My Recipe Box - Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns

 April 2023 - Toronto ON

I made these hot cross buns for Easter and they were delicious, but are best on the day baked so judge your timing. They are labour intensive but fun to make. 

I have added my notes/changes in red. I rearranged some steps to suit me as there is some prep work to do before following the ingredients.

Raisins, sultanas and currants are all types of dried grapes. Raisins and sultanas are soft, sweet and juicy, while currants have an intense, sweet and tangy taste. Raisins are typically the largest of the three.

I also didn't do the flour (traditional) crosses, instead I make an icing sugar/milk mixture.

I didn't use my mixer.

I ended up with 8 plus a mini as I measured them for 4.5 ounces so you could get at least 9.

Prep Time 1 hr
Cook/Bake Time 30 mins
Proof Time 1 hr
Total Time 2 hrs 30 mins

Servings 8 buns
Author Kat | The Loopy Whisk

INGREDIENTS

For gluten free hot cross buns

PREP BEFORE STARTING

85 g (½ cup) sultanas or raisins/currants golden and black 

16 g (3 tbsp) whole/rough psyllium husk (If using psyllium husk powder, use only 14g.)
260 g (1 cup + 1 ½ tbsp) warm water

8 g (2 ½ tsp) instant yeast (If using active dried yeast, use 10g.) I use active dried yeast

140 g (½ cup + 1 ½ tbsp) whole milk, warmed

Melt the butter

Bring egg to room temperature (put in a bowl of warm water to speed this up)

MIX

DRY INGREDIENTS
230 g (2 cups) tapioca starch (You can also use an equal weight of arrowroot starch, cornstarch (US) or cornflour (UK), or potato starch.)
160 g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) millet flour, plus extra for flouring the surface (You can also use an equal weight of finely milled brown rice flour.)
70 g (⅓ cup + 3 ½ tbsp) sorghum flour (You can also use an equal weight of buckwheat, white teff or gluten free oat flour.)
50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
8 g (1 tbsp) xanthan gum
8 g (1 ¼ tsp) salt

SPICES
1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp allspice
1 tsp cardamom

30 g (¼ stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 UK medium/US large egg, room temperature

90 g (about ½ cup, 3 oz) mixed candied lemon and orange peel

For egg wash:

1 UK medium/US large egg
15 g (1 tbsp) whole milk

For crosses: I DID NOT DO THIS

50 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee plain gluten free flour, which doesn't contain xanthan gum.)
¼ tsp xanthan gum (Omit if your GF flour blend already contains xanthan gum.)
10 g (2 tsp) sunflower oil
60 g (¼ cup) water

You will also need: OPTIONAL

50 g (2 ½ tbsp) apricot jam
8 g (½ tbsp) water

INSTRUCTIONS

For gluten free hot cross buns:

Line a large baking sheet with baking/greaseproof paper.

In a small bowl, pour boiling hot water over the sultanas or raisins until completely covered. Set aside for about 10 minutes, until the sultanas/raisins have plumped up and re-hydrated.
Drain the water, making sure to squeeze out any excess water from the sultanas/raisins. Set aside until needed.

Tip: If using active dried yeast, activate it first by mixing it with the warm milk and a teaspoon of the granulated sugar. Set aside for about 5-10 minutes, until you see bubbles/foam appearing on the surface – this shows that the yeast is alive and active.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the psyllium husk and water. After about 15 seconds, a gel will form. Set aside until needed.

In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer, if using), whisk together the tapioca starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, sugar, xanthan gum, salt, yeast and cinnamon.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, and add the milk, melted butter, egg and psyllium gel into it.

Using a wooden spoon, mix well until the dough starts coming together. You can also use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, making sure that you scrape down the sides of the bowl to remove any dry, un-mixed patches of flour.

Once it starts coming together, knead it by hand until you get a homogeneous dough with no dry patches of un-mixed flour. Just squeeze the dough through your fingers, going around the bowl until you’ve incorporated all the flour. The final dough will be quite soft and sticky, but should come away from the sides of the bowl. (Again, you can also use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook).

Add the re-hydrated sultanas/raisins and the mixed candied peel, and gently knead them into the dough until evenly distributed.

Transfer the dough onto a generously floured surface and give it a knead until it comes together in a ball. Be careful not to incorporate too much extra flour into the dough.

Roll out the dough into a long log and divide it into 8 equal pieces – I recommend using a scale to get the pieces of equal weight and therefore approximately equal size.

Shape each piece into a ball – see the blog post for detailed instructions and step-by-step photos of how to best shape the hot cross buns.
Tip: Don't worry if the surface of your buns isn't perfectly smooth – that's partially because of the absence of gluten and partially because of the high dried fruit content. As the buns bake, their surface will smooth out slightly due to oven spring.

Once shaped into buns, transfer them onto the lined baking sheet, at least ¾ inch (2cm) apart from each other. I've arranged them in two rows of four.
Tip: Don't pack the gluten free hot cross buns too closely together – if you do, this can inhibit moisture evaporation during baking, which can result in heavy and too wet buns. Additionally, if they fuse too much during baking, this will cause them to spread horizontally rather rise up vertically. If you want particularly tall hot cross buns, space them even further apart, so they don't touch even after proofing.

Lightly cover with cling film and proof them in a warm spot until approximately doubled in volume, for about 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes. After proofing, the buns will touch lightly at individual points, but shouldn't be completely fused together (as cinnamon rolls might be).

While the buns are proofing, adjust the oven rack to the middle position, place a baking tray at the bottom of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 430ºF (220ºC).

Assembling the gluten free hot cross buns – egg wash and the crosses:

For the egg wash, whisk the egg and milk together until well combined.

I MADE AN ICING of icing sugar and milk

For the crosses, whisk together all the cross mix ingredients (gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum, oil and water) until you get a smooth mixture. It should be runny yet viscous.
Transfer the cross mixture into a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle.
Tip: If the cross mixture is too thick, add more water. If it's too runny, add more gluten free flour blend. It's better to err on the side of too runny than too thick, as a mixture that's too thick can bake up to be too hard to be edible.

Once proofed, brush the buns lightly with egg wash all over.

Pipe the cross mixture in a line along each row of buns, then pipe in the other, perpendicular direction to create crosses.

Baking the gluten free hot cross buns:

Place the buns into the oven, pre-heated to 430ºF (220ºC) and pour boiling hot water into the baking tray at the bottom. Close the oven door and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400ºF (200ºC).
Tip: The presence of steam and the high oven temperature will maximize oven spring and slightly smooth out the surface/crust of the buns.
After 10 minutes, remove the baking tray with the hot water from the oven and continue baking in a steam-free environment for a further 20-25 minutes until the buns are deep golden brown. If the buns start browning too quickly, you can cover them with aluminum foil (shiny side up) and continue baking until done.
Tip: You don’t want to keep the steam source (baking tray with hot water) in the oven for too long, as it can make the buns too heavy.

Once baked, slide the hot cross buns off the baking sheet and off the baking paper onto a wire cooling rack – this helps to maximize steam evaporation, to get a soft crumb that isn’t too wet, sticky or heavy.

OPTIONAL In a saucepan on the stove or in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, heat the apricot jam with water, with occasional stirring, until runny.
While the buns are still hot, brush them with the runny apricot jam – this softens the crust further, as well as gives them a lovely shine and extra flavour.

Allow to cool until warm or room temperature, and serve.

ICING

130 g confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla xetract OR lemon or orange extract
4 tsp milk plant milk or water or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing

Storage:

These gluten free hot cross buns are definitely at their very best still slightly warm from the oven or on the day of baking.
However, they keep well for 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature, you’ll just need to reheat them briefly in the microwave (for about 20 seconds) to soften them up again – once re-heated, they’re just as soft and delicious as they were on the first day.