Sourdough Hot Cross Buns

Sourdough hot cross buns are as amazing as they sound. Soft, lightly sweet, and perfect for spring, these are well worth the time to make.

Hot cross buns are spiced sweet buns baked with yeast and dried fruit or candied mixed peel. Hot cross buns are typically topped with simple crosses and eaten on Good Friday, especially in the UK, Canada, and other commonwealth countries.

This yeast-free sourdough bun is likely more similar to how they would have been historically, made with wild yeast rather than commercial. Our buns are naturally leavened with only sourdough starter, and have a signature sourdough tang you can't get with regular bread yeast.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Dried fruit: change the added fruit around if preferred. Cranberries and currants are both excellent subs for raisins, though we recommend chopped cranberries rather than whole. If you want to be less traditional, add some chocolate chips.
• Spices: the spices can be changed to suit your preference. Increase one and omit another if preferred.
• Make it dairy-free: use a good creamy non-dairy milk and a high quality vegan butter. We recommend Miyoko's or Naturli blocks.
• Starter: this should be 100% hydration sourdough starter at its peak. It can be made with any flour containing gluten – white, whole wheat, rye, etc.

Baker's Schedule

Day One - Evening

Make The Dough - 15 minutes, plus 30 minutes stretch and folds

Combine the ingredients according to the recipe below to make a shaggy dough. Do stretch and folds every 10 minutes for 30 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation - 6 hours + chilling

Bulk fermentation happens after the stretch and folds are complete. Place a damp tea towel and/or large plate over the bowl of dough and set aside to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 6-8 hours in a warm place. Once this is complete we recommend refrigeration for a couple of hours (see below).

Day Two - Morning

Shape The Buns - 20 minutes

Once the dough is doubled, separate it into 12 equal pieces. Shape all of the buns into balls and place them into a greased baking dish as you go.

Second Proof - 2 to 3 hours

Cover the buns with a damp tea towel and let them rise for 2-3 hours at room temperature, or until doubled in size again.

Bake - 35 minutes

Preheat the oven and bake the sourdough hot cross buns for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the tops with a generous amount of melted butter. This both softens the buns and adds flavour. Cool 10 minutes and enjoy!

Method

Step 1: whisk the starter and milk, mix in the eggs, then whisk in the soft butter to break it into small pieces.

Step 2: mix in the dry ingredients until a shaggy dough forms. You may prefer to use your hands for this step.

Step 3: add the dried fruit and mix again, then complete the stretches and folds.

Step 4: let the dough rise until doubled in size, then divide.

Step 5: divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (a scale is helpful for this step).

Step 6: shape the pieces into buns, rotating on a worktop to create surface tension.

Step 7: let the buns rise until puffy, then add the egg wash and crosses.

Step 8: bake until golden and cool before serving.

Top Tips

• Chill the dough: refrigerating the dough after it has risen makes it easier to work with and shape. It also adds a better flavour to the buns. This step is optional but please note that it will be more difficult to form the buns if the dough has not been chilled.
• Use room temperature ingredients: it is absolutely mandatory that all room-temperature ingredients are used. This applies not only to the eggs and butter, but also the milk, flour, and everything else. With cold ingredients you will almost definitely see a very slow rise, more than double the time needed.
• Be patient: keep in mind that even when using the correct ingredients, these buns have a slower than usual proving time. This is due to the high amount of fat added, but also because of the additions of spices and dried fruit. Be patient.

Recipe Notes

After chilling the dough, the buns will need longer than you might expect to come back up to room temperature, especially if you're using a good quality high-fat butter. The fat in the buns becomes hard when chilled and slows the dough down – this isn't a typical fat-free sourdough and enriched dough simply takes longer.

How to Store

Storage: The buns will keep in an airtight container (or in beeswax wrap) at room temperature for a few days but are better toasted after the second day. If you have leftovers, they'd also be great transformed into sourdough bread pudding.

Freezing: transfer fully cooled buns to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months. Warm up after thawing for the freshest-tasting bun.

Cross the Buns

The crosses on hot cross buns are a decorative paste made from flour, water, and oil, that's piped onto the buns before baking. This makes a pretty white contrast and doesn't have a taste.

For a non-traditional take on the cross, try subbing orange juice for water in the cross paste. If you prefer to have a sweet topping rather than one that's just for looks, use vanilla frosting or cream cheese frosting instead. This should be piped on after the buns are baked and cooled rather than before baking.

Candied Peel

Candied mixed peel is the peel from citrus fruits that have been candied. Some recipes preserve the peel via a drying process, or other time-intensive steps. You can make it yourself (linked above) or buy pre-made.

If you want to make your own, our candied mixed peel recipe is easy! First, juice the citrus of your choice. Second, combine the juice with the fruit peel and cook in a simple syrup of water and sugar. It's ready to use right away.

That's pretty much it - you cook the peels twice and then store in the syrup. They'll last ages in the fridge and are a nice addition to any number of breads and cakes. It's also a staple ingredient for homemade mincemeat.

FAQ

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