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Home » Gluten Free Spring Recipes

Modified: Apr 19, 2025 Published: Mar 11, 2021· Cathy Brak · This post may contain affiliate links ·

Home » Gluten Free Spring Recipes

Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns Recipe

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Hot Cross Buns are a spicy, sweet, fruit-filled Easter tradition. I like to load mine up with lots of plump raisins and currants. This gluten free version is also dairy free, except for a little butter in the icing crosses.

a broken open hot cross bun revealing plump raisins and currants
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  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • Recipe FAQ's and Tips
  • More Gluten Free Easter Recipes
  • Recipe

These gluten free hot cross buns have a lovely honey glaze. The icing for the crosses is also sweetened with honey, along with coconut oil and butter.

Ingredients

ingredients for gluten free hot cross buns in individual bowls with labels
  • Rice Flour - You may use either brown or white rice flour, but I would recommend brown if you have it.
  • Tapioca Flour - also called tapioca starch. They're interchangeable.
  • Raw Sugar - I like to use raw sugar because it's minimally processed. You may use refined sugar if you wish.
  • Butter - Butter should be soft, but not melted, for making the icing.
  • Coconut Oil - Like the butter, coconut oil should be neither liquid nor hard. It needs to be soft for the icing. I have a little trick I use if it needs some help. I melt the coconut oil. Then I set it in the fridge for a few minutes, stirring it occasionally. As it starts to turn white, it's beginning to firm up. Keep checking and stirring until it reaches that nice, soft, spreadable consistency. It doesn't take long with such a small amount.

Instructions

Soak dried raisins and currants in boiling water. Save the water; you'll need it later.

raisins and currents sitting in water in a pyrex measuring cup

Meanwhile, prepare your pan and combine the dry ingredients.

whisk in dry flour mixture in glass bowl

Drain the water from the dried fruit into a mixing bowl.

plump raisins and currants in colander over bowl of stand mixer

To the water in the mixing bowl, stir in the sugar. Check to make sure that the temperature of the liquid is no higher than 115°F (46°C). Then sprinkle yeast over it. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

yeast sprinkled over liquid in bowl of stand mixer

Beat in the eggs, half of the dry flour mixture, the oil and vinegar, and then the remaining dry flour mixture. Once it has been well mixed, stir in the drained fruit by hand.

raisins and currants being stirred into thick batter

Scoop the batter into 12 round balls and place them into the prepared pan. Let this sit in a warm place for about an hour, for them to rise.

raw hot buns in rows in pan

Bake the buns until they reach an internal temperature of 190°F (88°C). Be careful not to leave them too long, or they will become dry.

looking down on browned baked buns in pan

Allow the pan of buns to cool on a wire rack. Then, warm a tablespoon of honey and brush it over the tops of the buns.

shiny honey glaze is spread over baked buns with pastry brush

Beat the icing ingredients together until smooth.

white frosting swirled in mixing bowl

Cut a small corner off a plastic sandwich bag. The kind that zips closed is best. Put the icing inside it. Then squeeze out the icing for cross shapes over the tops of the hot cross buns.

icing is squeezed from the corner of a plastic bag to form icing crosses on the buns

Recipe FAQ's and Tips

What if I don't have a stand mixer or electric hand mixer?

You can make these gluten free hot cross buns without an electric mixer. It's just easier if you have them. Use a whisk where practical. Then stir vigorously with a big spoon when the batter becomes stiff.

What's the story behind hot cross buns?

A hot cross bun is a spiced, yeast bun with raisins or currants and a cross on top. The cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus, and the spices represent those used to embalm him at his burial. The earliest mention of hot cross buns seems to be that of a 14th century Anglican monk who made them and distributed them to the poor on Good Friday.

rows of gluten free hot cross buns with iced crossed on them sit in baking pan

More Gluten Free Easter Recipes

  • Fresh Grapefruit Salad with Apple
  • Scalloped Potatoes
  • Asparagus
  • Maple Glazed Carrots
  • Pavlova
  • Fruit Salad with Whipped Cream
gluten free blueberry muffins with text: 26 GF MUFFIN RECIPES, learn more

Recipe

several gluten free hot cross buns in rows

Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns

This gluten free version of the spicy, fruit filled bun has all the flavours of the traditional Easter favourite.
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Breads
Cuisine: Australia, Canadian, United Kingdom
Diet: Gluten Free
Keyword: Easter, Good Friday
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cooling Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes
Servings: 12 buns
Calories: 297kcal
Author: Cathy

Equipment

  • 9-inch X 13-inch (22.6 cm X 33 cm) cake pan
  • Stand Mixer
  • Hand Mixer
  • Cooling Rack
  • Pastry Brush
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Ingredients

Fruit

  • ½ cup sultana raisins
  • ½ cup dried currants
  • 1 cup boiling water

Dry Ingredients

  • 1½ cup brown rice flour OR white rice flour
  • ¾ cup sorghum flour
  • ¾ cup tapioca flour
  • 1½ teaspoons xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Yeast Step

  • ½ cup raw cane sugar
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup avocado oil
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Glaze

  • 1 tablespoon honey

Icing

  • 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil soft, but not runny
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • dash fine sea salt
  • 4½ teaspoons tapioca flour
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Pour boiling water over raisins and currants. Let it sit to soak and allow the temperature of the water to come down to 110°F to 115°F, about 15 minutes. You'll need to save the water.
  • Line a 9" X 13" (22.6 X 33 cm) baking pan with parchment paper.
  • Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
  • Add raw sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Drain the liquid from the soaking raisins and currants into the bowl with the sugar. Give it a stir or a swish to dissolve at least some of the sugar. Checking to make sure that the temperature of this liquid is no higher than 115°F, sprinkle the yeast over it, and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
  • Beat the yeast mixture in the stand mixer with mixing paddle on slow speed for a few seconds, just to blend it. Then add the eggs, and beat well.
  • Add the about half of the dry mixture to the wet. Beat together until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
  • Add the oil and vinegar. Beat. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix them in.
  • Stir the raisins and currants into the batter by hand.
  • With wet hands, shape batter into 12 balls and place, evenly spaced, into the prepared pan.
  • Allow the buns to rise in a warm place until a little bigger in size, about an hour.
  • Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 25 - 30 minutes, only until the internal temperature measures 190°F. Allow to cool completely on a rack before adding icing.

Glaze

  • Brush liquid honey over warm buns. If your honey is cold and solid, warm it, either in a saucepan over low heat, in an oven proof container in a toaster oven, or in a microwave.

Icing

  • Beat butter and coconut oil together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the honey, vanilla, and salt. Then beat in the tapioca flour.
  • Cut a small corner (¼-inch across) from a plastic sandwich bag. Transfer the icing into the bag.
  • Squeeze the icing in lines across the rows of cooled buns to form crosses. It's easier to do whole rows rather than one bun at a time.

Notes

  • Batter for gluten free dough tends to be softer than that for regular baking. You should be able to scoop the dough into little mounds to rise, but they will be very soft. 
  • Be careful not to over bake your hot cross buns, as they could become too dry.
  • The icing ingredients need to be at a warm room temperature. Both the butter and coconut oil should be soft but not runny. 
  • Although you can use white rice flour in this recipe, brown rice flour is preferable.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bun | Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 237mg | Potassium: 207mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 103IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg
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