Vegan Hot Cross Buns With A Fluffy Texture

I love making plant-based versions of classic recipes, like my Vegan Pecan Pie, 2-Ingredient Fudge, or Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake. This recipe is in the same vein. Not all hot cross bun recipes are naturally vegan. Many hot cross bun recipes use one egg or butter in the batter. Some grocery stores sell hot cross buns without eggs and dairy, but the list of additives is often long and can hide non-vegan additives.

Ingredients and Substitutions

The ingredients you need to make delicious, fluffy vegan hot cross buns are:

Flour – All-purpose flour or bread flour. I didn’t try the recipe using a gluten-free flour blend, but it should work with blends containing gum. Vegan Butter – Or vegan margarine. Earth balance or at work well in this recipe. Plant-Based Milk – Soy milk works the best. It adds a fluffier texture than almond milk. Active Dried Yeast – To make the buns super fluffy. Sugar – I am using unrefined cane sugar but coconut sugar, caster sugar, or white sugar works as well. Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger – for great flavors. Orange Zest – Make sure you used untreated oranges to avoid pesticide residues. Sultanas – Also called raisins.

How To Make Vegan Hot Cross Buns

It’s very easy to make hot cross buns without eggs or dairy. It simply required a little bit of patience, like for my vegan brioche recipe or vegan cinnamon roll recipe, because the dough needs to rise two times.

Glazing

Let the hot cross buns cool down in a cooling rack for 20 minutes before glazing. To make the hot cross bun glaze, whisk apricot jam or maple syrup with water. Use a pastry brush to brush the top of each bun. Cool at room temperature for 3 hours before serving.

Serving Vegan Hot Cross Buns

You can eat these hot cross buns plain or cut halfway and spread some:

Vegan butter Peanut butter Almond butter Jam Maple syrup

Storage Instructions

These vegan hot cross buns store well for 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped in a clean towel. You can also freeze these hot cross buns and thaw them the day before at room temperature.

Allergy Swaps

If you have any allergies, you can make the following swaps.

Soy-Free: replace the soy milk with another plant-based milk like oat milk or almond milk. Gluten-Free: use a 1:1 Gluten-Free All-Purpose flour to replace the regular flour.