Breakfast? Dessert? Sweet Easter Dinner Roll? This Balanced Bun Checks All the Boxes

The traditional Easter treat is soft, airy, and marked with a signature cross of icing on top.

Raisins and powdered sugar add a touch of sweetness to the buns. Joe Keller/TNS

For a light and airy, slightly sweet Easter bun, we added plumped raisins to a simple, water-based yeasted dough and gave it plenty of time to rise. Butter and eggs added richness, and an egg wash gave the buns a gorgeous golden-brown sheen once baked. To decorate our baked buns, we opted for a simple icing, which we piped in long continuous stripes across the rows to create a traditional cross atop each bun.

Hot Cross Buns

Note: You can use either regular or golden raisins in this recipe. The buns can be served warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 buns

For the Buns