Sourdough hot cross buns are fluffy sweetened rolls that are flavored with dried fruit and warm spices. Perfect for Good Friday and Easter celebrations.

What are hot cross buns?
This recipe for sourdough hot cross buns is just like our soft sourdough dinner rolls with the addition of dried fruit, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom and ground nutmeg.
The tops are brushed with an egg wash before baking as well as a "cross" that is made out of a paste of flour, oil and water.
After the buns are removed, they are brushed again with a glaze made from fruit preserves.
Sample baking schedule
The following baking schedule for sourdough hot cross buns has been tested in a kitchen with an ambient temperature of 68°F (20°C).
- 8:00 PM: Feed sourdough starter.
- 7:30 AM: Melt butter, milk, salt and sugar and allow it to cool down to room temperature.
- 8:00 AM: Mix dough and lest rest 1 hour.
- 9:00 AM: Stretch and fold dough, cover and let rest 30 minutes.
- 9:30 AM: Stretch and fold dough, cover and let rest 30 minutes.
- 10:00 AM: Stretch and fold dough, cover and let rest 2 hours.
- 12:00 AM: Add dried fruit, divide dough and shape rolls. Place in baking dish, cover and let rise 3-4 hours or until puffy.
- 4:00 PM: Egg wash, add cross and bake. Add glaze
(Warmer kitchens need less time to rise, colder kitchens will need more time to rise.)

Step by step instructions
This recipe for sourdough hot cross buns couldn't be easier to make, so let's dive straight into the details!

Melt the butter, milk, sugar and salt together over low heat. Allow to cool down to room temperature.

To a large mixing bowl, add the flour and ground spices and whisk to combine.

Add the active sourdough starter and the cooled butter mixture to the bowl and stir with a spatula until the ingredients are combined and there are no dry bits left in the bowl.

Cover the bowl and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Perform 3 sets of stretches and folds spaced 30 minutes apart, keeping the bowl covered between sets. After the final set, cover and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours or until it has risen by 50% in size.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and press it out into a rectangular shape.

Spread the dried fruit evenly over the surface.

Roll the dough into a log shape.

Divide into 12 pieces and shape each piece into a ball.

Arrange them in a lightly greased glass baking dish. Cover the dish with a tea towel and let rise for 3-4 hours.

Preheat your oven to 375°F (204°C). Beat the egg in a small bowl with the water and brush the egg wash onto the rolls. Mix the paste ingredients together until smooth and pour into a piping bag. Snip the tip off of the bag and pipe lines across the rolls to create a cross on each one.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown on top. Brush the top of the rolls with jelly and serve.
How to store
- Store the baked rolls in a closed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- The baked rolls can be frozen for up to 3 months, stored in a freezer-safe bag.
Tips for success
- dried fruit: Hot cross buns are typically made with chopped mixed peel. This is a mixture of the peels of citrus, such as orange, lemon or grapefruit that have been candied. However, some choose to use dried fruit instead. I didn't have access to mixed peel at the time I made this recipe so I chose to use raisins. You could also use dried cranberries, dried blueberries, dried figs or a combination.
- glaze: The glaze is made from store-bought fruit preserves. We used orange marmalade to impart the missing citrus flavor of the mixed peel. Apricot or lemon preserves would work as well.
- kitchen temperature: It's very important to take the ambient temperature of your kitchen into account when working with sourdough. Our recipes are tested in a kitchen that is 68°F (20°C). If your kitchen is warmer, you will need to reduce your rising time in the first and second rise to avoid over-proving the dough.
- make ahead: If you'd like to prepare the dough and bake the rolls at a later time, shape the rolls, cover the dish with plastic and store in the fridge for up to 36 hours. When ready to bake, allow them to have the second rise at room temperature until puffy and proceed with baking.
- flour: Bread flour is ideal for this recipe but all-purpose flour can be used with great results.
- baking dish: Baking the rolls in a glass baking dish gave us the softest rolls. They can be baked in a 9" x 13" metal tin but you will need to bake them at 400°F (204°C) for less time. Check on the rolls around 22-25 minutes to make sure they don't over-bake.
More easy sourdough recipes

Sourdough Hot Cross Buns
EQUIPMENT
- 9" x 13" glass baking dish
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients to make ½ cup (100 g) of Active Sourdough Starter
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) sourdough starter
- â…“ cup + 1 tablespoon (50 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 ½ tablespoons (50) water
Dough Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
- 1 cup (240 g) milk
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt
- ½ cup (100 g) active sourdough starter
- 3 cups + 2 tablespoons (375 g) bread flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 cup (150 g) dried fruit (raisins, cranberries or candied citrus peel)
Egg wash
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) water
Paste for cross
- ¼ cup (31 g) flour
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) olive oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 g) water (more to thin out if too thick)
Glaze
- ¼ cup (60 g) fruit preserves (orange or apricot)
INSTRUCTIONS
Feed Your Starter
- 8 PM Feed starter: 12 hours before you plan to mix the dough, add the ingredients to make ½ cup (100 g) of active sourdough starter to a clean jar. Stir until combined, loosely cover the jar and let the starter rise at room temperature. (The ingredients will create a total of 115 g active starter but, because some of it will stick to the sides of the jar during the transfer, we are making a little more than needed.) The sourdough starter is ready to use when it has doubled in size and there are plenty of bubbles on the surface and sides of the jar.
Make the Dough
- 7:30 AM Melt butter: In a small saucepan, melt the butter, milk, sugar and salt together over low heat. Allow it to cool down to room temperature.
- 8 AM Mix the dough: To a large mixing bowl, add the flour and ground spices and whisk to combine. Add the active sourdough starter and the cooled butter mixture to the bowl and stir with a spatula until the ingredients are combined and there are no dry bits left in the bowl. Cover the bowl and allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
- 9 AM First rise: Perform 3 sets of stretch and folds spaced 30 minutes apart, keeping the bowl covered between sets. To perform a set, pick up the dough on one side and stretch it up and over itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this step until you have turned the bowl a full circle. After the final set, cover and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours or until it has risen by 50% in size. (See notes.)
- 12 PM Shape and Second rise: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and press it out into a rectangular shape. Spread the dried fruit evenly over the surface. Roll the dough into a log and then divide it into 12 pieces, approximately 65 grams each. Shape each piece into a ball by gathering up the sides and pinching them together. Turn the dough over so that the seam side is down on the work surface and gently form a smooth ball. Arrange them in a lightly greased glass baking dish. Cover the dish with a tea towel and let rise for 3-4 hours.
- 3:30 PM Prepare: Preheat your oven to 375°F (204°C). Beat the egg in a small bowl with the water and brush the egg wash onto the rolls. Mix the paste ingredients together until smooth and pour into a piping bag. Snip the tip off of the bag and pipe lines across the rolls to create a cross on each one.
- 4 PM Bake: Bake for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown on top. The internal temperature of the rolls should be 190°F when fully baked. Brush the top of the rolls with jelly and serve.
NOTES
- It's very important to take the ambient temperature of your kitchen into account when working with sourdough. Our recipes are tested in a kitchen that is 68°F (20°C). If your kitchen is warmer, you will need to reduce your rising time in the first and second rise to avoid over-proving the dough.
- If you'd like to prepare the dough and bake the rolls at a later time, after shaping the rolls in step 4, cover the dish with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 36 hours. When ready to bake, allow them to have the second rise at room temperature until puffy and proceed with baking.
- If using a tin baking sheet bake rolls at 400°F. Rolls can also be baked in a muffin tin for 23-25 minutes.
Jennie says
Second time round I have an excellent result. The small change I made is to let the mix sit for 40 mins before adding the salt (dissoved in a little boiling water) and leave sit for 20 mins = total 60 mins as per your recipe. Also I made up to step 4, put in the fridge, then let it on kitchen bench overnight to bake in the morning for breakfast. Well-risen fluffy buns.
Christine says
The recipe was great, and my buns tasted divine! I also used homemade crystalized citrus peel left over from Christmas, and with the orange marmalade glaze, gave them an amazing flavour! I didn't like the method of shaping the buns though...that was very tricky as the fruit kept falling out. Next time I would add the filling before the stretch and folds.
Ros says
The best hot cross buns I have tasted, so light and soft. I was wondering how they would turn out as the mixture was a little harder to work with than when I make my bread and I did let them rise about 4 hours after being in the fridge all night 😊
Thank you so much
Elizabeth says
I live in the tropics and they turned out perfect. Soft and fluffy in a glass continer.
I refrigerated mine overnight as I had no time to bake them the same day!
michele says
I followed the recipe but found that the dough was very dry and hard to work with (I double checked the ingredient quantities against the recipe to make sure I did not get anything wrong). When it came to placing the fruit on the dough and rolling it - it all started falling out and I really had to work the dough to get some to stay in place (your picture shows much less fruit than mine so maybe you used less than the one cup in the recipe?). I have made hot cross buns before using my sour dough starter but wanted to try yours because it called for much less butter. I know that my starter was lively enough because I made other products from it at the same time and they turned out fine.
Amy says
I'm sorry this recipe did not work out for you Michele.
Jacqueline Melton says
Hi Michele, I just made these babies, and it turned out so good! I actually portioned them up weighing them to about 65-66 g each, only to realisethat i actually forgot to add the dried fruit before portioning them, so I decided to just add to each one a handful of dried fruit, and it was perfect! It turned out like a pocket full of dried raisin/cranberries surprise...
BY the way, Amy suggested only half cup of dried fruit, I just winged it..
I honestly love every recipe of Little Spoon Farm. I think I have made most of your recipes. SD Cinnamon rolls, SD Englsih Muffins, SD Bagels, SD Coffee Cake, SD bread, SD flat bread SD Blueberry Muffins (Soooo Gd! )SD Pretzels, SD Foccacia, SD Choc chip Scones, SD Biscuits... Your step by step instructions are so easy to follow. I look forward to trying out more recipes.Thank you Amy.
Samantha says
Make these! Delicious !!
Christa says
Does rolling the fruit in after the first rise an integral part of the process? Many other recipes add the fruit at the beginning, but I've never attempted a sourdough hot cross bun before.
Amy Duska says
Hi Christa, you can add them during the stretch and folds if you like. I just found it easy to add them in this way and then cut the log into 12 pieces.