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A person holds a tray of freshly baked, shiny hot cross buns. The buns are golden brown with white icing crosses on top and are arranged neatly on a baking sheet.

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Chocolate Hot Cross buns are an Easter must have with a bit of a twist! These ones are littered with chocolate chips!
5 from 4 votes
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Total 3 hours 20 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine British
Servings 8
Calories 544 kcal

Ingredients

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

  • 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) milk warm
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) unsalted butter melted
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp (9 g) instant dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup (105 g) caster sugar
  • 4 cups (600 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp all spice
  • 2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup (25 g) cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cups (300 g) chocolate chips

Flour Paste

  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 3 tbsp water

Glaze

  • 1/2 cup (125 ml) apricot jam or orange marmalade warm

Instructions
 

Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

  • Add the butter and milk into a microwave safe bowl or jug and microwave until the butter has melted or it becomes warm. Add the egg and whisk until well combined.
  • Add the yeast, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, all spice, cinnamon and salt into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and mix until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes if using a stand mixer. If you’re kneading by hand, dust your workbench with some extra flour and kneed for 5 minutes until smooth. Place the dough back into a lightly oiled dough and cover. Allow to rise in a warm spot for 1 hour.
  • Once rise, uncover the bowl and punch the dough down to deflate it. Transfer to your workbench and stretch out slightly. Add the chocolate chips on top and knead into the dough until they’re all evenly distributed. Split the dough into 8 pieces. I found the best way to get evenly sized buns is to weight all the dough first, then divide that number by 8. To form into little balls, gather each piece into a ball by pinching it together, than roll to form a dough by cupping the palm of your hand against your workbench.
  • Place the dough balls smooth side up on a lightly oiled baking tray. Spray the top with oil spray and allow to rise for another 30 minutes.
  • Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F.

Flour Paste

  • Add the flour and enough water (roughly) 5 tbsp) to form a paste. Transfer to a piping bag and snip the end off. Pipe crosses onto the buns.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until the crosses look a little golden.

Glaze

  • While the buns are baking, warm up your jam or marmalade in the microwave and once the buns have baked, brush with glaze. Serve warm with some salted butter.

Video

Notes

Serving suggestion
These hot cross buns are delicious when sliced in half, toasted and served with butter and pinch of salt or Nutella!
Storage
Hot Cross Buns can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days and reheated in the oven on the same temperature for 7-8 minutes. They’re also really delicious when they’re toasted!

Nutrition

Calories:544kcal | Carbohydrates:80g | Protein:11g | Fat:17g | Saturated Fat:10g | Polyunsaturated Fat:1g | Monounsaturated Fat:2g | Trans Fat:1g | Cholesterol:45mg | Sodium:200mg | Potassium:210mg | Fiber:4g | Sugar:25g | Vitamin A:360IU | Vitamin C:1mg | Calcium:118mg | Iron:4mg
Keyword Brioche, Chocolate, easter
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