These chocolate hot cross buns are a delicious chocolate twist on the classic Easter treat. They're super soft, gently sweet, with a slight spice flavor and speckled with little chunks of chocolate. What more could you need?!
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Growing up in the UK, hot cross buns have always been a core part of the run up to Easter food-wise for me. And our time in Australia let me see they are just as big there (if not with an even longer season on the shelves, possibly!)
I've seen them in stores in the US as well since living here, but can never bring myself to buy them as they just don't look right with the frosted cross on them in my mind (sorry to any who like them that way). So, I try to make them now and then, which are likely better in any event.
Last year I shared my hot cross bread and butter pudding which is a delicious way to use up leftovers. This year I decided to change up the traditional with these chocolate rolls. As my eldest son says, he liked hot cross buns, and he loves chocolate, so of course they're delicious.
Origins of hot cross buns
Hot cross buns have been around for many centuries and as a result the exact origins are a little unclear. Some believe they have pre-Christian origins, others argue they eloved in Medieval times.
One popular origin is the English monk Thomas Rocliffe who created the Alban bun in 1361 to distribute to the poor on Good Friday, also known as the day of the cross. The buns were scored with a cross on top to represent the crucifixion. These, or potentially another earlier Medieval bun are generally seen as the precursor to the modern hot cross bun.
Over the centuries, hot cross buns have become a staple for Good Friday and Easter. As well as the cross, they use ingredients like sugar and butter that were not allowed during Lent and spices and fruit that are often added for festive occasions (as in Italian panettone).
These days, the window for enjoying them is ever longer, which while maybe doesn't keep with the original spirit, but does allow you to enjoy the tasty flavors that bit more. And this chocolate version is sure to appeal to any dried fruit skeptics as well as fans of the original.
Making these is much like other bread or bun recipes, in that you mix the ingredients, knead and let the dough rise. Knock back, form into buns then let rise again. Then as with most British-style hot cross bun recipes, you make a flour paste to pipe on the crosses before baking.
Ingredients in chocolate hot cross buns
These come together with a pretty common set of ingredients:
- Flour - regular all purpose/plain flour works well here. You can use bread flour but it's not strictly needed in my mind.
- Yeast - here I use instant yeast and mix in with the dry ingredients, but you could also use active dry and bloom it in the gently warm milk.
- Milk and butter - you gently warm these together to melt the butter, together they add richness, flavor and the liquid to bring everything together.
- Cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg - you don't necessarily need all of these but I like the mix of warm spices as I would use in plain hot cross buns. But I'd say use at least the cinnamon.
- Cocoa powder - this adds a little chocolate flavor and the lovely color to the dough.
- Egg - this adds richness to the dough. You also keep a little back to add as a glaze before baking to help give a slight shine.
- Sugar - these are only gently sweet, but a little offsets the slightly bitter cocoa powder.
- Chocolate chips - these really make the buns special, so don't skip them! You can use dark, bittersweet or milk chocolate chips as you prefer. Here I used a mix of dark and bittersweet - to me those two have a better chocolate flavor.
- Vanilla extract - just a little helps add to the flavor.
If you like, you can also add in some raisins to make these a little more like traditional hot cross buns, though they are also delicious without (and work well for those who are less of a fan). Other ways to vary these would be to add in some citrus zest, particularly orange which pairs well with chocolate.
A double dose of chocolate
These have both cocoa powder in the dough and chocolate chips mixed through so you get a double dose of chocolate flavor! I have also added some cocoa powder to the flour paste you use to make a chocolate cross with that lovely dark color. Though if you prefer more of a contrast, you could stick with the more traditional flour and water paste.
I'd flag one slight watch out on the chocolate chips. I know some people add the chocolate chips after the first rise, as you knock back the dough and form them in to buns. The advantage of that is you avoid accidentally melting some of the chocolate (as I have been known to do) if you do as I did and speed up the rise placing the bowl in an off but slightly warmed oven.
The downside of adding the chocolate chips later like that, though, is I feel you risk overworking the dough after it's first rise. It can be tricky to get the chocolate chips to distribute well. Adding later can impact how they rise the next time, or you simply don't spread the chocolate out as much.
Really, do as you prefer, but I think even with the odd chocolate streak, on balance I prefer adding them earlier. If you do accidentally melt the chocolate, just be sure to handle the dough as little as possible to make sure you retain chunks inside the buns.
Storing leftovers
This recipe makes a relatively small batch so they are easier to get through. Of course, if you have a larger crowd then feel free to increase to make more. They are at their softest when just made, but they do keep for a couple days.
If like us, you are a smaller group and don't get through all at once, even with a small batch (willpower!), then store leftovers in a sealed container at a cool room temperature. They will keep for a couple days, gradually getting slightly drier but still soft and tasty.
While I find they are still good as they are after a couple days, if you like you might want to toast them and spread with a little butter if you feel they are a little dry. It will also help make the chocolate a little gooey again!
These chocolate hot cross buns are a delicious twist on the classic, perfect for the chocolate fans (which after all is a big part of Easter, too). They're gently sweet, with a lovely soft texture and while you'd be forgiven for missing the slight spice, it helps make them that bit more flavorful. One tasty treat, that's thankfully easy to make too.
Try these other tasty sweet bakes:
- Swedish cardamom buns (soft, gently sweet with lovely cardamom flavor)
- Lemon madeleines (lovely light cake-like cookies)
- Baklava (a lovely layered treat with flaky pastry, nuts and a sticky drizzle)
- Plus get more British recipes and snack recipes (both sweet and savory) in the archives.
Chocolate hot cross buns
Ingredients
- 180 ml milk or a little more, if needed
- 42 g unsalted butter
- 315 g all purpose flour plain flour
- 66 g sugar
- 7.5 ml instant yeast or can use active dry, see notes
- 18 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2.5 ml salt
- 5 ml ground cinnamon
- 1.25 ml ground allspice
- 1.25 ml ground nutmeg
- 110 g dark chocolate chips or semi sweet
- 1 egg
For paste to pipe crosses
- 22.5 ml all purpose flour
- 15 ml unsweetened cocoa powder
- 30 ml water
Instructions
- Gently warm the milk and butter together so that the butter dissolves, but don't warm any more than that - it should just be lukewarm. Set aside. (If you choose to use active dry yeast, sprinkle it on the milk and leave for around 5 minutes to bloom).
- Place all of the dry ingredients in a medium-large bowl - the flour, sugar, yeast, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Mix them together with a whisk or spoon so everything is well distributed.
- Gently whisk the egg in a small bowl and remove 15ml (1 tablespoon) and set aside in a small dish for later. Add the milk-butter mixture and the rest of the egg (ie all apart from the small amount you removed) to the flour mixture and mix in well. Bring the mixture together into a ball. It will be relatively soft but shouldn't be overly sticky. If it feels dry, add a small splash more milk.
- Transfer the dough to a clean surface, lightly dusted with flour, and knead the dough for a few minutes until it feels smooth. If it's too sticky, add a little flour, but try not to add too much so it stays soft. Stretch open out the dough and add the chocolate chips, then fold over and knead to mix the chocolate through. Don't worry that the chocolate may fall out here and there, just keep pressing it back in. Once it seems fairly well distributed, bring the dough into a ball, place in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to double in size, roughly one hour.
- As the dough is nearing being double, lightly oil a baking dish around 10in x 7in (25cm x 18cm). Uncover and gently knock back the dough then divide it into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a rounded ball and place them next to each other in the baking dish with slight gaps between them. Cover and leave to rise again, around 30 - 40 minutes - they won't necessarily double but should look puffed up.
- Near the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder and water for the crosses into a paste. Place this in a piping bag and pipe crosses over the top of the buns - you can do this as long lines, just make sure you allow it to go up and down the mounds. You almost definitely won't need all of the paste, but it works best to have a little more to make it easier to pipe.
- Brush the tops of the buns with the reserved egg from before (if it feels too thick or not enough, you can thin with up to a tablespoon of milk). Then, bake for approximately 20 minutes until the tops of the buns are golden brown and slightly crisp. Allow to cool a few minutes before enjoying warm, or allow to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
I used this rectangular baking dish for this recipe which was a great fit.
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