Warm fluffy sweet rolls made with dried cranberries and raisins. Serve this brioche hot cross buns recipe toasted with salted butter for an Easter morning treat! This recipe is a similar but sweeter version of my brioche bread and brioche burger buns recipe.
How to make Brioche Hot Cross Buns
- First, combine the flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer. Next, pour in the yeast mixture, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Now, mix the dough on high speed and add the softened butter. Keep mixing the dough for about 10 minutes to really incorporate all that butter throughout the dough. You’ll want to use the hook attachment for this step.
- Now, place the dough into a large greased bowl and let it rise (covered) for about one hour.
- Next, separate the hot cross bun dough into 12 brioche buns and place them in a baking pan to rise and bake for 25 minutes.
- After the hot cross buns have cooled, pipe out the icing on top.
What ingredients go into hot cross buns?
- Well, these hot cross buns are just like any basic hot cross buns, they just contain a little extra butter for the ultimate fluffy texture. The most common ingredients in hot cross buns are flour, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, eggs, dried fruit, and spices.
What are Hot Cross Buns?
- Hot cross buns are a type of spiced bread usually containing some sort of dried fruit or raisins. Although they can be enjoyed any time of the year, they are typically eaten during Easter time. They are always iced with a cross pattern over each bun to represent the cross of Jesus Christ.
How to eat hot cross buns?
- Typically, Hot cross buns, especially this brioche version is best served warm (toasted) and sliced with salted butter on top.
Looking for more Easter recipes? Give these a try!
- Roasted leg of lamb– perfect main dish dinner idea!
- Couscous and arugula salad– Light, spring flavor.
- Carrot cake– loaded with carrots, pineapple, and cream cheese frosting.
More fluffy bread recipes!
- Brioche bread loaf– buttery, fluffy, melt in your mouth goodness
- Nutella Brioche– warm yeast dough with swirls of melted Nutella in between.
- Brioche Buns– great for burgers or slow-cooked meats.
Watch how to make hot cross buns here-
Brioche Hot Cross Buns
Warm fluffy sweet rolls made with dried cranberries and raisins. Serve these brioche hot cross buns toasted with salted butter for an Easter morning treat!
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Servings: 12 Buns
Calories: 234kcal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raisin
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp yeast
- 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 4 tsp milk
Instructions
- Add Half a cup of golden raisins and half a cup of dried cranberries into a bowl. Now fill the bowl with boiling water and let the submerged raisins sit for about 15-20 minutes.
- Now warm 3/4 cup milk to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Then add 1 tbsp sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of dry active yeast.
- Give it a quick stir and set it aside for about 15 minutes or until it becomes frothy.
- Meanwhile, add 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Then add in 1/2 cup of granulated sugar into the bowl. make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture.
- Lastly, you’ll add in 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract and I almost forgot the salt. You’ll need about a pinch of salt.
- Now using the hook attachment start off by mixing all the ingredients on low speed until the flour begins to incorporate into the wet ingredients. Now pick them Speed up to high and mix until no more patches of flour appear.
- Now you’ll add 3/4 cup unsalted softened butter to the dough and continue mixing on high speed for about 10 minutes. Depending on the size of your eggs you might need to add another 1/4 cup of flour.
- The dough may seem too sticky at first but be patient, continue beating and it will begin to take shape.
- During this process, you may need to scrape down the sides of the beater bowl with a spatula to pull away any butter that may have stuck to the side of the bowl.
- Now drain the soaked raisins and dried cranberries and add it to the dough. You’ll want to mix these in for about a minute or so pretty much until they’re well incorporated.
- Now you can remove your dough from the mixer bowl and begin working it into a ball. The Dough should still be sticky but firm enough to work with. That sticky texture is from all the Incorporated butter. Which will soon be fluffy layers of bread.
- Place the dough into a large greased bowl and cover it for about one hour or until doubled in size.
- Now shape the dough into a log and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Take each piece of dough and shape it into a ball with your hands.
- Then place the shaped buns into a deep baking dish coated in non-stick spray. Now cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them proof for about 1 hour.
- Once the buns are done rising brush them with egg wash and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the icing by combining 1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar with 3-4 tsp of milk. You want the icing to be slightly runny yet thick enough to pipe out and not spread out.
- Once the buns are baked and cooled, pipe out the icing In a cross pattern over each bun.
Nutrition
Calories: 234kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 126mg | Potassium: 101mg | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo of it and tag me on Instagram @simplyhomecooked or use the hashtag #simplyhomecooked so I can see it and feature it!
Hi, I’m Dina, so glad you stopped by! I believe life is too short for bad coffee and boring meals. With my easy to follow step-by-step recipes, you’ll be surprised at how quickly a wholesome and delicious meal can come together. I hope you find something you enjoy!
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Katrina says
I’m fairly new to bread making, but these turned out my best batch of bread so far. My rolls are SUPER tender, with a delicate crumb. I’m not sure if that’s how they are supposed to be, but we loved, loved, loved them. The only differences I did was to soak the dried fruit in warm orange juice instead of water and then glazed with apricot preserves mixed with orange juice instead of piping the cross. I will definitely be using the recipe again in the future.
If I may make one small suggestion to Dina it would be to include an exact amount for the salt. A pinch can vary according to every person’s interpretation (and a Google search wasn’t very helpful, haha) and I was really nervous about having too much or not enough salt. I went with 1/2 tsp and it worked out great. Otherwise, perfect. Thank you so much for an easy and delicious recipe!
simplyhomecooked says
Wow Katrina, thank you so much for such a kind and thoughtful review! It means so much to me 🙂
john zabawa says
you think lyrics
Clint says
Came out great. Used stand mixer with hook. Added one third more flour while mixing. Made 22 buns
simplyhomecooked says
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this Hot Cross Buns recipe, Clint! Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
Marsha says
Hi can u tell me do I knead butter in by ham of mix with spoon if doing by hand I cannot find my dough hook
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Marsha, yes you can knead the butter into the dough by hand. It will just take longer than using a mixer. Just make sure to knead it until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Rodney says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve never made Brioche, little alone, Brioche Hot-cross Buns before, and they turned out great!!! The only thing I did different was I used Candied fruit, cherries, and apricots, instead of cranberries, but I stuck to the 1/2 C, loved them, so did my partner!!! So fluffy and, buttery, and light!!!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Rodney, thanks for leaving your kind feedback 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the hot cross buns!
Alina says
Planning to make these today but serve them tomorrow! How do I go about that so that they are baked tomorrow but prepped all today?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Alina, you can make them up until before the last rise and cover and refrigerate. That way they slowly rise overnight and will be ready to bake in the morning.
Lauren says
Easy to make, really good. Perfect recipe. Wish I could share the picture I took! Looks just like her photo. Only thing I did was add more raisins.
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you for your feedback, Lauren! I’m so happy to hear you loved the hot cross buns 🙂
Sophia says
Milk at room temperature or less than 110 degrees Fahrenheit works fine too. I made these at 110 and it seemed to have killed the yeast so my buns didn’t rise at all. But a great recipe indeed thank you.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Sophia, thanks for your feedback. I’m not too sure why your yeast got killed. But if you’re concerned, next time try doing a lower temperature 🙂
Linda malins says
Yummoh brioche Easter buns.delicious,shared them with our neighbour and she also said yummoh.thankyou for the awesome recipe.greetings from New Zealand God bless you and your precious loved ones,keep safe.we are all in lock down here kindest regards linda
simplyhomecooked says
Linda, thank you so much for taking the time to write such kind feedback 🙂 I am thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. I hope you are all staying healthy and safe. Sending love and God’s blessings your way!
Maddie says
what dimensions should the baking pan be?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Maddie, the baking dish should be 9×13 inches.
Nikki says
I don’t know what went wrong with these when I made them, I had to add nearly a cup more flour to the dough as it was so wet (Maybe my eggs were too big?), and now they are cooked they taste like flour. They took waaaay longer to cook than the said time – maybe my pan wasn’t quite big enough. I am going to try them again as they did rise nicely and they look good!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Nikki, I’m sorry to hear that your dough was too wet. How exactly did you measure your flour? I always spoon it into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife. It makes quite a difference. Also, what type of flour did you use? As mentioned in the video, you want to mix the dough for a while or until the dough is smooth and elastic. This may vary depending on the type of mixer you have. Brioche dough is slightly different than regular bread since it has extra butter. The longer you beat the butter into the dough the better texture and crumb you will get out of it. I hope that helps you. Let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Shalice says
Can you do this by hand as I don’t have a mixer
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Shalice, yes you can do it by hand, but it will take longer than using a stand mixer.
Victoria says
These look amazing! Making for Easter! Thank you!
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you so much Victoria! I hope you enjoy these Brioche Hot Cross Buns!! 🙂
armando says
This looks great! I will prepare it for my children……..Thanks for sharingÂ
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you, Armando! I hope you all love the hot cross buns 🙂