It’s not Easter without hot cross buns, am I right? It’s not difficult to find vegan hot cross buns to buy – some of the supermarket varieties are accidentally vegan – but there’s nothing more satisfying than the smell of home baking and the warmth of freshly baked bread. I highly recommend making these during a relaxing day at home because the dough needs a couple of hours to proof. Believe me, it’s worth it! The generous helpings of dried fruit and sugary glaze make these buns especially cakey. They’re my favourite indulgent breakfast treat!

Ingredients for the buns:

350 g plain flour
2 tsp ground all spice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
7g yeast
50g caster sugar
100g sultanas
100g mixed peel
75g vegan margarine
200ml soya milk

For the crosses:

50g flour
Water

For the glaze:

25g sugar
30ml water

Step 1: Combine all the dry ingredients for the buns. Mix the margarine and the soy milk in a small pan over a medium heat until the mixture is warm, and gradually mix this in with the dry ingredients. If the mixture is too crumbly add more soya milk.

Step 2: Dust some flour onto a clean surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes. If you’re unsure of how to do this, YouTube has some helpful videos! Drizzle some oil into a bowl, add your dough, cover in cling film and leave in a warm place for a couple of hours. My flat is pretty cold so I just used my oven set to 30 degrees ºC. Your dough should double in size like in the photo below!

Step 3: Knead the dough for another 5 minutes. Divide into twelve pieces, roll into balls, put these onto a greased baking tray and cover it in the cling film. Leave to proof for half an hour.

Step 4: Whilst your buns are proofing mix together the flour and water for the crosses. After they’ve finished proofing, pipe the mixture onto the dough in a cross shape. If you don’t have a piping bag, try cutting the corner off a sandwich bag instead!

Step 5: Bake the buns at 200 degrees °C for 20 minutes, or until they turn golden brown. As your buns are baking, make the glaze by stirring the sugar and water together over medium heat.

Step 6: Brush your buns with the glaze as soon as they come out of the oven and again ten minutes later for extra stickiness.

Enjoy with a cup of tea and a generous blob of jam!

Jess Acton

Recipe adapted from The Vegetarian Society 

Jess is an Environmental Sustainability student, vegan and feminist. You can follow her adventures on her blog Jessthetics, and buy her sustainable handmade clothes in her Etsy shop.