Recipe: No-Knead Hot Cross Buns

Happy Good Friday guys! I'm grateful that I can be home with my family at this time, and to be able to make these hot cross buns for them to enjoy.

I was immediately drawn to this recipe since it's been described as the easiest hot cross buns ever as it is no-knead and just requires a few minutes to mix all the ingredients together before allowing the dough to rise. Since we're under quarantine here, I made do with whatever ingredients I had; I substituted bread flour with all-purpose flour so I found the dough a little stickier than usual when we were shaping it, but nothing an extra few tablespoonfuls of flour can't solve. I also used lemon zest instead of orange zest (MCO problems) and glazed the finish product with honey.

I was super happy with how the hot cross buns turned out though - absolutely beautiful and fluffy. Best eaten warm with a slathering of salted butter.

The buns stayed surprisingly soft, even on the next day. However, you may opt to lightly warm or toast them before serving.

Do visit Nagi's site for helpful tips, videos and step-by-step photo instructions as well as the original recipe. There is also a version which require kneading, which stay softer for even longer. Thanks for the recipe, it's a keeper!

No-Knead Hot Cross Buns
Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from RecipeTinEats
Preparation time: 15 minutes (+3 hours waiting time)
Cooking time: 22 minutes
Makes 12


Ingredients
1 tbsp instant yeast
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup whole milk, lukewarm
4 cups all-purpose flour + extra for dusting
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of 1 lemon
100g raisins or sultanas
50g butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, at room temperature, beaten

For the crosses:
1/2 cup plain flour
5 tbsp water

For the glaze:
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp boiling water



1. Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar in a bowl, then add the water. Leave for 5 minutes until  frothy.

2. Place flour, remaining sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, and mixed spice in a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.

3. Make a well in the centre, and add the eggs, melted butter, lukewarm milk, lemon zest and the liquid yeast, including all froth.

4. Mix until combined, it will be like a thick muffin batter. Cover the bowl with a wet tea towel and place in a warm place to rise, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The dough will triple in size and be bubbly on the surface.

Before rise

5. Line a 9" x 13" baking tray with baking paper, with overhang.

6. Punch dough to deflate. Dust work surface with flour and pour the dough out. Dust the top of the dough then knead lightly to deflate air and shape into a log. If you find the dough sticky and difficult to work with, then add more flour, a little at a time until you get a workable dough.

7. Divide into 12 equal piece and roll each piece to form a ball. Place the ball on the tray, and repeat with remaining dough, spacing them about 1cm apart on the tray. Line them up 4 by 3.

8. Lightly oil a cling wrap, then place over the tray. Return tray to a warm place and leave for 45 min- 1 hour, until the dough has risen by about 75% (less than double in size).

9. Preheat oven to 180°C (no fan).

10. For the crosses, mix flour and water until a runny paste forms. Spoon into a piping bag and snip a small hole in the corner (about 3mm). Remove cling wrap and pipe crosses onto the buns.

11. Place in preheated oven and bake for 22 minutes, or until the surface is a deep golden brown. Remove buns from oven.

12. Mix honey with boiling hot water. Brush the buns with the honey mixture while still warm.

13. Use overhang to lift buns onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool, for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve with salted butter.

14. Store any uneaten hot cross buns in an airtight container. Cut in half and warm in a toaster before eating.

No-knead Hot cross buns recipe No-knead Hot cross buns recipe No-knead Hot cross buns recipe No-knead Hot cross buns recipe No-knead Hot cross buns recipe No-knead Hot cross buns recipe

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks :)