First off, I don’t even know what to say, other than…the world is upside down. Kids have been home for 3 weeks now, school was just canceled for the rest of the year. I’m obviously still going to work, caring for kids. Babies are being born, kids still need their immunizations, but the majority of my visits are now telemedicine.
Thankfully, some local factories donated face masks to our office. I don’t know what we’d do otherwise, we can’t even order masks from our medical suppliers. It’s just so crazy, everywhere.
It’s Holy Week in lockdown, without services to attend, just adding to how odd this whole situation is. Just…keep…swimming, right?
Anyway, today I taught kid #2 how to make our egg-free, dairy-free hot cross buns and she did a really good job.
My original recipe uses currants and maraschino cherries instead of candied citron. The pantry was little bare today, and I didn’t want to brave the grocery store, so I just used golden raisins, the last of the maraschino cherries, and a few frozen cherries. It still worked out fine. A little juice from the cherries gives the dough a light pink color.
Of course, they were devoured immediately, so if you plan on having these for Easter Morning, you’ll have to hide them from the homebound hungry hordes!
We have other Easter traditions to fill this week, homemade Cadbury Cream Eggs and Carrot Cupcakes, so even if we don’t get to making another batch, it will be ok.
Really, everyone, it will be ok. Happy Easter!
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Hot Cross Buns
- Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 rolls 1x
Description
These egg-free and dairy-free hot cross buns are traditional for Easter morning. They’re really good, so good luck keeping them safe until then.
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup potato flakes (instant potatoes)
- 1 T. yeast
- 2 t. regular table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 3 T maraschino cherry juice plus enough warm water to equal 1 3/4 cups liquid
- 6 T. dairy-free margarine or shortening at room temp
- 1/4 cup currants
- 1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries
Glaze
- 1/4 cup jam (peach, apricot or orange marmalade) warmed
Icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 –3 T. fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1/4 t. orange zest
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flour, sugar, potato flakes, yeast, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, margarine, and the cherry water.
- Knead on low until a nice little dough develops, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add in the currants and cherries. Keep kneading for a few more minutes until the dough is soft and well blended.
- Cover bowl with a towel and let dough rise in a warm spot for 2 hours.
- Gently deflate the dough, pinch off little golf-ball sized balls of dough and shape into rolls.
- Place on a parchment lined baking sheet or greased Pyrex 9 x 13, just barely touching. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until they are golden brown.
- While the rolls are still piping hot, brush with the warmed jam.
- Set the rolls, parchment and all, on rack to cool.
- While the rolls cool, make the icing. Whisk the powdered sugar, orange zest and orange juice together. Go easy on the juice, you want this to be pretty thick, because it melts on the warm buns. Put icing in a pastry bag, or a ziplock with the corner snipped off.
- When the rolls are pretty much cooled, pipe the crosses on the buns and enjoy!
Notes
See my post on dairy-free butter alternatives if you need sources.
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: bread
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: U.K.
Not exactly a t-shirt to wear on Easter, but it worked for today.
They're really beautiful! I wonder how well the pink would go over in my house.
After seeing countless recipes for dairy laden hot cross buns over the past few days, I've finally come to yours. Thank you! They look delicious!
Thanks for the heads-up. I don’t understand why they don’t want to give credit. There’s enough traffic to go around!
I’m so glad to hear how you are doing! Things are similar here. It’s especially difficult for the senior in the house, but we will make it through.
Happy Easter!!
Hi. This looks amazing! My daughter is extremely allergic to dairy, eggs, and nuts. What brand of flour do you use? I used to use King Arthur flour but recently noticed that they also make almond flour and pecan meal. Now I’m hesitant to use that brand. I’d love to know what you use. Thanks!