Classic Hot Crossed Buns Recipe
There are traditions from my childhood that I try to recreate for my daughter. As a girl, the week of Easter was very important in house. My siblings and I attended a Catholic school growing up. Our Spring Break was usually the week before Easter. We would spend our week spring cleaning the house to have it at it’s best Easter Sunday morning. The cleaning was only at my mother’s request, of course. We also had an egg tree we would decorate with glittery and colorful Easter eggs. My mom would her days in the kitchen baking Hot Crossed Buns. She made enough for our family of eight as well as extended family and friends. I remember the Hot Crossed Buns being the highlight of the week, until we got to Easter candy obviously.
The History Behind Hot Crossed Buns
It is said that Hot Crossed Buns originated in the 14th century. Supposedly a monk from St. Albans Abby in Hertfordshire England began the tradition. This monk made what her called ‘Albans Buns’ and distributed them to the poor on Good Friday every year. Over time the name changed due to the white cross that is placed on top of the bun once it is removed from the oven. How crazy is it that a form of a tradition that began in the 14th century is still being passed around today?!
Why so small?
If you have been reading my blog you know I try to keep things as healthy as possible. I decided to control this recipe with portion control instead of substituting ingredients. When I was cutting my dough to form my buns before baking, I used a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. After cutting them I rolled them into the shape of a bun. By doing it this way I got 30 buns out of this recipe. Now I just need to work on only eating one 🙂
Hot Crossed Buns
Print RecipeIngredients
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup lukewarm water
- 1/3 cup milk scalded
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour to 4 cups
- 3 eggs beaten
- 2/3 cups raisins
- 1 egg white slightly beaten
- sifted confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- Soften yeast in warm water.
- Combine scalded milk, oil, sugar, and salt; cool to lukewarm.
- Sift together 1 cup of the flour and cinnamon. Stir into milk mixture. Add eggs, beat well.
- Stir in softened yeast and raisins.
- Add remaining flour, more of less to make a soft dough.
- Cover with damp cloth and let rise in warm place until double, 1 1/12 hours.
- Punch down. Dough maybe refrigerated at this point for several hours or overnight. Cover tightly, make container has room for expansion of dough.
- Roll or pat out to 1/2" thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut in rounds with 2-1/2" biscuit cutter. Shape into buns and place into greased muffin cups. Cover with cloth and let rise in warm place until almost double, about 1 hour.
- Brush tops with egg white. Bake at 375 degrees about 12 minutes.
- Add confectioners' suagr (about 3/4 cup) to remaining egg white. Use this as a frosting for piping crosses on warm buns.
From Our Table to Yours,
