Hot Cross Buns Recipe (No Yeast) | Slimming Eats (2024)

FAQs

Why are my hot cross buns not rising? ›

CHECK YOUR YEAST expiry date – The #1 problem because most people don't bake with yeast very often, and yeast does go off! If your yeast is past its expiry date OR you've kept it in hot humid conditions (instead of fridge or freezer), your dough will not rise.

At their most basic, hot cross buns are just yeasted sweet bread rolls that are spiked with dried fruit and warm spices like cinnamon, allspice or cardamom, giving them a slightly greyish appearance.

Traditionally eaten on Good Friday to commemorate the Crucifixion, hot cross buns found an enemy in Elizabeth I, who, in 1592, finding too much Popery in their popularity, banned their consumption except on specific holidays.

Chocolate Chips: For an indulgent treat, swap out raisins for chocolate chips of your choice—dark, milk, or white. The creamy sweetness of chocolate will melt into each bite. Dried Figs: Lastly, step up your hot cross bun game with the sweet and earthy flavour of dried figs.

Find a warm, draft-free place to leave them or heat the oven to 50C (120F or the lowest setting) for 5 minutes then turn off the oven, put the shaped buns in the warm oven (make sure they are still covered), shut the door and leave for around 30 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie.

The white topping on hot cross buns is typically a mixture of flour, water, and sugar. This simple yet versatile combination is known as a “cross paste” and is piped onto the buns before baking. Once the buns are in the oven, the paste sets and forms the iconic cross shape that gives these treats their name.

It is hypothesised that the contemporary hot cross bun of Christianity derives at some distance from a bun developed in St Albans in England. There in 1361, Brother Thomas Rodcliffe, a Christian monk at St Albans Abbey, developed a similar recipe called an "Alban Bun" and distributed the bun to the poor on Good Friday.

In Ireland, the UK and as far abroad as New Zealand, Australia, Canada and India, Hot Cross Buns are eaten every Good Friday in Christian communities. They are symbolic of this significant day in the Christian faith when Jesus was crucified.

What is a fun fact about hot cross buns? ›

The first mention of Hot Cross Buns in English comes from a 1733 Almanac printed in England. According to English tradition, the buns were first baked by a resident monk at St. Alban's Abbey in the 14th century. He distributed them on Good Friday to the poor.

Hot cross buns and Simnel cake

Grapes, raisins, currants and sultanas are all toxic to dogs and it is believed the dried forms of these fruits are more toxic than grapes. At this time of year, it is therefore important that hot cross buns and Simnel cake are kept well away from your dogs.

You can use whatever fruit you like in your Hot Cross Buns. I often just use sultanas or raisins and then some currants, but you can mix and match as you like with things like dried cranberries or dates. Some recipes use mixed peel, but I do not like the bitterness of it so I tend to leave it out.

It was in the 12th century that an English monk decorated his freshly baked buns with a cross on Good Friday, also known as the Day of the Cross. The custom gained traction, and over the years, fruits and precious spices were included to represent health and prosperity.

They're yeasted sweet buns filled with spices and various fruits such as currants, raisins, and/or candied citrus. They're decorated with a white cross representing the crucifix, either marked right into the dough or etched on top with icing. Hot cross buns are a traditional Easter food, typically eaten on Good Friday.

99% of the time this happens, the problem lies with the yeast used. The quality might be compromised, or you might have applied it incorrectly, or under poor cooking conditions. Read on for why your yeast is not working as it should and what you can do to avoid it.

Why are my hot cross buns so dense? Not kneading the dough long enough results in dense buns. As you knead the dough, the gluten in it stretches, providing the needed structure and texture for the buns. You shouldn't over-knead the dough either.

Do Not Over-Knead Your Dough. The over-kneading dough is a common bread making mistake, which makes gluten too tight for bread to rise, resulting in chewy bread instead of fluffy. Kneading correctly is most important to strengthen the gluten and give your bread a perfect texture.

If your dinner rolls aren't fluffy it could be because of one of two reasons. Either, you added too much flour or you possibly used all bread flour. Alternately, not giving your dinner rolls enough time to proof and get puffy before baking could yield dense rolls.