These Bread Maker Hot Cross Buns are soft, fluffy, and loaded with sweet raisins and candied orange peel. Topped with simple icing with a hint of orange flavor, these homemade buns are the perfect addition to your Easter celebrations!
Holidays are usually when I like to take a bit of extra time to make a great recipe that I might not be able to make during a busy work week. Hot cross buns and hot buttermilk scones are two breads I like to make for special occasions.
On the weekends we also try to always have a nice breakfast on the table for us to all eat together and start the day off right. Some of our favorite breakfast foods are Eggs Benedict Casserole or my Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sliders. We also do love some sweet side dishes like Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake or our Braided Sweet Bread with Apricot Filling.
This recipe uses my soft and buttery sweet dinner rolls recipe as a base. It’s such a versatile dough that can also be used for lemon rolls with a citrus cream cheese icing and even pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls.
Jump to:
What are Hot Cross Buns?
This may seem out of left field, but every time I think of Hot Cross Buns, I picture hours (it was probably seconds) of pounding middle C on the piano trying to learn how to play my very first masterpiece. You know the song, right? But Hot Cross Buns is not just a song for beginner musicians!
Soft, pillowy and perfectly buttery, Easter Hot Cross Buns are a tradition in our home. Freshly baked buns are an aroma you can’t beat. These buns taste like something you’d pick up from your local bakery bright and early, but even better!
The rolls don’t have the traditional spices you might find in a classic hot cross bun. However, with the addition of raisins and candied orange peel, you won’t miss a thing!
🐰 Ingredients:
- Sweet Roll Dough – ingredients and instructions in the recipe card
- Raisins – Can use either dark or golden.
- Candied orange peel – These can easily be homemade, but store bought works just as well. Chop fairly small so that large chunks don’t overpower the delicate bread.
- Egg yolk & water – Used as the egg wash to give the buns a nice golden finish.
- Heavy Cream – To make the icing thick and smooth. Milk or even water can be used instead, but you will need less.
- Salted butter – Softened, for easy mixing.
- Orange extract – Gives the frosting a beautiful orange flavor. I would not use orange juice as a substitute as its too diluted and creates too much liquid.
- Powdered sugar – Provides sweetness and texture to the icing for the top of the buns.
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Equipment Needed:
Breadman Programmable Bread Maker: If you’re in the market for one, using a bread maker to make bread is a fool proof method meant to make your life easier. You definitely don’t need it to make this recipe, though.
Substitutions and Variations
- There are lots of options for add-ins! Try adding nuts, like walnuts or pecans. Maybe try dried fruit like cranberries instead of raisins or have both. Other candied fruits you could try are lemon, apricots, cherries, or currents.
- Add in some spices: traditional spices include a teaspoon cinnamon, a teaspoon nutmeg, and/or a teaspoon of all spice. ¼-1/2 teaspoon of each into your dough will create a signature spice blend.
- You can make a hot cross bun loaf instead. Just increase the cooking time to 23-28 minutes depending on the size of your loaf pan.
- If you can’t find Candied Orange Peel, you can use orange zest instead.
🔪 Instructions:
Step 1: Add roll dough ingredients to the bread maker pan in the order listed (wet ingredients go on the bottom, followed by the dry ingredients and the yeast last.)
Step 2: Program the bread maker to run a dough cycle and begin the cycle.
Step 3: Punch down the hot cross bun dough and mix in the raisins and candied orange peel. I simply transfer the dough to a separate bowl or a lightly floured counter top and work in the additions.
Step 4: Divide dough into 15-20 equal pieces (you can see the size of the rolls if divided into 20 pieces in the original homemade dinner rolls recipe). Form the dough into balls.
Pro Tip: You don’t need to soak your raisins, but it can help! If you’re looking for soft raisins, you might want to think about it. It also helps keep them light so they don’t all sink to the bottom of the bun while they are baking.
Some even soak their raisins in a bit of rum!
Step 3: Place the balls of dough evenly in a greased 9″x13″ glass baking dish.
Step 4: Cover with a light kitchen towel and allow the rolls to rise until doubled, 1-1 ½ hours. Preheat oven to 375°F.
Step 5: Whisk together the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the rolls with egg mixture.
Step 6: Place in 375°F oven. Bake the rolls until they are deep brown on the tops and cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Cool in the baking pan on a wire rack.
Step 7: Beat together all of the icing ingredients (or stir together with a spoon). Transfer the icing to a piping bag. Pipe a cross shape over the top of each bun.
GARNISH/SLICE/SERVE: These bread machine hot cross buns are sweet and flavorful enough to eat all on their own but you can definitely slice them open and spread with a pat of butter, or your favorite jam.
Fun Fact
Where Do Hot Cross Buns Come From?
Easter is a Christian holiday in which the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated, and his death and burial are remembered. Approximately 6 weeks leading up to Good Friday, the Friday before Easter Sunday, Lent is observed. This is typically a time of repentance, reflection, prayer, and giving up something as a symbol of sacrifice.
This is a time during which certain “luxuries” while fasting are sacrificed, including certain ingredients in yeast buns. Tradition has it that the classic Hot Cross Buns signifies the end of the period of Lent and the cross on the bun signifies the crucifixion. At one point, the Hot Cross Bun became so special and so symbolic that it was not allowed to be made or sold on any other day but Good Friday.
Recipe Tips for Easter Hot Cross Buns:
Instructions without Bread Maker:
Using a bread maker to mix the hot cross bun dough is convenient and simple. If you do not have a bread maker, you can use the bread hook of a stand mixer or hand-knead the dough. Mix the wet ingredients together and the dry ingredients together in separate bowls. Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. With a stand mixer, knead with the bread hook for 5-7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. For hand-kneading, stir ingredients together, then turn out on a floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a towel, and allow to rise until it has doubled in size (about 1 hour.) Continue with the remainder of the recipe.
Other Tips:
Because we’re using rapid-rise yeast, there is no need to activate the yeast prior to mixing the ingredients together. Do make sure that it is fresh.
Use your favorite roll dough recipe if you prefer, although my Granny’s recipe is the best. 😘
Culinary orange oil packs a punch of flavor and would work really nicely in the roll dough and/or in the icing. You only need a few drops if you use this instead of orange extract.
Recipe FAQs
To make a neat cross, the easiest way is to transfer the icing to a piping bag and pipe the lines that way.
If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a spoon to drizzle it one way and then the other. It may not be as neat, but it will taste just as great.
Depending on the temperature in your kitchen, you may find different areas are more optimal than others. Generally, you want a warm, draft-free area, but if you find your house to be extra moist, and a little too warm, you can set your dough to rise by an open window. If you don’t have a specific bread proofing appliance, then a little trial and error might be in order. A turned off oven (or the drawer underneath it) may work, but the countertop might work just as well. The inside of the oven with just the light turned on sometimes works, although my house is typically warm and this method proves TOO warm.
Store these buns at room temperature for a few days. Cover them in an airtight container or zip lock bag to avoid them drying out.
Yes, you can. They freeze really well. Hot cross buns can be kept frozen for up to 6 months and if you wrap them separately, you can just take out and warm up only what you need.
If you tried this Bread Maker Hot Cross Buns Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Bread Maker Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Sweet Roll Dough:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 4 tablespoon butter softened
- 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon Rapid Rise active dry yeast
Additions:
- ½ cup raisins dark or golen
- ⅓ cup candied orange peel finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon water
Sweet Orange Icing:
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon salted butter softened
- ⅓ teaspoon orange extract
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Hot Cross Buns:
- Combine milk and lemon juice and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the milk to sour. (You can use buttermilk in place of the milk and lemon juice.)
- Add the sour milk mixture to the bottom of the bread machine. Next add egg and softened butter.
- On top of the wet ingredients, add the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and finally, the yeast.
- Set the bread maker to run one dough cycle and begin the machine. Allow it to finish the first rise cycle (when running a dough cycle, the machine will stop at this point.)
- Punch down the dough and mix in the raisins and candied orange peel. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface or into a larger bowl to more easily mix in the additions.
- Divide the dough into 15-20 pieces. Form the dough into balls.
- Place the rolls evenly in a greased 9"x13" glass baking dish.
- Cover with a light dish towel and allow the rolls to rise until doubled, 1-1 ½ hours. A warm, draft-free location is best for proofing the rolls.
- Whisk together the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon of water. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the risen rolls with egg mixture.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake the rolls until they are deep brown on the tops and cooked through, 12-15 minutes. Allow rolls to cool completely.
Sweet Orange Icing:
- Beat together all of the icing ingredients (or stir together with a spoon). Adjust consistency by adding more or less cream. If the icing is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
- Transfer the icing to a piping bag. Pipe crosses over the tops of the cooled rolls.
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Comments & Reviews
Angela B says
Normally I do not post reviews but this recipe came out so well I felt I should. I love hot cross buns but the ones in the stores are never fresh enough. These were soft and yeasty and the candied orange gave it a nice subtle citrus flavor complimented by the orange in the icing. My personal preference would be to add more raisins next itme because I felt they were a bit sparse but all in all a great recipe!