Old Fashioned Hot Cross Buns with Candied Fruit

These old fashioned hot cross buns are everything a homemade Easter bread should be — soft, pillowy, and warmly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, with sweet candied fruit and raisins tucked into every bite. A beloved Good Friday and Easter morning tradition that's easier to make from scratch than you'd think. Make them ahead, or bake a double batch and freeze for later.

4.94 from 29 votes

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Hot Cross Buns

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 35

Inactive Time: 1 30

Servings: buns

Calories: 297kcal

Ingredients

For Buns:

½ cup raisins
½ cup mixed candied fruit
¾ cup warm milk
⅓ cup white sugar
4 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoon quick rise yeast
2 large eggs
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Crosses:

½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
¼ cup water plus 1 tablespoon

Icing:

¼ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon milk

Instructions

For the buns:

In a medium bowl whisk together 1 cup of flour with the sugar, yeast, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
In a large bowl beat together the milk, butter and eggs.
Add the flour/yeast mixture to the milk mixture and beat well, about 3 minutes.
Stir in the candied fruit and raisins.
Gradually stir in the remaining flour to make soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 7 minutes, until dough is smooth.
Form the dough into a ball, cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Set aside.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide it into 12 equal sized pieces.
Roll each piece into a ball and place it in the prepared baking dish.
Cover with a clean tea towel and let stand in a warm, draft free area until doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.
Preheat oven to 350F.

For the crosses:

In a small bowl mix together the water, flour and powdered sugar.
Put this mixture in a Ziploc bag, cut a corner off the bag and pipe a line down the length and width of the pan of buns to form crosses.
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Ice the buns while they are hot.

For the icing:

Mix together the powdered sugar and milk for the icing and brush it over the buns while they are hot from the oven.

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