Imagine a batch of honey-sweetened whole wheat soft dinner rolls. They’re fragrant with warm spices like cinnamon and ginger and cardamom and loaded with candied ginger and dried fruit. Yep, these candied ginger honey hot cross buns.
Make them healthier with whole wheat flour. Give them a cross made of flour and water before baking, or finish with a cream cheese and maple syrup cross once the buns have cooled. The flour and water cross is traditional and the frosting cross is my twist.
Click here to PIN Candied Ginger Honey 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!
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
From Mardi Gras right up until Easter, when I worked as a pastry chef, our team baked hot cross buns every day. Using white flour and white sugar.
For a more healthful and rustic-feeling treat, these buns trade honey in place of sugar, and whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour. You can find the original white flour and sugar recipe is in my Chocolate Snowball cookbook. (Affiliate link.)
Keep up the tradition. Bake a batch of these soft whole-wheat ginger-spiced fruit-filled rolls!
Why do we put a cross on top?
In the Christian tradition, the 40 days before Easter known as Lent, a cross on each bun represents Good Friday and Holy Week.
Candied Ginger Honey Hot Cross Buns recipe details:
Whole wheat four and dried fruit options:
- Dried fruit: You can use whatever dried fruit your pantry offers. Like if you only have dried cranberries and raisins, use them. The candied ginger adds a nice bite but it’s not absolutely neccesary for hot cross buns.
- Flour options: To make these hot cross buns more healthful, I use white whole wheat flour. (Affiliate link.) White whole wheat flour is lighter in color and flavor than regular whole wheat flour. 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 another option, a good flour to have on hand. These blueberry maple hemp muffins call for spelt flour and I give a more detailed explantion of spelt flour in that muffin recipe.
- Yeast: 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.
About 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.
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.
White whole wheat flour and my Chocolate Snowball cookbook are affiliate links. When you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Letty’s Kitchen. Thank you!!
To get my latest recipe posts and newsletters, subscribe here. (I hate Spam too and will never share your email with anyone.)
- Follow me on Instagram!
- Peruse my Pinterest boards for more vegetarian recipe ideas.
- Find daily vegetarian and healthy living ideas on my Facebook page.
This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps defray the costs of Letty’s Kitchen blog. Thank you for supporting Letty’s Kitchen.
Candied Ginger and Honey Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Dough:
- 3 to 3 ½ cups white whole wheat flour, 12 to 14 ounces (see note)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast (see note)
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground mace
- 1 ¼ cups warm milk, 120 to 125°F (see note)
- ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (1/2 stick)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ⅓ cup candied ginger, cut in ½-inch pieces
- ¼ cup chopped dried apricots, cut in ½-inch pieces
- ¼ cup chopped dried cranberries or dried cherries, cut in ½-inch pieces
- ¼ cup pitted dates, cut in ½-inch pieces
- 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk or water, for glaze
Flour paste cross:
- ½ 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, working in the extra flour 1 tablepoon ata a time, if necessary. until the dough is soft, smooth and elastic. (The dough should be slightly sticky. For 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. Roll and shape into smooth balls, tucking the fruit pieces inside.
- 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.
*** This is an updated recipe for hot cross buns I posted here in March of 2015!
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
You are awesome! I’m so proud of how accomplished you are not only with your cooking but also to manage such a sophisticated website💖 · 26 March, 2024
Thank you Priscilla! · 26 March, 2024