Vegan Hot Cross Buns

You know Easter time, and therefore spring, is here when hot cross buns and chocolate bunnies start popping up everywhere. I could smell it in the air as these vegan hot cross buns were baking… Slush, melting snowmen, water-filled potholes and that random snow storm we always get. Ahhh, spring.

Actually, the kitchen smelled heavenly while these were baking. Hot cross buns are soft, fluffy, lightly spiced and loaded with raisins and mixed candied citrus peels. So you can imagine all the lovely aromas wafting through the room. Orange and lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and the sweet sweet smell of bread.

how to make vegan hot cross buns

The dough

The recipe for this dough is like any other slightly enriched one. First step is activating the yeast in the warmed milk and sugar. While it’s foaming, whisk together the flour, orange and lemon zest, salt and spices. Then pour the yeast mixture along with the oil into the flour and start mixing, then kneading.

You can opt to do this by hand (10-15 minutes) or in a stand mixer (5-10 minutes on medium speed). It’s a very easy dough to work with, so there’s no problem kneading it by hand. Once it’s smooth and you’re able to get a good windowpane test, it’s time to incorporate the raisins and citrus peels.

To do this, flatten out the dough, pile them up in the center, fold the dough back onto itself and give it a few kneads until they’re all evenly dristributed. It might seem like it’s not going to work at first, but keep going and it’ll smooth itself out.

I used homemade candied citrus peels, but feel free to use any kind. And if you don’t like citrus peels, you can add more raisins, omit them altogether or replace them with something else like dried currants, chopped up dried apricots (although not traditional), etc.

Proofing and shaping

Once that’s done, it’s time to let the dough rest in a warm place until it doubles in size. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover it with a damp tea towel. Proofing will take 1-2 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

In the meantime, grease a 9×9 inch pan. After the first proof, divide the dough into 9 equal pieces, shape them into balls and place them in the pan. Then cover back up with the damp tea towel and let them rest 30-60 minutes until they’re touching.

And finally, it’s time to put the cross in hot cross buns. When I was a kid, I always thought it was some kind of magical icing on top. But alas, it’s just a flour and water paste that’s then piped on them before baking.

Baking the hot cross buns

Then they’re ready to be baked! They’ll take 25-35 minutes or until the internal temperature reads between 90°C/194°F and 94°C/201°F. If they brown too quickly on top, cover the pan loosely with aluminium foil and continue baking.

Immediately when they come out of the oven, brush them with simple syrup, some melted apricot jam or even maple syrup. I used the syrup in which I made the candied peels so it added a nice citrus flavour.

Then let them cool about 5-10 minutes in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to continue cooling. I strongly recommend enjoying these vegan hot cross buns the day they’re made. They’ll be pillowy, soft and flavour-packed. You could keep them up to 5 days in a closed container at room tempertaure, but they’ll dry out with time. But you could also freeze them very tightly wrapped for 1-2 months.

If you make this recipe please let me know in the comments! All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear from you! You can also tag me on instagram @the.quaint.kitchen or use the hashtag #thequaintkitchen to share your creations!

Vegan Hot Cross Buns

Tatyana

Soft and flavourful vegan hot cross buns packed with dried raisins and candied citrus peels. The perfect breakfast or dessert to welcome spring and the Easter season, or just to eat year-round.

5 from 1 vote

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Course Breakfast, Dessert

Total Time 3 hours hrs

Servings 9

Ingredients

  

Dough

• 190 g unsweetened plant based milk, around 37C/98F, but no more than 48C/120F
• 55 g brown sugar
• 1 ½ tsp instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 300 g all-purpose flour, or bread flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground clove
• ½ tsp lemon zest
• ½ tsp orange zest
• 45 g neutral oil, (grapeseed, canola, vegetable…)
• 65 g dried raisins
• 65 g mixed candied citrus peels, recipe here

Cross

• 30 g all-purpose flour
• 30-35 g water

Glaze

• simple syrup, melted apricot jam or maple syrup

Instructions

 

Dough

• Combine the lukewarm milk, yeast and sugar and set aside to let the yeast foam.
• In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, lemon and orange zest. Then pour in the foamed yeast mixture along with the oil.
• Stir everything together until a rough dough forms then tip it out onto an oiled or lightly floured surface and knead until it forms a nice smooth ball (10 to 15 minutes) and you’re able to stretch a piece thin enough to see light through it without it ripping. About 5-10 minutes in a stand mixer at medium speed.
• Pat it out into a flat circle, place the raisins and candied citrus peels in the center, fold the dough onto itself and give it a few kneads until they’re evenly distributed.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, making sure it’s all oiled to avoid a crust forming, cover it with a damp tea towel and place it in a warm place to proof for about 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. This will depend on the temperature of your kitchen.
• Once it’s doubled, punch it down to deflate it and divide it into pieces weighing about 80g. Cover them back with the tea towel.
• Grease a 9X9 inch pan, ball each piece by tucking it into itself and place it in the pan.
• Cover back up with a damp tea towel and proof again for 30-60 minutes. When it’s almost ready, preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F.

Cross

• When they’re ready to be baked, whisk together the flour and water for the cross in a small bowl. Using a piping bag or ziploc bag with the corner cut off, pipe crosses onto each ball.
• Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches between 90°C/194°F and 94°C/201°F. If you see that the top is browning too fast, you can cover it loosely with aluminium foil and continue baking.
• When you take them out, immediately brush them with the glaze. Let them cool in the pan about 5-10 minutes before pulling the whole thing out and placing it on a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

• *Disclaimer: I have a tiny not-so-great oven, so your bake time may vary from mine.
• I strongly suggest making recipes by weight, if you make them by cups I can’t guarantee that you’ll get the same results.
• The amount of spices can be adjusted to your liking.
• The raisins and candied citrus peels can be changed for other dried fruits if you don’t like them. All raisins, all citrus peels, replace a part of it with dried currants, chopped up dried apricots (although not traditional), etc.
• If your raisins are drier than dry, soak them for about 10 minutes in warm water or even rum to rehydrate them.