Easy, Fluffy Vegan Hot Cross Buns

Easy, fluffy vegan hot cross buns! This is a tried and true recipe. It's surprising just how easy it is to make this popular Easter treat plant-based. The perfect sweet, spiced buns with dried fruits and a touch of zest! One of our favourite ever vegan Easter recipes.

Jump to:

• 🌟 Why this recipe works
• 📋 Ingredient Notes
• 🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
• 👩‍🍳 Expert Tips
• 💭 FAQs
• 🍛 Related recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🌟 Why this recipe works

• Tried and true – we’ve been making this vegan hot cross bun recipe for years and friends and family have always loved it! It creates perfect, fluffy hot cross buns every time.
• Easy vegan switches – most hot cross bun recipes use butter and milk, so this vegan hot cross bun recipe simply uses plant-based alternatives. Unsweetened plant milk and your favourite vegan margarine or butter alternative will do a great job of creating delicious buns.
• Fluffy and light – the key to fluffy and light vegan hot cross buns, is to sieve the flour. This helps to get air into the dough, which in turn creates a light and fluffy bun.
• Stand mixer – to make this recipe a little bit easier, we used a stand mixer with a dough hook for the kneading. We use it on a low setting. We highly recommend using one.
• Type of tray – make sure to use a tray that has sides, or at least a small rim. This makes sure the dough rises into a bun shape, and ensures that once baked, they can be easily (and satisfyingly!) pulled apart.
• Rising time – as with any bread recipe, this one needs time for the dough to rise. Making sure it roughly doubles in size during the first rise and then leaving them to rise again once shaped is a recipe for perfectly fluffy buns.

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Fast action yeast – speeds things up a little bit. If you’ve had some sat in the cupboard for a while, don’t forget to test it – we’ve included some notes in the expert tips section further on in the article.
• Dried fruit – traditionally currants or raisins are used in hot cross buns. As long as a cup of dried fruit is used, the vegan hot cross buns should still be great. We often use a mix of raisins, sultanas or currants. In this instance, we've used golden raisins and currants.
• Butter – a vegan margarine or butter alternative makes an easy switch for animal-derived butter. There are so many in the shops now (at least here in the UK), that it should be an easy ingredient to find. If you’re in the UK, keep an eye out for Vitalite, Flora or Naturli – the latter two also offer butter-style blocks for cooking. If you’re in the US we always like Earth Balance when we’re there.
• Vegan Milk – we’ve tried this recipe with various plant-based milks and it’s always come out great. Oat milk is our go-to, but soy is a regular switch. Just make sure it’s an unsweetened milk so that it doesn’t upset the balance of the sweetness in the vegan hot cross buns.
• Unwaxed citrus fruit – did you know that waxed oranges and lemons aren’t usually vegan-friendly? The wax is often made using shellac which is derived from insects. This is a sensitive subject amongst the vegan community and, ultimately, it’s up to you what you feel comfortable with. Unwaxed fruits are often more expensive, so not as budget-friendly. It’s about doing your best and nobody is perfect, but the use of shellac isn’t that commonly known so we thought we’d include it here as our recipes use orange and lemon zest!
• Spice mix – this recipe uses a mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg to achieve perfectly spiced buns. Mixed spice is another traditional option – if using this, replace the nutmeg with ¾ teaspoon of mixed spice.

Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this article for exact measurements to make vegan hot cross buns.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

This is a step-by-step overview with photos for this recipe. The full recipe, along with measurements and detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

Making the dough:

1. Sieve the flour into the bowl of your stand mixer or large mixing bowl.

2. Then add the sugar, yeast, spices & salt. Stir to combine with a spoon.

3. Add the milk, melted butter, fruit & zest.

4. Mix on a low speed for 5 minutes until you get a smooth, elastic dough. By hand, mix using a wooden spoon or similar for 5 minutes to achieve the same result.

At this point the dough shouldn't be sticking to the edge of the bowl and shouldn't be overly sticky to handle. If the dough is too sticky, add up to another ¼ cup of flour, a little at a time until it’s not sticking so much.

Proofing and shaping:

5. Cover with a wet tea towel and leave to rise for 30-90 minutes in a warm place, until the dough has doubled in size. The amount of time will depend on how warm it is – we find it takes around 60 minutes in our warm kitchen.

Line a 9 x 13 inch (or close to this size) baking tray or sheet with parchment paper, leaving excess overhanging paper that can be used to lift the buns out later. Ideally, the tray will have sides or a small rim at least.

6. Remove the tea towel from the mixing bowl and punch the dough to deflate it, then empty onto a flour dusted surface.

7. Shape the dough into an oblong and cut 12 evenly sized pieces.

8. Roll each piece into a ball and place onto the baking tray in a 4 x 3 grid. Dampen the tea towel again and place it over the baking tray. Leave in a warm place to rise again for 30-60 minutes. The balls should increase in size by 50-75%. Preheat the oven to 180°c / gas mark 4.

Making the crosses:

9. Mix the flour and water to form a paste. It should be runny enough that it can be piped onto the buns using a piping bag or squeeze bottle, but not so runny that it will run off the buns once it’s piped on. If you’re unsure, test it out before piping onto the buns!

10. Once the second rise has finished, put the flour paste into a piping bag or squeeze bottle and start piping. Pipe the mix slowly to make crosses on each bun. The buns should’ve risen so that they’re touching. That means it should be possible to pipe 4 long lines across the whole row going in one direction, then 3 lines going in the other direction.

Baking & glazing:

11. Put the buns in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they’re a rich golden brown colour – check the photos of the finished vegan hot cross buns for the colour to look out for. While the buns are in the oven, mix the sugar and hot water together to make the glaze. Use hot water from the kettle or microwave the water and sugar together until the sugar has fully dissolved.

12. Once the buns have finished in the oven, carefully lift them out of the tray onto a cooling rack using the overhanging parchment paper. Brush the buns with the glaze and leave to cool slightly before eating. Enjoy warm or toasted, with plenty of plant-based margarine or butter smothered on!

👩‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Test the yeast – yeast can die if it’s old or hasn’t been kept in the right conditions, so if it’s been sitting in the cupboard, it might not be good anymore. Test it by adding half a teaspoon of yeast and half a teaspoon of sugar to a bowl, then mix in ¼ cup of very warm tap water. If the yeast is still alive and kicking, after 5-10 minutes you’ll see bubbles and foam on the surface. If the mix doesn’t do this the yeast is likely dead and you need a new batch.
• Choose your fruit – sultanas, raisins and currants all work great in this recipe. As long as it’s a cup total of dried fruit, the vegan hot cross buns will come out great. You could even get creative and try some dried cranberries or other fruits.
• Unsweetened plant milk – as these are dairy free hot cross buns, be sure to use unsweetened plant milk so that the buns don’t end up too sweet. Oat and soy both work perfectly as we’ve experienced in testing, but other types of unsweetened milk, such as almond or hemp, should work fine too.
• Test the cross mix – mix the water and flour together to make a paste, but before applying it to the buns, make sure it’s the right consistency! It should be just runny enough that it can be piped, but then sit comfortably on an angled surface, like the edge of the buns. Before applying it to the buns, test it on an upturned bowl or even your hand. If it pipes out well and then sits in place – perfect! If it runs a lot, it needs more flour, or if it’s too thick to pipe, it needs more water.

💭 FAQs

🍛 Related recipes

• 50+ Best Vegan Easter Recipes
• Vegan Simnel Cake
• Hot Cross Bun Cinnamon Rolls
• Double Chocolate & Orange Hot Cross Buns
• Vegan Pastiera (Neapolitan Easter Cake)

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