Nothing beats the warm, homely feel of fresh hot cross buns with melting butter on a chilly April morning. Hot cross buns are a traditional Easter treat but can be made and served anytime with butter and jam.

Here is an easy recipe that is sure to surprise your loved ones this Easter.

Ingredients

Buns:

1 ¼ cups milk, room temperature
3 large eggs, 1 separated
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons yeast
¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ¾ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 ½ cups flour
1 cup raisins

Icing:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
4 teaspoons milk
Or one pre-made, roll-out pie crust

Directions

In one bowl, combine all of the dough ingredients except for the raisins. Stir together until well mixed. Then add those raisins. Loosely cover and leave the dough in a warm, dry place to rise for about an hour. It should double in size.

Scoop out golf ball-sized chunks of dough onto a pre-greased baking pan, making sure to leave plenty of room for expansion in between. Cover them loosely again and leave to rise for another hour.

Bake at 180° for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

While they’re cooling, combine icing ingredients.

Using a piping bag (a sandwich baggie with an end cut off works just fine), make crosses on each bun, but make sure they are totally cool before doing this!

If you feel like skipping this last step, simply cut up your pie crust into thin strips and arrange them on the buns before baking.

Enjoy!