This Bread Machine Vegan Hot Cross Buns Recipe brings you home-made spicy and fruity buns made with minimal effort.
I’m not a sweet tooth, but since the first time I tasted them at a Good Friday celebration, I have never been able to say no to a (vegan) hot cross bun. It’s their slightly dense consistency and spicy and sweet flavor combo for me. And, be honest, what could be better than home-made spicy and sweet fruit-speckled buns minus all the kneading? Go team bread machine!
About Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns are spiced sweet buns usually containing dried fruit, marked with a cross on the top. They are traditionally eaten on Good Friday to celebrate the end of Lent. They symbolize the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, they have pre-Christian origins and got their start as a pagan Spring custom. The cross supposedly represented the phases of the moon or the four seasons. Only later, they were transformed to suit Christian traditions.
Not Cross Buns
Would you prefer to transform this delicious treat into more secular buns, how about leaving off the cross? Or, you could decorate them with any shapes that float your boat.
In this post, I share my vegan meal prep take on hot/not cross buns. It requires a bread machine, which makes them incredibly easy to prepare and uses as few ingredients as possible.
How To Make Bread Machine Vegan Hot Cross Buns Happen
The recipe begins by adding the yeast, sugar, salt, flour, oil, and plant milk to the bread machine. Once the machine has run the “dough only” function for ten minutes, you can add mixed spice and raisins. The “dough only” function should run for about one hour and 30 minutes.
Here are the basic steps:
- Add all the ingredients to the bread machine to make the dough.
- Knock back the dough with your knuckles to release the air and shape it into balls.
- Let the rolls rise for up to one hour.
- Decorate the rolls with crosses (optional).
- Bake the buns for 20 minutes until golden.
- Brush the warm buns with maple syrup.
To skip steps two up to five, you can bake the dough as is into a loaf in the bread machine on the “sweet” function!
You’ll love this Bread Machine Vegan Hot Cross Buns Recipe if you enjoy:
- Maple syrup
- Raisins
- Warming spices
- Slightly dense bread
- Sweet bread
They are to die for (pun intended?).
Bread Machine Vegan Hot Cross Buns
Equipment
- Bread Machine
- Baking Dish
Ingredients
For the dough
- 250 ml soy milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 65 g vegetable oil I used grapeseed
- 400 g white bread wheat flour I used traditional unbleached, stone ground flour
- 50 g castor sugar
- 7 g instant yeast
Later addition to dough
- 1 tablespoon mixed spice
- 150 g raisins
For the crosses (optional)
- 25 g flour
- 2 tablespoon water
For the glaze
- maple syrup
Instructions
- Place dough ingredients into a bread machine in the order listed. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Turn the machine on using the "dough only" function. After 10 minutes add the "later addition to the dough" ingredients.
- When the "dough only" function signals ready, remove the dough onto a well-floured surface and knock it back with your knuckles. Knead lightly, then divide into 12 portions. Roll each portion into a ball, then pull the dough from around the sides to underneath each bun to give a neat shape.
- Place the buns into a well-greased baking dish, approximately 24 cm x 32 cm, 1.5 cm apart. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow to proof for 45-60 minutes or until the buns are just touching one another.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
- To make the cross decoration, mix the flour with 2 tablespoons of cold water to make a smooth paste. If the paste is too thick, add a few drops of water. Then, place the paste into a piping bag and decorate the buns accordingly.
- Bake the buns in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, or until risen and golden. Brush the warm buns with maple syrup!
Adrian
My go-to Hot Cross Bun recipe. My only variation is that I soak the raisins in black tea until they are plump, dry them, cover them in flour so they do not stick together, and then add as directed. Thank you for this
Hilda Deboer
So easy and so good!! it’s the first time I’ve ever made hot cross buns and they were perfection. I also added two teaspoons of orange zest.