Here’s a new sourdough hot cross bun recipe that I’ve been playing with! It’s an adaptation of our tried and trusted yeasted bun recipe, but with a slightly better flavour (according to Pete and Small Man).
A couple of tips: firstly, make sure to use a ripe, bubbly sourdough starter. Pop a teaspoonful into a glass of water and if it floats, it’s generally good to go. If you’re not sure how your starter should look, please visit our FAQ for photos and tips.
Secondly, don’t rush the final prove. Hot cross buns are notoriously slow to rise once shaped, so make sure your dough is nice and puffy before you pop it into the oven. Mine took an hour and a half today, but it was worth the wait – if you bake too soon, you’ll end up with heavy buns. Here’s how my dough looked just before piping…
Dough
- 1kg bakers/bread flour
- 100g ripe, bubbly sourdough starter
- 14g fine sea salt
- 80g brown sugar
- 120g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3 large (60g) free range eggs
- 4 tsp mixed spice or allspice
- 150g currants
- 500g full cream milk, heated gently and then cooled to blood temperature, or UHT milk, unrefrigerated
Cross
- 3 Tbsp self raising flour
- 2 Tbsp cold water
Glaze
- 4 Tbsp milk
- 4 Tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
Note: this makes 24 hot cross buns and bakes perfectly in a sheet pan measuring 40cm x 28cm (15½ x 11″). I used to bake a dozen at a time, but there were never enough to go around! The recipe should halve well if needed.
1. The evening before baking, whisk together the starter, sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk, currants and mixed spice in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and salt. (Note: I use UHT full cream milk, unrefrigerated and straight out of the carton.)
2. Squelch all the ingredients together with clean hand to form a shaggy dough. Allow the dough to sit in the mixing bowl, covered with a clean tea towel or a pot lid, for about 30 minutes.
3. Uncover the bowl and give the dough a brief knead.
4. Cover the bowl again and allow to rise overnight (8 – 10 hours). I leave it on my kitchen bench to do this.
5. The next morning, turn the risen dough onto a floured bench and give it a couple of gentle folds, then divide it into 24 equal pieces (about 90g each). Shape each piece into a small ball, trying to keep the currants inside the ball as much as possible (currants on the outside tend to burn). Place them side by side on a quarter sheet pan which has been lined with a sheet of parchment paper (four rows of six, evenly spaced – they’ll rise into each other). Allow to rise, loosely covered with a tea towel, until doubled in size (mine took about an hour and a half, don’t rush this bit, let them get good and puffy). In the last half an hour of rising, preheat your oven to 210C with fan.
6. Mix the SR flour and water together to form a paste and spoon it into a plastic freezer bag or small piping bag. Clip off the very end of one corner. Pipe crosses over the top of the buns, doing all the lines in one direction first, then the other. Spritz the tops with water.
7. Turn the oven down to 200C with fan and put the buns in. After 15 minutes, turn the buns around and bake for a further 8 – 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. When you’ve rotated the buns, start making the glaze. Heat the milk and caster sugar together in a small saucepan until thick and syrupy. Stir constantly and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t boil over. When the buns are finished, pull them out of the oven and paint the hot buns with the glaze. Allow to cool on a wire rack before scoffing.
I splodge the glaze on with a pastry brush using a swirling action. Just for fun, actually…
The buns are surprisingly tender…
Best of all, baking two dozen at a time lets you share with all the neighbours…
Four dozen made, and it’s not even Easter yet! If sourdough sounds a bit time consuming, rest assured that our yeasted buns are also very tasty and much quicker to make. Opinion is divided on which is better, actually! If you’d like to give them a go, the recipe is here. Enjoy! ♥
Celia … honestly … you are the best! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe … must try this! xo
Celia, Thank you for your Hot Cross bun recipes, I will be making both the yeast and the SD methods, have to see if there is a difference or preference. Hope you have a lovely Easter weekend. Cynthia in UK
these look wonderful, celia
These look great Celia. Thank you once again.
Those look so good!
A neighbour from our first house introduced me to hcb in 1981. Been making them every Good Friday since.
Why Good Friday, you ask? Because that’s when she made them….. And yes some years I made 3 batches. They usually come out of the oven mid afternoon and as people came to knowvthus, it was amazing how many just happened to stop by. 😁. This year we will be visiting friends on our way home from Florida so I will make at her house. Love the tradition!
They look wonderful! Oh, yum.
I am feeding Godzilla as we speak! Should be powering in a couple of days! SO looking forward to making these but unsure about the milk – I may need to go buy some.
They look fab!!!
They certainly look mouthwateringly wonderful, Celia. Puts me right in the Easter mood. Hope yours is great.
I will definitely be making these!
I’ve just discovered a baking tray liner that is non stick and reusable which has made me ridiculously happy (from Lakeland in the uk – don’t know if they are international). Any excuse to use it 😉.
I have been making your sourdough hot cross buns for several years now. I will definitely be trying this in the next few days! I need to bake bread too, so it’s perfect timing. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Celia, I have yet to have success in making a good Hot Cross Bun, I am going to try both methods. Happy Easter to you and yours, Hope you have a relaxing break
I just showed my hubby you hcb and he has ordered a batch!!
Thank you Celia, my Good Friday baking is now sorted. Happy Easter x
Hi Celia, I am on to it! I have forgotten the hydration of your starter. Is it 133%? Xxx
Glenda, it’s quite liquid (fed at a ratio of one part flour to water by volume) but it’s not hugely important in this recipe as the quantity is quite small. Just use whatever you normally have.
Made yours last year but I will remake these! Thank you. Happy Easter to all.
Hi Celia
Was so taken by this recipe that I made it last night. However I made a big mistake and put the salt in with the liquid ingredients before I added the flour.
It didn’t rise overnight in the fridge and is struggling now. Do you think it will rise at all given time or have I killed my sourdough?
Bev, I’m not sure why you put it in the fridge? I let mine prove on the bench. Sourdough starter doesn’t really like salt, but it might be ok – leave it on the bench for a while and see how you go!
Ah ok! Big mistake-didn’t read the bit about you leaving it on the bench overnight. Maybe it might rise if I leave it for several hours??
Here’s hoping
Not your mistake – I added that after reading your comment to make sure it was clear – before it just said “allow to prove for 8 – 10 hours” so I wanted to clarify. Yes, leave it on the bench and see how you go. Can’t do any harm!
Oh no!!!! I read it yesterday when it said leave it in the fridge overnight and I did! I’ve only just read comments after I took mine out of the fridge and shaped….:-( fingers crossed they might still work.
Cath, I’m sorry for the confusion, but it NEVER said to leave it in the fridge. I’m not sure why everyone was confused. It just said allow to prove for 8 – 10 hours. I don’t think any of my recipes call for proving in the fridge – it’s not something I do usually.
Perhaps Bev & I didn’t have our glasses on! Or maybe we are on the same weird wave length where we just make up our own thing!! Not the end of the world. And they may still work out ok. 😊
Yes, just don’t rush the second prove! :)
Just reporting back- I let it prove for about 14 hours after I took it out of the fridge. Probably could have left it longer but by now it was after 10 pm.
They are surprisingly nice! Next time I will follow your instructions (always a good thing).
Thank you! I love your website-was sent here by the lovely Gina of The Passionate Pantry.
That’s good to hear, thanks for letting me know, Bev! :)
My hot cross buns turned out ok too! Kids & hubby said they were delicious – Phew! And your right Bev, next time we will both read the instructions properly 😊
Phew! And hooray too! :)
These looks so nummy! Happy Easter! Happy Spring!
These buns look fantastic, I love that you used sourdough to make them.
I love hot cross buns and these look amazing. My starter went I to the freezer this morni g as we head to Spain for a couple of months tomorrow but will hopefully give them a go when we’re back…even if it’s not Easter by then!
Perfect timing Celia. I will be baking with my youngest son on Good Friday.thanks
I had a lovely ‘ta-dah’ moment with your yeasted buns last year and i’m looking forward to some pootle time in the kitchen with this recipe. Thank you for taking the time to write it all out – i love the photos from your walks. Happy Easter, Celia.
Yesterday I was googling hot cross bun recipes but just couldn’t find the right one for me so checked my emails instead and there you were with a hot cross bun recipe for me! So last night I started the process but did half with fruit and half chocolate & choc chip. They have just been taken out of the fridge and shaped. Can’t wait to bake them!!! Thanks Celia and Happy Easter to you and your family xo
They look delicious Celia, perfect for Easter. Thanks for sharing the post :)
Hi Celia,
Just read through your new SHCB recipe – am I missing something? I can’t see where you add the flour to the rest of the ingredients. I guess it just goes in with everything else, but thought I’d better check. Thanks for your excellent blog.
Kay, it was at the end of step 1 – I’ve now moved it in front of the brackets to make it clearer. Thanks – I have to work on my instruction writing – there’s been a bit of confusion with this one! 😉
Thanks, Celia – and apologies from me! I was very tired when I read through your recipe, and missed seeing it. Can’t wait to give your recipe a try – tonight’s the night!😊
Kay, I wrote it in a rush, so it wasn’t as clear as it should have been! Thanks for querying and also for trying it out! :)
Celia … I want you to know that I have just made your sourdough hot cross buns and they are BRILLIANT!!!! Love them and they look beautiful … the only difference I made was I did the dough at lunchtime, so put it in the fridge straight away as I didn’t want to bake that day, took the dough out before I went to bed at 10pm, and I knew that the dough would take longer than 10 hours to rise as it had to come to room temperature first … so by 10.30am the following morning they were ready to make into rolls, and I baked them 2 and a half hours later … perfect … soft and fluffy! I so wish I could have tagged you with my picture for you to see … I love your work Celia … have followed you for a long time and have learned so much … have a wonderful Easter with your precious family … my dear husband Bryan is giving thanks to you as we speak! xo
Gina, I found the photo – they look WONDERFUL! Thank you for making them! Happy Easter to you all as well! xx
Felt too lazy to get my starter ready so I used your yeast recipe and the buns were (not many left…ahem!) totally amazing! Thanks, Celia! Happy Easter to you and yours. x
These look lovely. I was torn between these and a yeast version but I think my starter deserves a special place so will give these a go.
Celia, I made six dozen of these they were so good. Thank you for fabulous instructions and can’t wait until next Easter to make them again.
[…] before investing if you don;t want to take my word! Not in the book but absolutely delicious were Celias Hot Cross Buns. Shared with friends (those that didn’t get scarfed down disgracefully quickly by Himself and […]