamon Rolls). I like to infuse the fruit with St. Germain or whiskey, but if you prefer a non-alcoholic alternative or want to skip this step, see the Notes below).
- Yield: 16
Ingredients
For the Dried Fruit (See The Notes for alternatives)
7 to 8/70 g dried apricots, chopped
1 oz/30 g candied orange peel, diced
3/4 oz/20 g dried currants, cherries, raisins, or sweetened cranberries
3/4 cup/180 ml St. Germain, brandy, or whisky
1/2 cup/120 ml boiling water
For the Tangzhong
1/2 cup/120 ml whole milk
1/4 cup/35 g all-purpose flour
For the Dough
2 oz/60 g unsalted butter, cubed and warmed to room temperature, plus extra to grease the pan
1 1/2 cups/360 ml whole milk, warmed to 80F/27C
1/4 cup/50 g sugar
4 tsp active dry yeast
4 cups/560 g all-purpose flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground green cardamom
1 large egg, lightly whisked
For the Crosses/Flour Paste
1/2 cup/70 g all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup/80 ml water
For the Glaze
1/4 cup/60 ml golden syrup
or mix together
3 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp boiling water
1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Fold the fruit with St. Germain and boiling water in a heat-proof bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drain and discard the liquid before using.
- While the fruit sits, prepare the tangzhong. Whisk the flour and milk in a small saucepan until there are no visible lumps of flour.
- Heat over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens to a paste. Remove from the heat.
- Add the butter, milk, sugar, and yeast to the warm tangzhong. Fold to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes until frothy.
- In a large mixing bowl, dry whisk the flour, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.
- Make a well in the center and add the egg. Pour the tangzhong mixture with the yeast. Fold with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until combined.
- Add the drained fruit and knead by hand to form a smooth dough. It will be slightly sticky. Cover with a kitchen towel or cling wrap and leave in a warm place to double in size, about 1 hour.
- Lightly grease a 9 in/23 cm square baking dish with a little butter and line it with parchment paper, leaving a 1 in/2.5 cm overhang on two opposite sides. The overhang will help lift the buns out of the pan after baking.
- Unwrap the dough and knock it back to deflate. Transfer to a lightly floured surface, knead for 5 mins, and shape to form a ball. Divide the dough by weight into sixteen pieces. Shape each into a ball and place them in the prepared pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to double in size for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
- 5 minutes before baking prepare the flour paste. Whisk the flour, sugar, and water in a small bowl to form a smooth paste. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a small plain piping tube. (I skip the piping tube and nip the tip of the bag). Pipe the mixture over the buns to form a cross pattern.
- Bake the buns in the preheated oven until golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through during baking to ensure even cooking. The internal temperature of the buns should be 200F/93C.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Run a butter knife along the edges to help release the buns from the sides of the pan. Lift the buns out from the pan using the parchment paper overhang, transfer top side up to a wire rack to cool, and remove and discard the parchment paper.
- While the buns are hot, glaze the tops with the golden syrup or honey mixture. Serve the buns warm or at room temperature. These buns are best eaten the day they’re made but can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- For the dried fruit – I prefer soaking them in alcohol, so they taste more tender in the buns. If you want to skip the alcohol, replace it with fresh orange or apple juice. You can skip soaking the dried fruit and add them directly to the dough.
- For the Glaze – I use Lyle’s golden syrup but you can also use the honey alternative mentioned in the recipe.
16 Responses
Can you share the (simplest!) mechanics of dividing this dough by weight? Do you start with an empty bowl, subtract the weight on the scale, then weigh your dough, divide total weight by 16 and weigh each piece at 1/16 of the total? I usually eyeball my dough but often end up with loaves of bread, for example, that are not close in size! 😂
I zero/tare the weight of an empty bowl on the scale and then add the dough. Divide that total weight by 16 and then weigh each piece.
Do you think it would be possible to put them in the fridge overnight at the end of step 9? Then let them come to room temp & bake the next day…
I think that should work. Let us know how it turns out.
Can we use tangzhonh method for burger buns, dinner rolls, bagels etc?
Absolutely! They’ll make them extra soft.
Oh my!! So delish! I used warmed apricot jam for the glaze and cream cheese frosting (1/2 block cream cheese, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, pinch of salt, 1 tsp vanilla. Mix all, pipe on AFTER glazing buns). Highly reccomend this amazing recipe
Oh my!! So delish! I used warmed apricot jam for the glaze and cream cheese frosting (1/2 block cream cheese, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, pinch of salt, 1 tsp vanilla. Mix all, pipe on AFTER glazing buns). Highly reccomend
Yay! That apricot glaze sounds perfect.
I made these and they were delicious.
Thank you for making them, I’m so happy they turned out great.
I made these and the dough was WAY too wet. Which suprised me as yiu recipes always turn out I must have mucked up the measurements. I have very flat buns
The dough should be sticky but not overly wet, it sounds like the tanghzong wasn’t prepared correctly. If it didn’t rise then the yeast was either bad or killed during the preparation.
Making this now. Just checking – is it really only 20 grams of currents?
You can certainly add more dried currants but I keep the total amount of fruit clocked in at 120 g because too much fruit comes in the way of gluten formation and also makes it trickier to work with the dough.
Fantastic recipe! The only thing I would do next time is increase the cardamom, and reduce the baking time. My oven runs a little cooler, and even at 45 minutes which was the shortest time recommended, they were overbaked. Thankfully still soft enough inside, but too browned on the outside. Happy Easter!