Gluten-free Hot Cross Buns {Dairy-free too}

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I’m so excited to bring you this recipe for gluten-free Hot Cross Buns. These are a new tradition for my family and hope you and your family will enjoy them too!

I’ve got just the addition to your family’s Easter traditions. Whether you enjoy these gluten-free Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, or any other day this spring, I think you’ll love them!

Hot cross buns are a sweetly spiced dough filled with raisins or Zante currants, shaped into rolls, baked, then iced with a simple frosting in the shape of a cross.

There are a number of theories about the origin of hot cross buns, but they’ve definitely been around for hundreds of years. I enjoyed reading a bit about the history of hot cross buns in this article from the Kitchn.

I’d only had hot cross buns once before, many years ago, so I wasn’t sure what all was usually in them. I enjoyed looking around the internet and in cookbooks for inspiration of typical ingredients in hot cross buns.

Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or allspice are common ingredients. Raisins or Zante currants were almost always included. Some bakers like to include other dried fruits, candied orange, or zest in their buns too.

I decided to go with a classic take on them, using spices and Zante currants in mine.

Many of the recipes that I looked at for hot cross buns were made with a good amount of dairy, but since I have so many dairy-free readers, I really wanted this recipe to be dairy-free too. I easily swapped out milk for cashew milk or flaxmilk, and replaced butter with coconut oil. You can make these with the dairy-full equivalents too!

I went with my tried and true gluten-free dinner rolls recipe for the base for these hot cross buns. Those rolls are so good and so many of you have had success with making them. I made just a few changes and they worked perfectly.

Notes on ingredients and substitutions for these gluten-free hot cross buns:

• While you could use raisins in these, I opted to use Zante currants. They are made from tiny grapes and I’ve found that while I dislike raisins, I do like Zante currants. Why? They are so small that they add just a bit of flavor without a weird mushy texture that you can get from raisins. They can usually be found in a box near the raisins and dried cranberries at your local store, though I admit I had to go to 2 stores before I could find them here locally! You can also order online – I get them here at nuts.com usually or these Gerbs brand currants (via Amazon here) that are on dedicated gluten-free and allergy free lines.. Note that Zante currants are not actually currants, which is why I specified what they are called.
• You’ll notice that I decided to soak my Zante currants in warm orange juice. This helped the currants be a little more moist and added just a hint of flavor to the rolls, which I loved. You could also soak your currants in rum, apple juice, or even just warm water.
• For years I’ve recommended using Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Flour Blend but it has become very difficult to find in stores or online. I’ve had great success now using Authentic Foods gluten-free multi-blend in these and all my gluten-free roll recipes. If you can’t use these and would like other recommendations, be sure to visit my gluten-free dinner rolls recipe for the full scoop. I’ve tested with several flour blends and there are over 200 comments from people that have tested other blends with success too.
• Since I wanted these rolls to be a bit creamier, but without using dairy, I opted to use a non-dairy milk alternative. I’ve tested these with Silk Cashewmilk and also with Good Karma Flaxmilk. Your favorite dairy-free milk will work fine! If you can have dairy, feel free to use regular milk.
• I use SAF instant yeast so that I can skip the step of proofing my yeast and so that the rolls can rise in half the time. If using active dry yeast, go ahead and proof it in the warm water and warm non-dairy milk just as you usually would, and double the time allowed for the dough to rise.
• Egg-free: If you’d like to make these to be gluten-free vegan hot cross buns or are avoiding eggs due to allergy, then try this egg free option: ¼ cup water + 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed. Simmer water and flaxseed over medium low heat for about 5 minutes until thickened. Stir frequently. Allow to cool. This is equal to one egg.

How to make gluten-free hot cross buns:

I like using a good quality 9″ cake pan. I really like to use this USA cake pan.

I recommend using a #20 cookie scoop to scoop 10 mounds of dough for these hot cross buns. A #20 or large cookie scoop scoops about 3 Tablespoons of dough.

Here’s a look at how this looks just after scooping:

After scooping all the batter/dough into the pan, wet your fingertip and use it to gently smooth out the tops of the rolls. This is strictly for appearances, as it eliminates any craggy appearance and makes them smoother for applying the crosses later. To do this, I usually just set a little bowl with warm water next to my pan and dip one fingertip into the warm water and then gently smooth each roll. I wet my fingertip again as needed.

Here’s a look at what these gf hot cross buns look like after gently smoothing them and before baking:

After smoothing the rolls, cover with a dry towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour. If you live somewhere very humid, then check the rolls at 45 minutes instead of an hour. Towards the end of the rising time, go ahead and start preheating your oven to 400 degrees so it will be ready when the rolls are fully risen.

Here’s a look at these after they rise and before putting in oven to bake:

Now place in your preheated oven and bake for about 25 minutes.

After baking for about 25 minutes, your gluten-free hot cross buns will be golden brown and when you measure the internal temperature of one with a good thermometer, it will register 200 degrees. These will dry out if you bake them past the 200 degree mark.

Here’s a look at what they’ll look like just out of the oven and placed on a cooling rack to cool:

Next I like to brush the hot buns with melted butter, shortening, coconut oil, or other non-dairy butter alternative. I use a silicone pastry brush for this.

They look so amazing now! You’re going to want to dig in, but I promise it’s worth the wait to add the icing!

After they cool completely, you’ll make a simple icing for hot cross buns by mixing together non-dairy milk (or milk if you can have it), powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.

You’ll simply mix these together. I used my hand mixer to make this icing.

Next you’ll scoop the icing into a plastic cake decorating bag that is fitted with a skinny circle tip or that you cut the tip off of after filling. You could also just scoop into a Ziploc bag and cut off a tiny corner for squeezing the icing out if you don’t have any cake decorating bags. Pipe crossed lines onto each cooled bun.

I hope you’ll try these gluten-free cross buns soon and they become part of your family tradition for Easter! Are there any other holiday food traditions that you’re missing? Let me know and I’ll try to help get you a great recipe for it!

Another favorite gluten-free Easter recipe is these dairy-free chocolate Easter eggs. If you’re making a gluten-free Easter brunch, check out my gluten-free breakfast casserole recipe. And for Easter dessert, make my gluten-free carrot cake.

Gluten and dairy-free Hot Cross Buns recipe is mine. Icing recipe adapted from King Arthur.

If you make these and love them, please come back and give this recipe a 5 star rating in the recipe card! Feel free to comment with tips or to share any successful substitutions you made.

Gluten-free Hot Cross Buns Recipe:

Pin this to your Gluten-free Easter board on Pinterest:

And don’t miss the chance to make these gluten-free pull-apart cinnamon rolls for Easter brunch!

I hope you enjoy this gf hot cross buns recipe!

Please come back and leave a rating and comment if you like them!

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