Traditional hot cross buns recipe for Easter (2024)

FAQs

What does a traditional hot cross bun contain? ›

They're yeasted sweet buns filled with spices and various fruits such as currants, raisins, and/or candied citrus. They're decorated with a white cross representing the crucifix, either marked right into the dough or etched on top with icing. Hot cross buns are a traditional Easter food, typically eaten on Good Friday.

The Greeks in the 6th century AD may have marked cakes with a cross. In the Christian tradition, the making of buns with a cross on them and consuming them after breaking the fast on Good Friday, along with "crying about 'Hot cross buns'", is done in order to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus.

Pagans worshipped Eostre, the goddess of dawn and spring. As spring arrived, the pagans would celebrate a month long festival of the transitioning time from winter entering into spring. This festival saw the Saxons making buns marked with a cross, which represented the four phases of the moon, to offer to the goddess.

Hot cross buns contain a little fat from butter/shortening (around 5%) and are high in carbohydrate so consideration is needed around portion size for people with diabetes. Hot cross bun sizes vary a lot. For example, one commercial variety sold in a 6 pack contains 40g carbohydrate and 920 kJ (220 calories).

Your hot cross buns are made entirely out of vegetable products so there's no need for anyone to pray over the batter while the baker stirs in currants and citrus peel. The stamp on the package simply signals to Muslims that it's okay to eat those buns — not that someone prayed over them.

Spiced buns were banned when the English broke ties with the Catholic Church in the 16th century. However, by 1592, Queen Elizabeth I relented and granted permission for commercial bakers to produce the buns for funerals, Christmas, and Easter. Otherwise, they could be baked in homes.

Hot Cross Buns are inextricably linked to Easter and to Christianity. But in reality, they probably have pre-Christian origins. 'Cross Buns' were baked to celebrate Eostre, a Germanic Goddess of Fertility, after which the season of Easter is said to be named.

The traditional food for Good Friday is the Hot Cross Bun. These are spicy fruit buns, marked with a cross on the top, and eaten hot from the oven. The origin of the hot cross bun is simple: it is eaten on this day of fasting as a replacement for other food. Good Friday is a day when normal meals are not eaten.

Hot cross buns became commemorations of Good Friday, and across Christendom the cross came to represent the crucifixion and the spices symbolised those used to embalm Jesus at his burial. The bun had been blessed.

"Hot cross buns have Catholic roots," Hopwood says. "Primarily because of the use of dairy, hot cross buns were often forbidden during Lenten periods—when Catholics would instead eat non-dairy breads. The shape of the cross, of course, also represents Catholic imagery of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ."

Why do people in Britain eat hot cross buns? ›

No one knows for certain when the tradition began, but in 16th century England, bakers were limited by law to occasions when these special doughs could be made. Good Friday was one; 'cross buns' marked this holy day towards the end of the Lenten fast.

Traditionally, hot cross buns are associated with Easter—a Christian holiday and festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus—and eaten on Good Friday, or the Friday before Easter.

“Toasting your HCB is the correct way. Microwaving your HCB is for psychos. While yes, they sort of resemble fruit toast, HCBs have embellishments that you don't find in fruit toast, e.g. the cross and the fancy glaze. Toasting gives a nice, firm, crunchy surface for optimal butter spreading.

Food that has passed its use-by date is not safe to eat.

And here's the thing – you have a dietitian's word for it – hot cross buns are neither unhealthy nor healthy – they're neutral. They're just a food. And you only eat and enjoy them at one time of the year, so there's absolutely zero point feel guilty about sinking your teeth into the perfect bun.

The soft, lightly spiced fruity buns are the ultimate Easter food here in the UK but traditionally they aren't vegan friendly as they contain milk, butter and egg.

Sugar and Spice

A traditional hot cross bun is made up of strong flour, mixed dried fruit and some element of spice such as cinnamon or nutmeg. Although this base recipe remains largely the same, bakers and retailers tend to mix up the spice element every year in order to keep customers interested.