Gluten-Free Hot Cross Bun Recipe - Gluten-Free Baking (2024)

Hot cross buns are a classic Easter treat. This gluten-free recipe makes sweet and tender buns with spices, raisins, and finished with a sugar glaze. Yeast-based recipe.

There are so many wonderful yeast-based breads included during Easter celebrations. My grandmother always made an Italian Easter bread that was anise flavored and tasted so good toasted and spread with butter. (Related Recipe: Gluten-Free Italian Easter Bread.) But my favorite was always the box of hot cross buns my mother bought a few days before Easter.

If you love hot cross buns, I’ve got some great news: the gluten-free version is pretty easy to make! And the results are wonderful: soft and tender buns that are filled with raisins and spices. This might be a recipe you bring out all year long, not only during Easter.

The Flour

These buns use a simple blend of brown rice flour and tapioca starch. If you want to use a commercial gluten-free flour blend, use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour and add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum. Without the xanthan gum, the buns turn out dense and heavy.

Mixing the Dough

The most important thing to know about this dough is that it won’t form a smooth ball. The dough for gluten-free hot cross buns is thick and soft. Like my recipes for gluten-free sandwich bread and cinnamon raisin bread, the dough can be scooped and spread, not kneaded.

After mixing the dough, stop the mixer and add the raisins or currants. Adding the raisins at the end prevents them from breaking up as the dough mixes.

Rising

Unlike most of my gluten-free bread recipes, this dough requires two rises. The extra rise (called the bulk fermentation) enhances the flavor of the finished buns. So you don’t want to skip it. If you’d like, you can mix the dough the night before you plan on baking and allow it to rise overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning, stir it to remove the air (this step is called “degassing”.”)

Shaping

The easiest way to shape the dough into buns is to scoop it with a muffin scoop. If you don’t have a muffin scoop, drop the dough, about 1/3 cup, onto a baking sheet. Then smooth the dough with your hands.

TIP: To prevent the dough from sticking to your hands, dip your fingers in cold water

Once shaped, cover the pan with a piece of greased plastic wrap. This prevents a skin from forming on the dough. Then allow the buns to double in size before baking

Baking

Once the buns have almost doubled in size, preheat the oven. Don’t wait for the buns to fully double in size to preheat the oven or the rolls can rise too much and then collapse after baking.

Glazing

These buns get two glazes. The first is a simple sugar syrup that’s brushed on the buns after baking. The second is a thick powdered sugar icing that you pipe onto the cooled buns.

Gluten-Free Hot Cross Buns: FAQs

Can I replace the flour with almond or coconut flour?

No. Grain-free flour does not work in this recipe.

Can I replace the milk?

Yes! Replace the milk and the butter with an equal amount of dairy-free alternatives. Gluten-free hot cross buns made without dairy sometimes turn out a little paler than those made with milk.

Can these be made without eggs?

Probably not. This is an enriched dough. However, I have not had a chance to make these hot cross buns without eggs.

What’s the difference between raisins and currants?

Excellent question! And it’s a bit of a culinary doozy. Raisins are dried grapes. Currants are not. grapes. Unless they are. Stay with me here.

True currants grow on bushes are rather tart.

The dried fruit that’s known as currants in the United States are actually “Zante currants”–a phrase you’ve probably seen on boxes of dried currants. These aren’t true currants! They’re small dried grapes. Think of them like tiny raisins because that’s what they are.

How’d they get the name currants? Long story. Basically back in the early 1900, Greece exported small dried grapes. Most came from the island of Zante. It seems that the city Corinth was mistakenly translated to “Currant” and the name stuck.

Tl;dr: Raisins and dried Zante currants may be used interchangeably. Zante currants are small dried grapes.

How long do gluten-free hot cross buns last?

About two days on the counter. Like all gluten-free bread, this largely depends on your location. If you live in a cold, dry area, the hot cross buns will go stale faster than if you live someplace warm and humid.

Store the baked hot cross buns wrapped on the counter. If you aren’t going to finish them before they’ll stale, freeze for up to two months.

How do you freeze gluten-free hot cross buns?

To freeze gluten-free hot cross buns, allow them to cool completely. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and then slide the buns into a freezer bag. Freeze for up to two months. Thaw the buns at room temperature overnight before serving.