Hot Cross Bun Loaf (vegan)

Hot cross bun loaf - this loaf version of the classic British Easter bread is super soft, fluffy and delicious.

Made using the tangzhong method to help keep it soft for days, this vegan bread is sweet with a lightly spiced flavour and plenty of dried fruit.

The best part about any holiday or celebration is the food, and more specifically, the baked goods. Cakes and breads feel so much more special if you only consume them once a year.

My favorite Easter bake is hot cross buns, though I do also love Simnel cake, but I have a particularly weak spot for sweet enriched breads. I generally bake at least one batch of hot cross buns around Easter time every year; I decided to do something a little different this year though and baked a hot cross bun loaf using my hokkaido milk bread recipe as the base.

Hokkaido milk bread is my absolute favorite bread, it is not the easiest to make by hand as the dough is very sticky and takes a long time to knead, but it is so worth the effort (and if you own a stand mixer then it is barely any effort at all).

It is super soft and slightly sweet and it stays soft for several days, unlike most breads; though if you can actually make it last that long then you posses far more willpower than I!

It works perfectly as a hot cross bun loaf, all you need to do is add some mixed spice, orange zest and dried fruit to the basic milk bread recipe then pipe some crosses on before baking and glaze with apricot jam to give it a lovely shine.

Ingredient Details:

Bread flour: White bread flour helps to give this hot cross bun loaf it's soft, fluffy, chewy texture. Plain (all-purpose) flour will also work though the texture isn't quite the same. I don't recommend using wholemeal flour as that will make the bread too dense.

Instant/fast action yeast: I always prefer to use fast action yeast when making bread as it can just be added straight to the flour and doesn't need to be activated first.

Salt: You simply cannot make good bread without salt. Don't omit it.

Non-dairy milk: Soy milk is always my favourite for baking as it has the highest protein content so most closely resembles dairy milk. Any variety of non-dairy milk will work however, but go for an unsweetened one if you can.

Sugar: I use caster sugar in the dough as it dissolves easily; it can be swapped for granulated if that is all you have.

Vegan butter: While in most cases I only recommend using a block butter for baking, in this case a tub variety is fine as well (but not one of the low-fat ones!). I used Flora Original.

Mixed dried fruit: I use a shop bought mixture of raisins, sultanas, currants and candied peel but you can use whatever dried fruit you like, just chop it up first if you are using larger things like apricots or dates.

Mixed spice: For those of you not in the UK, mixed spice is a blend of sweet spices which is used in abundance in festive baking. It is similar to pumpkin spice but uses a different blend and is less heavy on the cinnamon. You can use any sweet spice blend such as pumpkin or apple pie spice instead.

Orange zest: This is optional but it does add flavour.

Apricot jam or maple syrup: To give the loaf it's beautiful shine, I brush it with warmed, smooth apricot jam or maple syrup when it comes out of the oven. Just use whichever one you have.

How To Make Hot Cross Bun Loaf:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Step 1: To make the tangzhong, place the flour in a saucepan and gradually whisk in the milk.

Place the pan over a medium/low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened to a paste/pudding-like consistency.

Step 2: Scrape the tangzhong into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and pour the cold milk on top.

Add sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Stir until it forms a rough dough then set the stand mixer to a medium speed and mix until the dough is smooth and stretchy.

Add the softened vegan butter and knead for about another 5 minutes until it is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer feels greasy.

Step 3: Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and place in a warm spot to rise for 1-2 hours.

Step 4: Pat the dough out into a rectangle on a floured surface. Scatter over the mixed spice, orange zest and mixed dried fruit. Roll the dough up tightly to enclose the mix-ins then knead it for a couple of minutes until they are well distributed.

Step 5: Divide the dough into six equal pieces (use a scale) and roll each one into a ball.

Step 6: Roll each ball out into a rough oval shape, fold one third of the oval over the middle, then the other third over the top to form a long, narrow packet. Roll over the seam to flatten it, then roll it up from one end to make a fat sausage. Repeat with the other balls of dough.

Step 7: Arrange the shaped balls of dough in the loaf tin in two rows of three, seam side down. Cover and leave to rise in a warm spot until at least doubled in size.

Step 8: To make the crosses, place the flour in a small bowl and gradually stir in the milk until you have a thick but pourable paste. Transfer the paste to a small disposable piping bag and snip off the tip, pipe a cross on the top of each bun.

Step 9: Bake for 40-50 minutes then brush with apricot jam or maple syrup.

Top Tips:

As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

Make sure that your yeast isn't out of date! Old yeast can lead to bread that doesn’t rise.

The amount of flour needed may vary a bit as different brands absorb different amounts of liquid and the weather can also affect it. Start with the quantity given in the recipe and add a little more as needed if the dough is too wet. This is meant to be a soft sticky dough however, so don’t add too much as that will make the bread dry.

If you want, you can give the dough it’s first rise overnight in the fridge rather than at room temperature. This breaks up the workload and gives the bread an even better flavour.

The rising time of the dough will vary depending on how warm it is; on hot days it will rise much faster than on cold ones. If you refrigerate the dough for it's first rise, the second rise will take longer than if it's first rise was at room temperature.

The best way to tell if a loaf of bread is cooked in the middle is to use a probe thermometer. It is impossible to give a one-size-fits-all baking time as ovens vary so much. The bread should be done when it reaches 90°C / 195°F.

FAQ's:

More Sweet Vegan Breads:

• Apple cinnamon pull-apart bread
• Maple pecan bread wreath
• Lemon coconut pull-apart bread
• Jamaican spice bun
• Vegan banana monkey bread
• Vegan pumpkin pecan babka
• Almond bread twist
• Vegan stollen wreath
• Vegan chocolate babka
• Plum and marzipan bread
• Apple cinnamon brioche

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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5 from 6 votes

Hot Cross Bun Loaf (vegan)

Hot cross bun loaf - this loaf version of the classic British Easter bread is super soft, fluffy and delicious.

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine British

Keyword bread

Prep Time 50 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Rising Time 4 hours hours

Servings 1 loaf

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Tangzhong

• 25 g (3 Tablespoons) white bread flour
• 140 g unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)

Dough

• 160 g (⅔ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy) cold
• 60 g (4 ½ Tablespoons) caster or granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 350 g (scant 3 cups) white bread flour
• 7 g (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant/fast action yeast
• 40 g (3 Tablespoons) vegan butter softened

Mix-Ins

• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• finely grated zest of 1 large orange
• 200 g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants and candied peel)

Crosses

• 2 Tablespoons plain flour
• about 2 Tablespoons milk
• 2 Tablespoons clear apricot jam or maple syrup to glaze

Instructions

• To make the tangzhong, place the flour in a saucepan and gradually whisk in the milk to avoid lumps. Place the pan over a medium/low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened to a paste/pudding-like consistency.
  25 g (3 Tablespoons) white bread flour, 140 g unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
• Scrape the tangzhong into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and pour the cold milk on top. This will cool the tangzhong down so that the heat doesn’t kill the yeast.
  160 g (⅔ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
• Add the sugar, salt and flour and finally the yeast. Stir until it forms a rough dough then set the stand mixer to a medium speed and mix until the dough is smooth and stretchy, this can take about 10 minutes.
  60 g (4 ½ Tablespoons) caster or granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 350 g (scant 3 cups) white bread flour, 7 g (2 ¼ teaspoons) instant/fast action yeast
• Add the vegan butter and knead for about another 5 minutes until it is fully incorporated and the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer feels greasy. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times.
  40 g (3 Tablespoons) vegan butter
• The dough should still be soft and sticky, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl cleanly. If it seems too wet then you can knead in a little extra flour, a tablespoon at a time. Be careful though, this is meant to be a soft dough and adding too much extra flour will make the bread dry. It should pass the windowpane test - stretch the dough with your hands, you should be able to stretch it to a very thin, almost transparent membrane without it tearing. This can take up to 20 minutes of kneading, especially by hand.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm, leave to rise for 1-2 hours until well doubled in size. Alternatively, place it in the fridge to rise overnight. If you refrigerate it, the following day let it come up to room temperature for about half an hour before continuing.
• Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and fold it in on itself a couple of times to knock out the air.
• On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough out into a rough rectangle. Scatter over the mixed spice, orange zest and mixed dried fruit. Roll the dough up tightly to enclose the mix-ins then knead it for a couple of minutes until they are well distributed. It will be quite sticky so use a bench scraper to help you mix it; alternatively you can mix it in a stand mixer.
  2 teaspoons mixed spice, finely grated zest of 1 large orange, 200 g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants and candied peel)
• Divide the dough into six equal pieces (use a scale) and roll each one into a ball.
• On a floured surface, roll each ball out into a rough oval shape, fold one third of the oval over the middle (from the long side, not the top), then the other third over the top to form a long, narrow packet. Roll over the seam to flatten it, then roll it up from one end to make a fat sausage. Repeat with the other balls of dough.
• Arrange the shaped balls of dough in the loaf tin in two rows of three, seam side down. Pick off any raisins that are on the surface as they will burn in the oven.
• Loosely cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm spot until at least doubled in size, this can take 1-2 ½ hours. If you press the dough gently with a finger the indentation should spring back slowly but remain visible. If it springs back quickly it needs to prove for a little longer. Preheat the oven while the dough is rising to 180°C/160℃ fan/350°F/gas mark 4.
• To make the crosses, place the flour in a small bowl and gradually stir in the milk until you have a thick but pourable paste. Transfer the paste to a small disposable piping bag and snip off the tip, pipe a cross on the top of each bun.
  2 Tablespoons plain flour, about 2 Tablespoons milk
• Bake the loaf on the lower middle shelf of the oven for 40-50 minutes until well risen and the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, the internal temperature should reach at least 90°C/194°F on a probe thermometer. Cover the bread with foil partway through baking if needed to stop it from becoming too dark.
• Gently heat the apricot jam until runny, transfer the cooked loaf to a wire rack and brush generously all over with the jam or maple syrup. Leave to cool completely before slicing.
  2 Tablespoons clear apricot jam or maple syrup to glaze