Orange & Cranberry Hot Cross Buns
The bright flavors of the orange and cranberries are speckled through these delicious sweet buns making them a delightfully treat for Easter. Serve these orange and cranberry hot cross buns, freshly baked or toasted and topped with a generous amount of butter.
Hot cross buns for everyone
Hot cross buns can come in all sorts of flavors! With so many fillings and variations it is so fun to try something new every year. Or to see a flavor that you love turned into hot cross buns.
I love getting the chance to come up with a new hot cross bun recipe for my family every year too! Don’t get me wrong the classics are always a winner. These traditional hot cross buns and these chocolate hot cross buns are absolute favorites. But lets make something fun and different too!
These orange and cranberry hot cross buns are like a breath of fresh air compared to the traditional spices and heavy fruits of your usual hot cross buns. I took my cranberry and orange Christmas cake as the starting inspiration, added some subtle warm spices and voila, a delicious, tasty hot cross bun that tastes fruity and bright for Easter.
Key ingredients
Cranberries – Dried cranberries are used here to give these hot cross bun little bites of fruitiness.
Oranges – You will use both the zest and the juice of 1 1/2 large oranges for these hot cross buns.
Yeast – Use an instant dry yeast for your buns, just make sure that it is fresh and active. If your yeast doesn’t bubble up when it is left to activate in the warm water, start again with a fresh packet.
Butter – I use salted butter as that is what I always have on hand, if you prefer to use unsalted then make sure to add a little salt to compensate. You can absolutely swap this out for a dairy free margarine if needed.
Spices – I have used ginger and nutmeg to give these buns an extra layer of flavor that pairs really well with both the oranges and the cranberries. You can leave the spices out or swap them out for cinnamon or allspice for a different flavor if you like.
Flour – I use plain flour and cornflour for these buns. You can use a high grade flour if you prefer but plain white flour really does work very well in this recipe. The added cornflour helps the structure of the bread and guarantees the softness and fluffiness of the hot cross buns.
Egg – Use a large egg. A size 6 or 7 will work well for this recipe.
Sugar – you will need plain white sugar for sweetness in both the buns and the glaze. Icing sugar is used for sweetness in the crosses paste but you could use caster sugar in its place.
Making hot cross buns
Soak the cranberries in orange juice – This ensures soft and flavorful fruit through your buns. There will be no hard, chewy burnt bits of cranberry and they will be full of orange flavor.
Activate the yeast – When the yeast is soaking in the warm water it will fluff up and start to release the bubbles that will eventually make your buns rise.
Mix, mix, mix – This is one of the steps that reduces the need to knead the dough a lot. The mixing at this stage starts to develop the gluten in the flour and begins to incorporate air bubbles into the mixture.
Form – Add in the remaining dry ingredients. Mix the dough and form it into a smooth ball.
Rise – This stage allows the yeast time to work and rise the dough. The dough will be more pliable and should no longer be sticky. On a colder day you will need to allow a little longer for the dough to rise fully. You will roll and fold the dough between rises and that will help to strengthen your bread dough and gives it structure without having to knead the dough a lot.
Shaping – Divide the dough into 12 and shape into tight balls. You will want the smoothest part of the ball at the top of the bun. Arrange and allow them to rise again.
Crosses – Pipe your cross batter on top of your buns in long smooth lines.
Bake – The buns are baked for about 30 minutes.
Glaze – the glaze is optional but it adds a nice sweetness and shine to the surface of the buns. Make sure that you glaze the buns while they are still hot.
Storage
These are best eaten the day that they are made, but they will store well in a sealed container for a couple of days. Toast in the oven or reheat in the microwave and serve with butter. These hot cross buns will also freeze well.
Orange & Cranberry Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Method
- Combine the cranberries with the orange zest and juice in a cup, microwave for one minute and then set aside for 10 minutes to allow the cranberries to soak.
- In a large bowl, combine your butter, warm water, and yeast. Set this aside for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to activate.
- Add the cranberry mixture to your large bowl along with sugar and egg. Mix well to combine.
- In a medium sized bowl, place the spices, flour and cornflour. Mix together until well combined.
- Add half of your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and give it a good stir. Add 1/2 of the remaining dry ingredients and continue mixing for about 3 minutes before combining in the remaining dry ingredients.
- Mix your dough until it forms a smooth but slightly sticky ball of dough.
- Drizzle a little oil on top of your formed dough and flip the dough in the bowl. Cover the surface of the dough with a little more oil and make deep indents into the dough using your fingertips
- Set dough in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size
- Once the dough has risen, knock the dough down and roll it out on a clean surface (the dough should not stick so don’t be tempted to add flour) roll into a large square shape. Fold your square of dough in thirds lengthwise and then fold in thirds again the other way. Place the dough back into your bowl and allow to rise for another hour or until doubled in size.
- Once the dough has completed its second rise, knock down the dough again and split into 12 evenly sized sections (each piece should weigh between 90 and 100 grams each if you want to be accurate)
- Cover your hands in a thin layer of oil and form the dough balls into buns. Making sure to place the smoothest edge of the dough on top.
- Line a large rectangle baking pan with baking paper and arrange your buns in 3 rows of 4 with a little bit of space between each
- Leave the buns to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Preheat your oven to 160 degrees
- Combine the flour and icing sugar with enough water to form a thin paste. Spoon the paste into a small ziplock bag or piping bag. Seal bag and cut off one corner to create a hole for piping.
- Pipe crosses onto the buns
- Place into a preheated oven and cook at 160 degrees for 30 minutes or until fully baked through
- Once the buns are cooked, place all of your glaze ingredients into a small saucepan.
- Heat on a medium heat until the butter and jam are melted and bubbling. Stirring occasionally.
- Brush the glaze over your freshly baked buns
- Serve warm with butter and jam
Notes
Toast in the oven or reheat in the microwave and serve with butter.
These hot cross buns will also freeze well.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my orange and cranberry hot cross buns recipe. I hope you enjoy trying this out for yourself. Please feel free to add any questions or comments below. I am happy to help out wherever possible and I would love to hear how this recipe worked out for you.
