Cranberry And White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Cranberry and White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

These Cranberry and White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns are a modern twist on a traditional recipe and are perfect to share with family at Easter. As a child I never liked the raisins in the Traditional Hot Cross Buns so would always pick them out. This recipe is a great alternative to the traditional recipe, and who doesn’t love cranberry and white chocolate together.

There are a few things to remember when making Hot Cross Buns in general so read through these tips first. You will have more success with your Cranberry and White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

1. Make sure the milk is not too hot or you will kill the yeast – it is alive. If you have a kitchen thermometer, between 105-110 F is perfect
2. If you don’t see little bubbles or foam on the surface after about 15 minutes, throw that out and start again. The buns will not rise if the yeast has not activated and you will ruin all your other ingredients
3. If the mixture hasn’t doubled in size in the specified time, you can leave it longer as it should keep rising
4. If it is not a warm day or you don’t have a warm spot to let the dough rise, you can place it in your oven, set on the lowest possible heat. Make sure you turn the oven off after about 5 minutes so you don’t cook the buns at this stage.

Print Recipe

Cranberry And White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

These Cranberry and White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns are a modern twist on a traditional recipe and are perfect to share with family at Easter. As a child I never liked the raisins in the Traditional Hot Cross Buns so would always pick them out. This recipe is a great alternative to the traditional recipe, and who doesn't love cranberry and white chocolate together.

Prep Time

40 minutes

Cook Time

25-30 minutes

Passive Time

3 hours rising time

Servings

buns

Ingredients

Buns

• 1 1/2 cups warm milk 105-110F (40-43C) is perfect
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tblspn dry yeast active
• 4 1/2 cups plain flour all purpose
• 1/2 tspn salt
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 tspn vanilla essence or extract
• 2 eggs
• 60 g butter 4oz

Glaze

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Crosses

• 100 g white chocolate 3 1/2 oz

Prep Time 40 minutes Cook Time 25-30 minutes Passive Time 3 hours rising time Servings buns Ingredients Buns 1 1/2 cups warm milk 105-110F (40-43C) is perfect 1/2 cup sugar 1 tblspn dry yeast active 4 1/2 cups plain flour all purpose 1/2 tspn salt 1 cup dried cranberries 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 1/2 tspn vanilla essence or extract 2 eggs 60 g butter 4oz Glaze 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup water Crosses 100 g white chocolate 3 1/2 oz

Instructions

Buns

1. Mix the dry yeast with the warm milk and sugar and set aside for 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. After 15 minutes you should see small bubbles forming on the surface of the milk mixture. This is how you will know that the yeast has activated.

   
2. In the bowl of your mixer, add the flour, salt, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips and stir to combine. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
4. Once the yeast mixture has bubbled, add the egg mixture to the yeast mixture and stir to combine.
5. Add this yeast mixture to the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl and mix with the dough hook for 5 minutes until mixture is coming away from the sides of the bowl. If the mixture is still too sticky, add a little more flour

   
6. Tip the dough onto a clean surface and knead lightly until mixture is smooth and well combined. Place into an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp tea towel and set aside for at least an hour until dough has doubled in size. If after an hour, it has not doubled in size you can leave it for longer.

   
7. Preheat oven to 180C (360F)
8. Once doubled in size, tip out onto a clean surface and cut into 15 equal portions. To cut into 15 equal portions, first, cut into 5 equal pieces, then cut each of these into 3 equal pieces.

   
9. Roll each portion into a ball and place into an oiled baking tray. Cover with a damp tea towel and put aside to rise for at least an hour until doubled in size again. It can be left longer if need be.

   
10. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

    

Syrup

1. In a small saucepan, mix sugar and water. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a slow simmer and simmer for 5 minutes until mixture has thickened slightly and become syrupy. Set aside to cool
2. Once buns have cooked, remove from oven and cool slightly. While still in the roasting pan, brush the tops with the syrup. Allow to cool in the pan

   

Crosses

1. Melt white chocolate in 20 second increments, stirring in between. This should only take 1 minute
2. Place melted chocolate in a piping bag and pipe crosses onto the top of the buns. Allow the chocolate to set

   
3. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

To make Chocolate Hot Cross Buns:

1. Replace 1/3 cup of the flour (1/3 cup) with cocoa. You can use more cocoa if you want a richer hot cross bun
2. Replace the spices (nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon) with 2 tspn instant coffee - this will make the chocolate a bit richer.
3. Replace the raisins with an equal amount of dark chocolate bits
4. Pipe crosses with melted dark chocolate instead of white chocolate after the buns are cooked and cooled a little

Traditional Hot Cross Buns

To make Traditional Hot Cross Buns:

1. Remove the vanilla and add 1/2 tspn cinnamon, 1/2 tspn ground cloves and 1/2 tspn nutmeg
2. Replace the dried cranberries with an equal amount of raisins
3. Omit white chocolate bits
4. Don't pipe the crosses with melted white chocolate, but instead make a mixture of flour and water and pipe this on top of the buns before baking.

Let me know in the comments how you go. I'd love to hear what other varieties you come up with. Orange and Dark Chocolate would be amazing! Enjoy!