Hot Cross Buns

These Hot Cross Buns have all the flavors of traditional rolls but made much easier with store bought rolls. This classic Easter recipe is ideal if you are short on time or intimidated by bread baking. Ready in 30 minutes, including baking time!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword easy hot cross buns, hot cross buns, quick hot cross buns

Prep Time 18

Cook Time 16

Total Time 34

Servings rolls

Calories 60kcal

Author Maria Doss

Ingredients

1 package 12 sweet rolls like Kings Hawaiian or Brioche type rolls
1 to 2 tablespoons golden raisins or currants

Orange-Butter

2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter warm
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
zest of one orange finely grated
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground all spice optional
1 to 2 pinch freshly grated nutmeg optional
1 pinch salt

Glaze

¾ cup confectioners sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons water or milk
⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Choose a baking pan that can fit one package rolls. Spray it with non-stick cooking spray.
Cut each roll in one direction (about 1-inch deep), turn 90 degrees and cut in the other direction (refer photos/video). Gentle transfer rolls into the baking pan.
Insert raisins or currants into the cut opening.
Make orange-butter - Stir all orange butter ingredients in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved.
Tip: Make sure that butter is warm when mixing, else it will not result in a drizzling consistency.
Using a spoon drizzle orange butter evenly into the cut opening, making sure the butter soaks into the bread. Use all the butter.
Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Place baking pan on a wire rack and let cool until lukewarm.
Make glaze - Stir all glaze ingredients in a bowl, until smooth and very thick or "piping consistency" to get a distinctive cross pattern (When lifted from the surface with a spoon, it forms a soft peak and doesn't flow back into the rest of the icing. If its' too thick that it will be hard to stir and too thin will settle into a flat surface after several seconds).
Tip: Mix in more water if thick or more confectioners sugar if thin.
Transfer to a zip lock bag, close to seal. Snip off a small piece at the corner. Pipe a line down the center of each row of buns, then repeat in the other direction to create a cross pattern.
Let icing set for about an hour before serving.

Video

Notes

What kind of rolls to use? Look for sweet, Egg enriched rolls in your grocery store like King’s Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, Brioche rolls, sweet dinner rolls, Hawaiian dinner rolls or Hawaiian sweet buns.

Glaze consistency Make sure that the icing is a thick consistency, otherwise you might not get a distinctive cross pattern. To check the right consistency, when lifted from the surface with a spoon, it forms a soft peak but doesn’t flow back into the rest of the icing. It should not be too thick that it’s hard to stir nor too thin that it settles into a flat surface after several seconds.

Grate orange zest using a microplane into a fine zest.

Raisins or currants? Although currants are uses in traditional recipes, it sometime hard to find them in regular grocery stores. Golden raisins are a great substitute.

Cut the rolls about one inch deep and not all the way through.

Nutrition