These adorable bunny hot cross buns are soft yet hearty. They are loaded with flavor from spice-infused milk and sweet dried fruit. Hot cross buns are perfect for celebrating Spring!
Easter Bunny Buns
Hello and "Hoppy" Easter! Growing up in Germany, at the beginning of Spring every year, my Dad would make the best hot cross buns. The array of spices and citrus zest are delicious. You could also sprinkle nuts into the dough for added texture.
And what better way to decorate hot cross buns than with adorable fondant bunnies!? Just look at them!! I'm melting with cuteness overload!
For more delicious Easter bread recipes, try braided German Easter bread, Slovenian Easter buns, and fluffy German raisin buns.
In This Post
- History of Hot Cross Buns
- About this Recipe
- How to Make Hot Cross Buns
- Recipe Tips
- How to Decorate with Fondant
- More Spring Themed Recipes
History of Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns have been associated with Easter since the 12th century in England. But folks around the world were making bread buns with crosses on top even before that, like the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.
Many Christians make hot cross buns on Good Friday, also known as the Day of the Cross, which is the date that Christians believe Jesus was crucified.
About this Recipe
These spiced hot cross buns were inspired by the recipe from Celebrate with Kim-Joy. I fell in love with Kim-Joy's adorable baking style when she was on the Great British Bake Off show. She creates such whimsical, cute bakes!
From cinnamon and cardamom to orange zest and ginger, these buns are packed with flavor. They are soft and chewy, but also quite dense and filling.
My favorite part of this recipe is that the cross on each bun isn't made from icing, but just a simple mix of water and flour. Sometimes when the cross on buns are made from frosting or icing, it overloads the whole baked treat with too much sugar.
How to Make Hot Cross Buns
These are the general steps to make bunny hot cross buns. Scroll down to the recipe below for the full detailed instructions!
- Infuse the milk with spices: In a small saucepan, simmer milk with ground cinnamon, cardamom pods and star anise for 20 minutes. Then strain the whole spices from the milk.
- Mix the dough: In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Set aside. Add the water and eggs to the infused milk. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough: Knead by hand for about 15 minutes or with a dough hook in a stand mixer for about 8 minutes.
- Add the butter: Add the softened butter and continue to knead the dough.
- Rest the dough: Cover the bowl of dough and let it rest in a warm place until it doubles in size.
- Add the fruit: Roll out the dough into a rectangle, sprinkle on the mixed dried fruit, then roll up the dough like a log. Knead it for a minute to distribute the fruit.
- Shape the dough: Divide the dough into 16 dough balls. Let rest until doubled in size.
- Add the cross: Combine flour and water in a small bowl. Pipe the mixture onto the buns in a cross shape.
- Bake the buns: Brush the buns with a whisked egg. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes. Then bake for another 15 to 20 minutes at 350°F, until the buns are golden brown.
- Decorate with fondant bunnies: Optional - dye fondant and shape it into rabbits, carrots and leaves. Place on cooled buns and enjoy!!
Recipe Tips
- Wet Dough: The dough is super wet when it's left to rise for the first time. This is okay! Don't add more flour, just let it rise in the mixing bowl.
- Soft Dough: The dough is extremely soft and airy when the dried fruit it mixed into it. You'll punch out a lot of air while mixing in the dried fruit, but don't worry. It'll rise again after it's shaped and left in the baking dish to rise the second time.
- Piping Bag: Use a piping bag or a Ziplock bag with the corner cut off to pipe crosses onto the buns in clean, straight lines.
How to Decorate with Fondant
The fondant bunnies were the most fun but also the most time-consuming part of making these bunny hot cross buns.
What is Fondant?
Fondant is a sugar paste that softens as it is warmed and worked in your hands.
Fondant is a great medium to work with to form small, intricate shapes. You can buy fondant from the store and dye it any color under the rainbow.
Tips for Using Fondant
- If your hands or if the room temperature are hot, the fondant can become stringy and very sticky when it gets too warm.
- Fondant can dry out and become hard and brittle, so be sure to keep your fondant in an air tight container when you're not working with it.
- To prevent colors from bleeding, make all the pieces needed in one color, then wash your hands and your work surface before working with fondant of another color.
- To get the fondant pieces to stick together, use a few drops of of water. It's helpful to have a small bowl of water nearby when assembling each shape.
Fondant Bunnies
Each fondant bunny is made from six pieces. Two long ears, a small squished sphere for the head and a larger squished sphere for the body, along with two small oval arms.
Fondant Carrots
The fondant carrots are made from two shapes - one green piece for the carrot top and one orange piece for the carrot body. I used the back of a pairing knife to gently impress lines onto the carrot bodies.
Fondant Leaves
The green fondant leaves are made of one piece of fondant, shaped into a leaf. Then I used the back of a pairing knife to impress veins onto each leaf.
More Spring Themed Recipes
Hungry for more Easter-themed and Spring-inspired recipes? Check these out!
Bunny Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Hot Cross Bun Dough
- ¾ cup whole milk or non-dairy milk
- 2½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
- 3 cardamom pods, broken open
- 1 star anise
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 5 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- zest 1 orange OR 1 lemon
- 2¼ teaspoon (one packet) active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup water
- 3 large eggs, divided
- ¼ cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup mixed dried fruit like raisins, candied citron, etc.
Cross for the Buns
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup water
Bunnies and Carrots
- fondant
- orange and green food coloring
Instructions
Mix the Dough
- In a small saucepan, add the milk, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, cardamom pods and star anise. Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat, then remove from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes to infuse the milk with the spices.Strain the whole spices from the milk and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, remaining ground spices, citrus zest, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Add the water to the infused milk. Whisk in 2 eggs. Add the milk and egg mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough either with a dough hook in a stand mixer for 8 minutes or by hand in the bowl for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Add the softened butter to the dough and continue to knead until the butter is incorporated. The dough might be pretty wet at this point - that's okay.
- Cover the bowl with plastic cling wrap and set in a warm place (like the oven with the light on) to rise until the dough doubles in size, between 1½ - 3 hours.
Shape the Dough Buns
- Lightly grease a 10-inch by 10-inch (or something similar) baking dish.
- Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a generously floured work surface. Roughly roll out the dough and scatter the dried fruit. Roll the dough up like a log, then knead it for another minute, until the fruit is well distributed.
- Divide the dough into 16 equal portions and shape them into dough balls. Place the dough balls evenly spaced out in the greased baking dish, and cover with plastic cling wrap. Let proof at room temperature until doubled in size, between 1 to 2 hours.
Shape the Fondant Bunnies, Carrots and Leaves
- Use a small handful of fondant at a time, and keep the rest in an airtight container to prevent it from drying and hardening. Use un-dyed (white) fondant to shape the bunny pieces.Dye a handful of fondant orange by kneading orange food dye into the fondant. Then shape it into small cones for the carrots. Dye a handful of fondant green by kneading green food dye into the fondant. Then shape it into the carrot tops and leaves. Use a tiny bit of water to secure each piece together. See blog post above for further tips to shape and assemble the bunnies, carrots and leaves.
Cross and Bake the Buns
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush it on the buns.
- To make the dough for the crosses, whisk the all-purpose flour and water together in a small bowl. Transfer it into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off. Pipe into a small cross on each bun.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the buns are golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely before topping with your fondant shapes. If you add the fondant onto hot or warm buns, the fondant will melt into a gooey mess.Enjoy!
Notes
- The dough is super wet when it's left to rise for the first time. This is okay! Don't add more flour, just let it rise in the mixing bowl.
- The dough is extremely soft and airy when the dried fruit it mixed into it. You'll punch out a lot of air while mixing in the dried fruit, but don't worry. It'll rise again after it's shaped and left in the baking dish to rise the second time.
- Use a piping bag or a Ziplock bag with the corner cut off to pipe the crosses onto the buns in clean, straight lines.
Yum-number1
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Humbly Homemade
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Azilde Elizabeth
These look delicious and the bunnies are so cute! Have a great Easter ðŸ£!
strawberryandcream
Thank you! Happy Easter!! Are you and your family doing anything special today? 😊
Azilde Elizabeth
Yes! Just finishing up the day. So tired 😆 had a get together at my In laws. How about you?
Humbly Homemade
We kept Easter low key this year since my parents were out of town. We didn't get to dye any eggs, but hopefully we'll do that again next year!
Azilde Elizabeth
Every year is different!