Baked healthier, with whole wheat and honey, these gently spiced Gingery Hot Cross Buns celebrate spring. They might just be the best hot cross buns you’ll ever eat!
Imagine a batch of soft dinner rolls. Mix in cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and mace, plus candied ginger bites and plenty of chopped dried fruit and you get these gingery hot cross buns! They’re honey-sweetened and made with whole wheat flour. You can either bake them with a cross made with flour and water, or/and after the buns cool, pipe a sweet frosting cross made with cream cheese and maple syrup.
Click here to PIN Gingery Whole Wheat Hot Cross Buns!
Hot cross buns commemorate the renewal of life that happens each spring–think tulips and daffodils popping up all over and chirping birds busying their nest. Especially when Easter is nigh, it’s time for hot cross buns!
In my former pastry chef life, we baked hot cross buns every day from Mardi Gras right up until Easter. We made them with white flour and sugar. In this recipe, for a more healthful and rustic-feeling treat, honey trades in place of sugar, and whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. You can find the original recipe is in my Chocolate Snowball cookbook. (Affiliate link.)
Keep up the tradition. Make these ginger-spiced, fruit-filled buns with a cross on top.
Hot-cross buns! Hot-cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, hot-cross buns. If you have no daughters, give them to your sons. Hot-cross buns! Hot-cross buns! ~ Old Nursery Rhyme
Why the cross?
In the Christian tradition, the 40 days before Easter known as Lent, a cross on each bun represents Good Friday and Holy Week.
Gingery Whole Wheat Hot Cross Buns recipe details:
Yeast dough timing:
- Yeast doughs, hot cross buns for example, are about passive time. 20 minutes to prepare the dough, then an hour of rising, 10 minutes to shape the rolls, and another hour of rising. You can make and shape the dough one day, and bake them the next.
- If it works better in your schedule, mix and shape the rolls the day before and let them rise overnight in the fridge. The next morning, bring to room temperature and bake them. Or make and bake your hot cross buns the day before—they’re easy to refresh with a light sprinkle of water and a reheat in the oven. Decorate with the frosting cross when your buns are ready to serve.
Ingredient notes:
- You can use whatever dried fruit your pantry offers. Like if you only have dried cranberries and raisins, use them. For example, the candied ginger adds a nice bite but it’s not absolutely neccesary for hot cross buns.
- To make these hot cross buns a bit more healthful, I used white whole wheat flour. (Affiliate link.) White whole wheat flour is lighter in color and flavor than the whole wheat flour we are most familiar with. White whole wheat flour, ground from white wheat berries, includes the bran, germ and endosperm of the wheat grain, the same as regular whole wheat flour which is ground from hard red wheat berries. Read more about white whole wheat flour here.
- White whole wheat flour is not that easy to find. If you can’t get your hands on white whole wheat flour, substitute a 50:50 mix of whole wheat flour and unbleached all-purpose flour. Spelt flour is also a good substitute.
- I use instant dry yeast, which doesn’t need to be dissolved in warm water before mixing the dough. You just stir instant dry yeast into the other dry ingredients and use a warmer liquid, 120°F to 125°F. Saf-instant dry yeast and the trademarked RapidRise yeast, as well as bread machine yeast, are all instant dry yeast. If you use regular active dry yeast, keep your milk below 110°F.
More spring recipe ideas:
- This vegetarian polenta cauliflower torta with roasted asparagus is so elegant it can be the centerpiece for your brunch buffet!
- For appetizers, serve crostini toasts with goat cheese and a dollop of shallot red wine jam.
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Gingery Whole Wheat Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Dough:
- 3 ½ to 4 cups white whole wheat flour, 14 to 16 ounces (see note)
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant dry yeast (see note)
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground mace
- 1 ¼ cups warm milk, 120 to 125°F (see note)
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (1/2 stick)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup candied ginger, cut in ½-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup chopped dried apricots, cut in ½-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries or dried cherries, cut in ½-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup pitted dates, cut in ½-inch pieces
- 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk or water, for glaze
Flour paste cross:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons water
Cream cheese frosting cross:
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In the work bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer or in a large bowl, mix 3 cups (12 ounces) of the white whole wheat flour with the yeast, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and mace.
- Add the warm milk, honey, melted butter and egg, stirring with a wooden spoon to blend. If using a stand mixer, fit it with the dough hook, and knead at a low speed. Otherwise, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand. Knead about 5 minutes, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of flour if necessary, until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic. (The dough should be fairly soft. For nice soft buns, resist that urge to add just a bit more flour.) During the last minute, mix in the candied ginger, apricots, cranberries and dates.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 45 minutes to an hour. Gently deflate the dough. Divide into 12 portions. Tucking the fruit pieces inside, roll and shape into smooth balls.
- Brush a 9×13-inch pan with butter or spray with cooking spray. Arrange the rolls evenly in the pan; there will be about 1/2-inch of space between the rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour. (You can prepare them the day before if that works best for you–see note below.)
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush egg glaze on top of the buns. If you are making crosses with flour paste, pipe the crosses before putting the buns in the oven. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until they are light golden brown. Cool.
For the flour paste cross:
- Mix the flour and water into a thick paste. Before the risen buns go in the oven, after brushing egg glaze on them , spoon the paste into a pastry bag fitted with a small (1/4-inch) plain tip and pipe a flour cross on the top of each bun.
For the cream cheese frosting cross:
- Beat the cream cheese with the maple syrup and vanilla until no lumps remain. (If the cream cheese is not soft enough, try giving it a few seconds in the microwave.) Spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a small (1/4-inch) plain tip and pipe a cross on the top of each bun. (Or drizzle the crosses using a spoon.)
Notes
- If the timing is better for you, mix, give them the first rise and shape your rolls the day before. Let them rise overnight in the fridge and bake them off in the morning.
- Lacking white whole wheat, use a 50:50 mix of whole wheat flour and unbleached whole wheat flour. Spelt flour is a good substitute as well.
- I use instant dry yeast, which does not need to be dissolved in warm water before mixing the dough. You just stir instant dry yeast into the other dry ingredients and use a warmer liquid, 120°F to 125°F. Saf-instant dry yeast and the trademarked RapidRise yeast, as well as bread machine yeast are all instant dry yeast.
- Any kind of milk will work in this recipe. I have used whole milk, soy milk, almond milk and rice milk at one time or another.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is meant to be an estimate only. Numbers do not include cream cheese frosting. The calculation will vary based on the brands you use and substitutions you make.
They look fantastic and I love that you used white whole wheat flour and maple syrup. I don’t use a lot of flour, but when I do it’s either white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour. · 30 March, 2015
Our Lenten tradition and now for Easter Sunday is hot cross buns. For years I converted my old B.C. recipe to the fast-rise yeast and white whole wheat flour. I can’t wait to add the ginger but one batch I added orange zest and used a dried fruit mix and yum. I can’t wait to try the cream-cheese cross and ginger this holy week. Thanks for the inspiration. · 30 March, 2015
Thanks Katie. I remember buying HCB from the Helms truck. · 30 March, 2015
This is a great adaptation. Hot Cross buns are often too “white bread” for my taste. This version seems to walk the line nicely. GREG · 31 March, 2015
Thank you Letty for this recipe, I’ve wanted to make some. I remember how good they are, I used to buy them from DV every year. I try my hand at making these and see how I do. Because of my hands now, may I use my stand mixer to knead the dough instead? And for how long to knead it? · 4 April, 2020
I always use my standup mixer. 😉 Knead about 5 minutes, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of flour if necessary, until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic. After 5 minutes if gets sticky again, turn it out and finish by hand. During the last minute, mix in the candied ginger, apricots, cranberries and dates. · 4 April, 2020
Letty,
I have whole wheat flour, is it possible to use some of that with AP flour, what ratio would I use? I have a lot of wheat flour I need to use up, what ratio would I use for other recipes? · 4 April, 2020
Whole wheat just fine. White whole wheat flour is whole wheat flour. If you are subbing whole wheat flour for unbleached or bleached white flour, your bread will just be a little more rustic. you may need to reduce the flour by 1/4 cup or so. Go by that soft and elastic test. White whole wheat flour is lighter in color and flavor than the whole wheat flour we are most familiar with. White whole wheat flour, ground from white wheat berries includes the bran, germ and endosperm of the wheat grain, is the same as regular whole wheat flour, just ground from red wheat berries. If you prefer your rolls less rustic, feel free to substitute unbleached all-purpose flour for all or some of the white whole wheat flour. · 4 April, 2020