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Easter is just around the corner. What is on your menu? Celebrate the season with these easy and delicious Easy Hot Cross Buns. Aromatic with warm spices and the bright pop of orange, these warm rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any meal.

Traditional Gluten and Dairy Free Hot Cross Buns

When it comes to creating the perfect holiday menu, there’s nothing like taking traditional flavors and combining them in an easily accessible way you can either make ahead, or just before dinner is served. Just like Gluten and Dairy Free Twice Baked Potato Casserole is a great make ahead dish, so are these Eastertime favorites.

What Are Hot Cross Buns?

Hot Cross Buns are a fast cooking take on a classic and beloved Lenten dish. These rolls are often eaten on Good Friday, marking the end of Lent. They’re enjoyed worldwide, especially in the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, although in the United Kingdom they are served year-round.

These spiced buns are usually filled with dried fruit and marked with a cross on the top. The spices represent the spices used to embalm Jesus while the orange represents the time of bitterness when he was on the cross.

While combining dried fruit with warm and aromatic spices is the traditional version of hot cross buns, other versions can be found around the world. Toffee, salted caramel, orange-cranberry, and apple-cinnamon versions can be found in the United Kingdom. You can find coffee versions in Australia as well as sticky date and caramel versions.

Ingredients

Skip the process of making homemade dough. Traditional Gluten and Dairy Free Hot Cross Buns give you everything you know and love about this seasonal treat in an easy to make form. Utilizing a pantry staple as the base, these come together in no time without sacrificing any of the flavor.

Canyon Bakehouse Brioche Sweet Rolls – Using Canyon Bakehouse Brioche rolls not only makes this recipe easy, but delicious. These rolls are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and made with 100% whole grains. They’re soft, rich, and buttery.
Butter – This is the base for the spiced butter that goes into the rolls, making them extra rich and decadent.
Currents – Currents have a similar flavor to raisins, but are slightly sweeter and complex.
Orange – Both the zest and the orange juice is used in this recipe. It brings brightness to balance the sweet.
Allspice – Warm and aromatic, this infuses depth into the butter.
Cinnamon – A little spicy yet sweet, cinnamon brings warmth to every bite.
Powdered Sugar – Combined with the orange juice, this is used to make the frosting that creates the cross.

How to Make Easy Hot Cross Buns

You will love this hot cross bun recipe. Using a shortcut without sacrificing any flavor, this recipe comes together in less than thirty minutes. It’s easy, festive, and stays true to tradition.

Time needed: 20 minutes

The traditional warm spices and hint of orange combined with dried fruit make this an Eastertime classic.

Pregame
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Make sure that your Dairy Free butter is at room temperature.
Prep
Cut a slice across the middle of your rolls without cutting all the way through. Roate your rolls and cut a slice going top to bottom, not going all the way through, to form a cross.
Mix
Add the softened butter, currents, allspice, cinnamon, and orange zest to a bowl and mix well.
Fill
Press the butter mixture into the rolls. Place the rolls into a baking dish.
Bake
Allow the rolls to bake for seven to ten minutes until the butter is completely melted and they are lightly golden brown. Let them cool slightly.
Frost
Add the orange juice and powdered sugar to a bowl. Mix until smooth. Pipe the frosting onto the top of the buns to form a cross. Enjoy!

Variations

This recipe is completely Dairy Free and Gluten Free. However, you can replace the ingredients in this hot cross bun recipe with your favorite sweet rolls, or regular dairy butter. The measurements will be the same.

Substitutions

No currents? No problem! You can make this same recipe with raisins. Because they are larger than currents be careful when adding the butter mixture to not tear the rolls.

Storage and How to Reheat Easy Hot Cross Buns

These hot cross rolls are a perfect make ahead dish. You can prepare them up to the point of baking and keep them refrigerated until you’re ready to bake them. Cover the baking dish and remove them from the fridge while you preheat the oven. You can make these up to two days in advance.

Once these are baked you will want to keep the leftovers tightly covered with plastic wrap, or in an airtight container. They will keep for up to five days if refrigerated.

To reheat your hot cross buns, you can either reheat them in the oven at a low temperature, like 300 degrees, till warmed through. In addition, you can also reheat them in the microwave.

Top Tip for Easy Hot Cross Buns

Because you are using a storebought roll for this recipe, these buns come together in no time. However, you will need to keep an eye on them as they bake. You are just looking to melt the butter and get the rolls a little golden brown. Since every oven is a little different, the average time is between seven to ten minutes.