Vegan Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns (With Caramel Sauce)

Follow this step-by-step recipe to make homemade Vegan Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns that are beautifully soft and satisfyingly squishy. Sprinkled throughout with chocolate chunks, brushed in a sweet and sticky glaze and served with an easy vegan salted caramel dipping sauce.

Traditional hot cross buns are not usually vegan, since they often contain milk, butter and eggs. We’ve veganised this classic British recipe to create plant-based hot cross buns that are even softer and fluffier than a traditional version.

We use plain flour instead of bread flour to give a much lighter finish to these hot cross buns. We’ve also swapped out the raisins for chocolate chips to create vegan chocolate chip hot cross buns that have little pockets of melted chocolate throughout.

Dip your buns in our popular easy vegan caramel sauce and you’ve got yourself an extra special treat this Easter!

Quick Links:

• The written recipe
• Success tips
• Step by step instructions
• FAQs
• Other delicious vegan bakes like this one

Success Tips for making Vegan Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

1. Check your yeast.
   1. First, check the expiry date on your dried yeast to make sure it is in date.
   2. Secondly, we always recommend ‘proofing’ your yeast before making your buns. Proofing involves adding the yeast to warm liquid with a little bit of sugar to see if it goes frothy. By doing this. you are confirming that the yeast is active and is going to rise your dough. Whilst it’s not technically necessary for instant yeast, we always think it’s better to do this step and be sure, than to waste time and ingredients using bad yeast.
2. Use a stand mixer. The dough for this recipe is quite wet and sticky, which helps to create the most beautifully light and soft buns when baked. This means that it’s best to mix the dough using a stand mixer, otherwise you’d need to add too much extra flour to make the dough workable by hand (and this would result in a drier, denser and less enjoyable bun).
3. Don’t use too much extra flour. Once the dough has been mixed and kneaded in the stand mixer you’ll need to turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 12 pieces. To do this you will need to sprinkle the dough in a little flour to make it workable (so it doesn’t stick to your hands too much). Keep this added flour to a minimum (we tend to use around 2 tbsp extra flour during this step) so that the dough remains soft and slightly sticky, which will produce a more moist and fluffy bun when baked.
4. Don’t rush to bake. Give your buns time to rise properly in a warm place until they double in size. Bake too soon and the buns will not be as big, soft and fluffy as they should be.
5. Cooling and enjoying. Allow the buns to cool to a warm temperature before enjoying (i.e. they’re better warm than hot). Enjoy the same day for the best results, or if you’re eating them the day after baking, we recommend toasting them and spreading them with vegan butter.

How to make these Vegan Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns

Here’s how to make these salted caramel and chocolate hot cross buns:

Ingredients

Dairy free milk. We tend to use almond milk in baking but soya also works well. Aim for the milk to be around 40°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, dip your finger in and if it feels warm but not hot (similar to the temperature of a bath) then it should be about right.

Dried yeast.

Sugar. We recommend caster sugar or granulated sugar for this recipe.

Plain flour (all purpose flour). You can substitute for strong white bread flour in this recipe but the result will not be as light and fluffy, and it may take longer for the dough to rise (prove).

Salt.

Dairy free margarine. You want to melt this and then let it cool to room temperature.

Dairy free milk chocolate. You can either use vegan chocolate chips or a dairy free chocolate bar cut into small chunks.

Dairy free cream. We use Alpro soya cream for making our vegan caramel. If you like the flavour of coconut, you could use coconut cream (just the thick white bit from the top of the tin, not the clear liquid underneath).

Soft light brown sugar. Use soft light brown sugar for making your vegan caramel. Alternatively you can substitute with coconut sugar.

Equipment

You’ll need to use a stand mixer with a dough attachment to make these vegan chocolate hot cross buns, because the dough will be too sticky to knead by hand.

Step-by-step

Make sure to head to the recipe card below for the full recipe and instructions for making these vegan hot cross buns!

1. Gather together your ingredients. Proof your yeast by adding it to a jug with the warm milk and 1 tsp of sugar. Set it aside for 5-10 minutes to go frothy.
2. COMBINE. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer (flour, salt and 50g sugar) and stir to combine. Make a well in the flour and add the wet ingredients (frothy yeast/milk mixture and melted butter/margarine).
3. MIX. Turn the mixer on low, with the dough hook attached. Once the ingredients have combined, turn the mixer up to medium speed for 6 minutes. The resulting dough will be wet and sticky but should slide off of the dough hook quite easily.

4. 1ST RISE. Cover the mixer bowl with eco-cling film or a damp tea towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm spot until double in size (approx 1 hour).

5. SHAPE.  Once doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top and shape it into a log. Cut the log into 12 pieces (roughly the same size).

Note: The dough will be wet and sticky. Add more flour as needed to make the dough workable but try to keep this to a minimum – the softer and sticker the dough, the lighter and moister your buns will be. For reference, we use around 2 tbsp of extra flour during this and the next step.

6. Add chocolate. Flatten one piece of dough and sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top (around 1 tbsp of chocolate chips per piece of dough). Fold the dough in on itself to contain the chocolate chips inside and shape it into a ball. Place it, fold side down, in a lightly greased baking dish. Repeat with the remaining 11 pieces of dough.

Note: We use a baking dish 35cm x 22cm for all 12 hot cross buns, or two dishes 26cm x 16cm with 6 buns in each. Sizes don’t need to be exact, just somewhere in this region.

Note: At this point, if you prefer, you can put your buns in the fridge in their baking dish (covered in eco cling film) and bake them the next day. The 2nd rise (next step) will likely take around 2 hours from the point at which you take the buns out of the fridge, rather than 30-45 minutes.

7. 2ND RISE. Cover your shaped buns with eco cling film and set them aside to rise again for a second time, for 30-45 minutes until roughly doubled in size.

8. PIPE CROSSES. Turn on your oven to preheat to 180°C fan (200°C conventional / 400°F / gas mark 6). Mix together flour and water to make a white paste and pipe this paste into crosses on top of the hot cross buns. If you don’t have a piping bag and small round nozzle then add the paste to a sandwich bag and snip the corner off to create a small hole.

9. BAKE. Bake the buns in the preheated oven for around 18 minutes until golden brown on top.

10. GLAZE. As soon as they are out of the oven, brush them with maple syrup or in a sugar glaze (2 tbsp sugar mixed with 2 tbsp hot water).

11. MAKE THE DIPPING SAUCE. To make the salted caramel dipping sauce, add the brown sugar to a saucepan with a dash of cream and let it boil for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the cream, stir and boil until thickened (around 15 minutes). Allow to cool and add a pinch of salt to taste.

FAQs

Can I make these vegan chocolate hot cross buns in advance?

Hot cross buns (as with most homemade breads) are best eaten fresh. You can, however, make the dough in advance.

Complete the 1st rise of the dough and divide the dough into 12. Add the chocolate chips, roll the dough into 12 balls and place them in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover the dish in eco-cling film and place it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, take the dish out of the fridge and complete the 2nd rise by placing the dish in a warm place and letting the dough double in size. Because the dough is chilled, it will take longer than if the dough was at room temperature for the buns to double in size (around 2 hours rather than 30-45 minutes). Once doubled in size, bake as per the recipe.

How long do these Vegan Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns last?

These vegan chocolate hot cross buns are best eaten on the same day that they are baked. If you want to enjoy them the day after, we recommend cutting them in half, toasting them and serving them with vegan butter or vegan chocolate spread.

Loved these Vegan Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns? Here are some more delicious vegan bakes to try:

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The Written Recipe: