These sultana, lemon and thyme hot cross buns have a lighter flavour than a traditional hot cross bun. The fruit of choice is plump sultanas and the dough is lightly fragranced with cinnamon, lemon zest, juice and just a hint of thyme.
I love hot cross buns. To me they are an essential part of Easter, I might even love them more than I do Easter Eggs. Which is probably a good thing as I rarely get any Easter eggs these days. Mr B says I eat too much chocolate anyway (he is probably right about that)!
Still, I won't forgo hot cross buns and I probably indulge in a few more of those than I should in the period around Easter.
As the daughter of a baker, I used to help out in the bakery and the crosses on large trays of hot cross buns were probably one of the first things I learnt to pipe. So eating a hot cross bun brings back happy childhood memories too, what's not to love about growing up in a bakery.
A twist on a classic bun
It is hard to beat a classic sweetly spicy hot cross bun so it was one of my early recipes shared on my first recipe blog Recipes Made Easy. But it is also fun to play around with different variations such as Pecan and Cranberry Hot Cross Buns and last year I made Sourdough Hot Cross Buns.
Since starting Only Crumbs Remain, I have shared my new variations here. This was my first and my apple and sultana hot cross buns was my second. Similar but different and both really good even if I say so myself.
In these hot cross buns, plump sultanas give the right degree of fruitiness to the buns and the dough itself has a light lemon flavour with just a hint of thyme. I'm not sure you can pick out the flavour of the thyme as such but it definitely helps lift the overall flavour to the next level.
How to Make Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns are yeasted sweet buns. The dough is enriched with the addition of butter and egg which gives it a soft richer crumb. If you use a mixer to make these you may prefer to add the fruit after the first proving and before shaping.
Over-mixing can cause the fruit to get broken down. That said I find these are easy enough to mix by hand and you do not have to really work the dough, just a light kneading will do it, so it's not hard work.
Once the dough has proved (doubled in size) it is then knocked back and divided into 12 equal pieces which are then rolled into balls and placed onto a baking sheet to rise a second time.
Just before baking I make a simple flour and water paste and this is then used to pipe the crosses and the buns go into the oven.
When the buns are out of the oven I sometimes make a sugar glaze but for these, a brushing of runny honey complements the flavour of the bun perfectly.
Step by Step Sultana, Lemon and Thyme Hot Cross Buns
1 Mix the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and thyme together in a bowl.
2 Cut the butter into cubes and rub in to the flour.
3 Add the lemon zest and sultanas and stir to distribute evenly in the flour.
4 Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the egg, lemon juice and water.
5 Mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients to form a soft slightly sticky dough.
6 Turn out the dough and gently knead stretching the dough until it is no longer sticky.
7 Shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place.
8 Leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size. About 1 – 2 hours.
9 Knock back the dough and lightly knead. Divide and shape the buns.
10 Mix the flour with enough water to make a paste.
11 Once risen pipe the crosses on the buns and bake.
12 Once cooked brush with a little honey to glaze.
How to serve the buns
These buns are perfect served with butter but I for one can eat them warm from the oven as they are. Best eaten within 24 hours of baking an older bun is also delicious served toasted.
Plan ahead
I love to serve hot cross buns for breakfast and sometimes I plan ahead and pop some in the freezer ready for when I want them. They can be frozen for up to 2 month. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and warm in the oven at 180℃ (160℃ fan)/350°F/gas mark 4 for 5 minutes.
Sultana, Lemon and Thyme Hot Cross Buns
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- large bag, oiled cling film or tea towel to cover
- baking sheet
- disposable piping bag or use a small freezer bag and snip off the corner
- pastry brush
Ingredients
For the buns
- 500 g (1lb 2oz) strong bread flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 7 g ( ¼oz) sachet easy-blend yeast
- 60 g (2½oz) caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- 50 g (2oz) butter
- 100 g (3½oz) sultanas
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 large egg beaten
- 175 – 200ml (6-7floz) luke warm water
For the crosses
- 50 g (2oz) plain flour
- cold water to mix
For the glaze
- 1 – 2 tablespoons runny honey
Instructions
To make the buns
- Place 500g (1lb2oz) flour, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 7g (¼oz) yeast, 60g (2½oz) sugar, 1 teaspoon thyme and 1¼ teaspoons salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Rub in 50g (2oz) butter with your fingertips, then stir in the 100g (3½oz) sultanas and the finely grated zest of 1 lemon.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredient and add 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 egg, and about 175ml (6floz) water. Mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough, adding a little more wate, if required.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for 5 minutes, until the dough becomes less sticky. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to lightly coat the dough in the oil. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1½ hours, or until doubled in size.
- Turn out, and lightly knead again. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place on a greased baking sheet about 2cm apart. Cover with a damp tea towel or slip the tray inside a clean carrier bag. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size which should take about 50 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 190℃(170℃ Fan)/375°F /gas mark 5.
To make the crosses
- Place 50g (2oz) flour into a small bowl and stir in enough water to mix to a smooth paste. Spoon the mixture into a disposable piping bag and snip of the end. Pipe a cross on each bun.
- Bake for 20 -25 minutes until risen and golden.
To complete
- Once the buns are cooked transfer to a wire rack and brush the tops of the buns with a little honey.
Helen - Cooking with my kids
Yum, these look delicious - hot cross buns are one of my favourite things about Easter, and I love the different flavoures you've added. Maybe i'll try that this year.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
Let me know if you do try them would love to know what you think.. Hopefully you will like them as much as I do.
Anca
Lemon and thyme hot cross buns, that sounds interesting. They must be delicious.
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
They really were I'm making another batch this week. You can never have too many hot cross buns!
Jenny Paulin
I love that you made your own hot cross buns, a thing I have only done once and should repeat. I also love that you added thyme to them dough - how intriguing. I have never eaten thyme in a. sweet recipe before, but I can see that with the lemon too, these buns would be worth a try. They look delicious!
thank you for sharing with #Bakeoftheweek x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
oh yes you should definitely make your own they taste soooo much better than mass produced buns. I love playing around with what we tend to think of as savoury herbs in sweet dishes. Thyme goes very well with lemon which is not really surprising when you think of lemon thyme a variety of thyme that has a distinctively lemony note.
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
I will go for hot cross bun over chocolate egg every time, unless it's a baked goodie with some mini eggs thrown in then I might have a bit of a conundrum lol. I do love the sound of lemon and thyme in hot cross buns and I love the look of these babies too with gorgeous shine from the honey! Thank you for sharing them with #BakingCrumbs 🙂
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
a girl after my own heart
Kat (The Baking Explorer)
They look gorgeous! Such an interesting flavour combination too - I'd love to try one!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
Do they are fab!