No Knead Hot Cross Buns
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These NO KNEAD Hot Cross Buns are super soft, fluffy, loaded with apples and perfectly spiced. With my no fail recipe for these delicious Apple Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns, you’ll be making the easiest and best buns ever with no kneading required!
No Knead Hot Cross Buns
This really is the best hot cross buns recipe! I’ve made them twice already this past week and let me tell you that I’m still not tired of eating them. They’re just so perfect for breakfast with coffee or for a quick snack. I absolutely love them.
You know what’s great about hot cross buns? They really are versatile. My version here is for apple cinnamon hot cross buns, but check out my original recipe here with raisins soaked in rum, which are just as great. But my favorite thing about these hot cross buns is that no kneading is required and no special equipment such as a mixer is necessary.
So what does this mean? Everyone can make them! You have no excuse for not making these because they couldn’t get any easier.
What Are Hot Cross Buns?
These little buns are traditionally served on Easter. The cross is, of course, representative of a cross, and the bun represents the end of lent. Whether you celebrate Easter or not, these buns are so fantastic and can be enjoyed by everyone!
Ingredients in Hot Cross Buns
I know the list of ingredients looks kind of long, but don’t worry. You will have most of these ingredients already in your kitchen! They’re all very basic. Keep scrolling for the full recipe and ingredient amounts.
For the buns:
- Apples – I used gala apples for this recipe. Granny Smith apples would also work. I shredded these apples with a cheese grater, it’s much easier than chopping them.
- Salt – I used the salt in two places here. Some of it is used to draw out moisture from the apples, and some is used for the dough. You can use less or more if you prefer.
- Milk – I used 2% milk, but you can use skim, 1% or homogenized.
- Granulated sugar – You can add a little more or less sugar if you’d like.
- Instant yeast – If you use active dry yeast, you will have to wait a bit longer for the yeast to dissolve and get foamy.
- All-purpose flour – If you use whole wheat instead, use only 4 1/2 cups. If you use gluten-free flour, use xanthan gum to replace the gluten or your buns will turn out dry.
- Nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon – You can adjust or leave out any of these spices as you wish.
- Eggs – I used large eggs for this recipe.
- Butter – I always cook with unsalted butter. This will give you full control over the amount of sodium.
For the glaze:
- Water – You can use more or less water depending on the consistency you’re looking for. Since it’s a glaze, I’d suggest keeping it thin.
- Granulated sugar – You can substitute an equal amount of honey or agave.
- Cinnamon – You can adjust the amount or leave the cinnamon out if you prefer.
For the cross:
- Icing sugar – This is also known as confectioners’ sugar or powdered sugar depending where you’re from.
- Cream cheese – You can use low fat, full fat, or vegan cream cheese.
- Butter – Make sure your butter is unsalted and room temperature so it’s easy to mix in.
- Cinnamon – You can adjust the amount or leave the cinnamon out if you prefer.
- Vanilla – You can use vanilla extract or vanilla paste.
- Water – I used a bit of water to thin it out so it was easier to pipe onto the buns. You can also use milk or leave it out if you like a thicker icing.
I love my hot cross buns on the sweeter side so I always like to make the crosses with icing rather than the more traditional way of using a flour and water paste. Totally up to you how you do it, be sure to check out the recipe notes for using flour/water paste.
How to Make No Knead Hot Cross Buns
- Sweat the apples: Place the shredded apple on paper towels, a clean kitchen towel, or cheesecloth, then in a strainer. Sprinkle salt over them and let everything sit for 5 minutes. Squeeze out as much of the excess liquid as you can.
- Make the dough: In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Let it sit until everything foams up. In a separate larger bowl mix the dry ingredients. Stir in the apples and make sure they’re all evenly coated with flour and are not clumping. Add the eggs and butter to your yeast mixture and stir well. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well using either a wooden spoon or your hands. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it double in size.
- Form your buns: Use a 16.5 x 11 inch baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Sprinkle flour over the top of the dough, over your work surface, and on your hands. Shape the dough into a log and cut it into 24 pieces. Flatten each piece, pinch the sides all together, then flip the ball and roll it to smooth out the top. Place each bun on the baking sheet and cover it with kitchen towels and let the buns rise until they are about 50-70% bigger. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Glaze the rolls: While the bread is baking, make your glaze. Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the glaze from the heat and let it cool. Brush the rolls with the glaze right after they come out of the oven.
- Ice the rolls: Let the rolls cool fully. Whisk all the icing ingredients together until smooth. Using a piping bag or ziploc bag, pipe the crosses onto your rolls.
Can I Leave Out the Apples?
Yes you can! If you want these to just be plain, you can leave the apples and spices out. If you want to try something a little different, though, this version is seriously incredible. The light tough of spice with those sweet apples? You’ll be in heaven.
You could add so many different things to them, like currants or craisins, orange peel, how about some chocolate chips or go for a savory version and add some cheese!
Tips for Making the Best Hot Cross Buns
- Proofing the yeast before you get into the rest of the dough is key. If your yeast doesn’t foam up, no matter what the expiry date on your yeast say, the buns won’t turn out. Store your yeast in the freezer and it will last longer. However, I’m using instant yeast in this recipe and the difference between instant yeast and active dry yeast is that you don’t need to activate instant yeast. I still prefer to do this because it tells me if my yeast is good.
- This dough is meant to be sticky! Check out the video in the recipe card to get an idea for how the dough should look. If yours seems stickier, you can add a little bit more flour.
- Dough rises best in a draft-free, warm environment. You can preheat your oven to the lowest setting, then turn it off. That will create a wonderful environment for your dough.
- I prefer to use parchment paper over cooking spray to avoid unnecessary grease on the bottom of my buns.
- Yeast needs sugar to thrive and grow. You can reduce the amount of sugar in the dough, but don’t leave it out entirely.
How to Store Hot Cross Buns
If you have leftovers, store these in an airtight container or a large ziploc back. Because of the cream cheese icing I would keep these in the fridge. They will last about a week refrigerated. You can also keep some of them un-iced and keep them on the counter in an airtight container or bag so they don’t dry out as much. They will last 2-3 days at room temperature.
How to Freeze Hot Cross Buns
To freeze unbaked rolls:
Form them into rolls immediately after making the dough- don’t let it rise. Let them freeze on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then topped with plastic wrap. Once they are frozen solid, you can transfer them to a freezer bag. They will last about 2 weeks.
To bake them, place however many rolls you need on a baking sheet. Cover the rolls and let them thaw and rise. You can place them in a warm oven to speed this process up. Once they have doubled in size, bake them as instructed.
To freeze baked rolls:
Once they have fully cooled, wrap them well with foil and store in an airtight container. They will last about 1 month before freezer burn starts to become an issue. Let them thaw fully at room temperature.
Want to Make More Bread? Try These Recipes:
- Classic Dinner Rolls
- Sticky Buns
- Fast and Easy No Knead Bread
- No Knead Skillet Bread
- Homemade Croissants
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No Knead Hot Cross Buns
Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Resting Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Total: 2 hrs 20 mins
Serves: 24
These NO KNEAD Hot Cross Buns are super soft, fluffy, loaded with apples and perfectly spiced. With my no fail recipe for these delicious Apple Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns, you'll be making the easiest buns ever with no kneading required!
Ingredients
Buns
- 5 medium apples peeled, cored and shredded (I used Gala apples)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups milk lukewarm, I used 2%
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp instant yeast or active dry yeast
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg ground
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp cinnamon ground
- 3 large eggs
- 6 tbsp butter unsalted, melted
Cinnamon Sugar Glaze
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ground
Cinnamon Icing
- 3/4 cup icing sugar same as confectioners sugar or powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 tbsp butter unsalted, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
Make dough
- Place the shredded apples on 4 sheets of paper towels in a strainer, and place the strainer inside a bowl. Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt over the apples and stir them. This will release the liquid from the apples, this way we can control the liquid in the dough. Let them sit for 5 minutes, then squeeze the juice from the apples, as much as you can. Keep the juice, in case you need more liquid for the dough.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk the warm milk with the sugar and yeast. Let it rest for 5 minutes. If using active dry yeast, it might take longer for the yeast to activate, 10 to 15 minutes. See notes for more info.
- In another large bowl add the flour, the other tsp of salt, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon then whisk until fully incorporated. Stir in the shredded apple.
- To the bowl with the milk and yeast add the eggs, butter and whisk well. Add this to the flour mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon until well combined. You should have a thick sticky dough, see video. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest until doubled in size, for about 1 hour. See notes for tips.
Form Balls
- Line a 16.5 x 11.38 x 1 inches baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the towel from the dough and sprinkle with some flour over the top. Also dust your work surface and hands with flour. Place the dough on the work surface and shape it into a log. Cut it into 24 equal pieces.
- To shape each piece into a roll, take a piece and flatten it with your palm or fingers. Fold it up into a ball by pinching the sides together, turn it over and roll it briefly. See video.
- Place the bun with the smooth side up onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough pieces and line them up 4 x 6.
- Cover the baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel and let the rolls rise a second time for about 30 minutes. Do NOT let them rise longer, you only want them to rise about 50% to 75% more as they will finish rising in the oven.
- About 10 minutes before the rolls are done rising, preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cinnamon Sugar Glaze
- In a small sauce pan add all the glaze ingredients and heat over medium heat. After it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and cook for another 3 minutes. All the sugar should be dissolved and the glaze should have thickened a bit. Remove from heat and set aside. The glaze should thicken more as it cools.
- Once the hot cross buns are done baking, remove them from the oven and immediately brush them with the glaze. Let them cool for 10 minutes.
Cinnamon Icing
- Whisk all the icing ingredients together and transfer the icing to a piping bag or ziploc bag. Snip the piping bag or a corner of the ziploc bag.
- Pipe crosses onto the buns with the icing.
Video
Recipe Notes
Crosses: Traditionally the crosses on hot cross buns are made with a flour and water mixture, not icing. If you want to do this, whisk together about 1/2 cup of flour and 5 tbsp water until a paste forms. Transfer this to a piping bag and pipe crosses on the buns before baking.
Tip for increasing dough rising time: Preheat your oven to 150 F to 200 F degrees, then turn off the oven. Place the covered bowl with the dough in the oven and close the door. The dough should rise in 30 minutes to 1 hour. This will ensure a nice and warm, draft free environment for the dough.
Yeast: I used instant yeast but active dry yeast can be used as well. Please note that usually instant yeast does not need to be activated, only active dry yeast does. However, I like to mix whisk my instant yeast with the milk sugar, but it can be added directly to the flour.
Make sure your milk is not too hot or it could kill the yeast which will cause your dough not to rise at all. The ideal temperature for the milk should be between 105 F degrees and 110 F for proofing. While 95 F degrees is the best temperature for yeast to multiply, that's not warm enough for proofing active dry yeast.
Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn't expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast, who knows it could have been on the shelf past its expiry date.
To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard. However, you can also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. If you do store it in the freezer and need to use yeast for your baking, make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for at least half hour before using.
Once your yeast package or jar has been opened, you must refrigerate the yeast or freeze it in an airtight container.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1hot cross bunCalories: 232kcal (12%)Carbohydrates: 41g (14%)Protein: 5g (10%)Fat: 5g (8%)Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)Cholesterol: 35mg (12%)Sodium: 222mg (10%)Potassium: 118mg (3%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 15g (17%)Vitamin A: 200IU (4%)Vitamin C: 1.7mg (2%)Calcium: 39mg (4%)Iron: 1.6mg (9%)
Lindi says
these would make just a gorgeous fruit bun with a lovelly glazed and topped coffee sugar with sultanas, or Apple but added dried cranberries. Yours look so fluffie and airey. Can’t wait to bake them..
Jo Cooks Team says
Those are all fantastic ideas! Let us know how your buns turn out 🙂
Karin says
Made 4 dozen of these for Easter morning at church and they were UH-MAY-ZING. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
Michelle Lewis says
I loved the cinnamon flavor of these. My family doesn’t love fruit in their baked goods, so I omitted the apples. Next time I’ll include them to see if it lightens up the final product a bit. This was a great version of a classic that I will definitely make again. Thank you!
Jocelyne Preville says
OMG SOOOOO good!
I see what you mean about adding a bit more sugar. I will next time. I might add a bit more cinnamon too. Easy to make…The glaze and icing totally make it! Thank you!
I love your site too. While reading the recipe, I get sucked into watching your other wonderful videos! Well done!
Joanna Cismaru says
Thank you so much, Jocelyne! Good luck with the buns. 🙂
Deborah Franzetta says
I made these No Knead Hot Cross Buns this past Sunday, April 7, 2019. They were really great. I used the Cinnamon Sugar Glaze, then used the Cinnamon Icing on top of that..I would make them again, but I would cut the recipe in half, since a full recipe as posted here makes quite a bit. Of course, you could freeze them, but I currently have no room in my freezer to do that.
Mimi says
Hi Jo, thank you so much for this great hot cross bun recipe! I made it today and it turned out really well. I had some old yeast that didn’t seem to be blooming very well, so I ended up making a half batch with almost the full batch’s amount of yeast, just in case. In the end I think it would have been fine because I have some really fat buns. Next time I might roll them into 15 instead of 12 for the half batch. That division would fit my tray well. Each one is a meal in itself! I’ll try it again until I get it perfect.
PS. They are quite dense, but still fluffy. Would you say it’s the apple that makes them seem bit more dense, or is it my method? Thanks again, love your videos to help. I’ll be hanging out here a lot now that I’ve found you. Next I’m keen to try your meatball wraps. My kids will love them!
Nicole Beaulieu says
For dense buns, I would say it’s the yeast since yours is a little old. I would buy a fresh jar and store it in the freezer to help it last longer!
kemala hayati says
can i leave out the grated apple? and replace dried fruit with chocochip?
Nicole Beaulieu says
You can for sure. The apple adds a bit of moisture, so if you find they’re a little bit dry that would be why.
kemala hayati says
so if i replace the apple with milk/water how much it should be in gram please?
Joanna Cismaru says
I wouldn’t actually add any additional milk or water until the dough is finished and if you notice it’s too dry, then I’d add a bit of milk until the dough is right. I’d start with a tbsp at a time.
Susy O says
Hi Jo, Have you got any advice for substituting in whole wheat flour?
I’m guessing I could swap half of the AP flour, but I wondered if I should I increase the amount of butter at all?
Thanks
Joanna Cismaru says
Hmm, haven’t tried it myself, but I don’t see why not. I would probably use a whole stick of butter. Do let me know how it turns out if you try them.
Jaime says
The recipe is easy to follow with clear instructions. The buns turned out just as described and taste wonderful. The recipe made enough to share while still warm and put some in the freezer for another day.
Susan P A Harrowing says
Wow, I was so sceptical about this receipe I just had to try it. It delivered everything it said on the tin. I would have liked a bit more spice and some currants! I will certainly use this receipe again next year or even before. Wonderful. And thanks for the tip on reducing quantities. Very useful. But they all went anyway. On the scales this morning………don’t ask. Thank you again – but not for the weight gain but that’s my fault!
Joanna Cismaru says
Lol, thanks for the giggle! Glad you liked it. 🙂
Barbara Buchler says
Since there are only 3 of us, could I 1/2 the recipe? I don’t need 24 buns!
Nicole Beaulieu says
Absolutely! Hover your mouse cursor over the number of servings in the recipe card. You’ll be able to slide the bar to suit however many servings you want, and the ingredients will calculate themselves for you.
Margaret Mc Donald says
Wonderful. Light and tasty.
Carmela Lauria says
Luv these , wondering if I could use gluten free flour to make them gluten free? Appreciate any feed back thanks
Joanna Cismaru says
I’m not an expert when it comes to gluten free baking, so I can’t really answer you. I do know you can find gluten free all purpose flour now pretty much everywhere in the baking aisle. Would love to hear if you try them.
Joan says
Thank You so much for this recipe. I made these buns this morning. They couldn’t have turned out better. Just the right amount of sweetness and flavoring, so nice and soft and delicious. It’s the first time I have made a no knead bread that wasn’t course textured and tough. I will definitely be making these again
Joanna Cismaru says
I’m so glad you liked them! They really are super soft, aren’t they?
Karen says
Love this looks great. I was wondering could I add fruit I.e sultanas , raisins etc? If so when should I add them?. Keep up the good work.
Joanna Cismaru says
Yes you can, and I would add them at the same time when I add the apples, instead add whatever dried fruits you like.
Karen says
These look delicious! I am planning on making them this weekend. I wish I had read this earlier as it was snowy here and I would have made them today. Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
Debbie says
What can I substitute for the apples if I do not want to use them?
Nicole Beaulieu says
Try canned pineapple (strained) or grated pears.
Colleen says
I am going to make these. I was wondering…if I was to make, say, an herb and cheese one, what do you suggest for using for the “cross”?
Joanna Cismaru says
If you’re going down the savory route, I would make the traditional cross with the flour and water paste.
Krystal says
First – these look amazing and I think I’ll need to make them ASAP.
Second – you mention that the icing is Cinnamon Icing, but there’s no cinnamon listed in the icing ingredients; is this a mistake or is truly just a plain vanilla icing? Just thought I’d check 🙂
Joanna Cismaru says
Oops, it’s there now. 🙂