These Vegan Spiced Banana Hot Cross buns are a fun twist on the classic Easter treat: full of sweet banana flavour and warming spices. Get the recipe below.
An Easter staple
Lent is the period that comes before Easter. It's a time to remember Jesus' sacrifice when he went into the desert to pray and fast for the 40 days before he then died on the cross.
To mirror Jesus' fasting, it's not uncommon to give something up during Lent, and often people choose things like sweet treats, chocolate or alcohol.
When Lent comes to an end, people can break their "fast" and celebrate Easter! In the UK that's where hot cross buns come in!
Hot cross buns are a soft, sweet, spiced fruit bun that's decorated with a white cross. These simple buns are packed full of fruit as well as symbolism! The cross on top represents the cross on which Jesus was crucified and the spices are meant to represent the spices that would have been used to embalm him when he was buried.
Easter wouldn't be without hot cross buns (though I do find it weird that you can now buy them practically all year round). It's also now common for shelves to be packed with hot cross buns in all different flavours. That's why I've decided to put my own spin on the classic recipe and make banana spiced hot cross buns.
This banana variety of bun has a really subtle, sweet banana flavour which is complemented by the caramel-like coconut sugar. The spices then give a real warmth. Flavour aside, you can expect really light, fluffy, fruit studded buns.
How to make spiced banana hot cross buns
Adding the spices
It wouldn't be a hot cross bun if it wasn't packed full of spices. I've tweaked the spices I'd usually add so that they work even better with the banana flavour.
In this recipe you'll find cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. They are added right at the start when you're mixing the four, sugar and yeast.
Adding banana to hot cross buns
The genesis for this recipe really came from the fact that I had a bunch of overripe bananas. I could of course make banana bread or even brownies but I wanted to do something a bit more fitting to the season.
It being lent, I thought it would be a good time to practice not being wasteful.
Making hot cross buns is much like making any other enriched bread dough. If you're familiar with making bread then you will be pretty comfortable with the recipe.
The only deviation from the normal method of making buns is the addition of the overripe banana. Think of the bananas as a vegan alternative to the egg you'd also often find in an enriched dough. But, the best bit about using banana is that it makes these hot cross buns extra soft and fills them with the beautiful sweet flavour of banana.
The mashed banana goes in at the same time as the rest of the fruit, after the first proof. You then shape the dough and leave it to puff up again before baking. It's that easy.
Adding the cross to the top of the hot cross buns
Before baking you need to add the cross to the top of the buns. This is actually just flour and water thick enough to be piped over the buns and hold its shape.
Baking the hot cross buns
Once the buns are made and the cross added, pop them in your pre-heated oven. They'll take just 20 - 25 minutes and will smell AMAZING as they bake. Do you think you can wait that long?
The recipe
Vegan Spice Banana Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
For the dough
- 250 g soy milk or other plant milk
- 50 g vegan butter block not spreadable
- 450 g strong white bread flour
- 50 g coconut sugar
- 10 g fast action dried yeast
- 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon
- 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 0.25 teaspoon ground cloves
- 75 g mixed dried fruit
- 1 banana mashed to a pulp
For the crosses
- 100 g plain flour
- 50 ml water
For the glaze
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon hot water
Instructions
- In a small pan, heat the milk with the butter until the butter has melted and the mix begins to steam.
- Once it begins to steam, immediately take this off of the heat and place to one side.
- In the meantime mix the flour, yeast, sugar and spices in a large bowl and place to one side.
- Check that the milk and butter is still warm to the touch and pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and bring together into a ball of dough with your hands.
- Turn the ball of dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the ball is smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with cling film or a tea towel to prove in a warm place for roughly 1 hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.
- After the initial prove, stretch the dough out until flat.
- Cover the dough with ⅔rds of the mixed peel and the banana.
- Knead the dough for roughly 5 minutes to incorporate the layers of fruit into the dough. The banana will have made it sticky.
- Line a large oven dish with grease proof paper.
- Cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces and roll into smooth balls.
- Place the 8 balls into the oven dish allowing room for them to grow and spread.
- Again, cover with either cling film or a tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove for a further 30-45 minutes.
- Once the dough has increased in size again, pre-heat your oven to gas mark 5 / 180C.
- Before baking, make a paste with the plain flour and water. It should be stiff enough to pipe
- Add the paste into a piping bag and pipe crosses on top of the buns.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Just before the 20 minutes is up, mix the maple syrup and hot water together.
- Take the buns out of the oven when the 20-25 minutes is complete and brush the buns with the maple glaze.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack before eating.
Nutrition
Serving suggestions
Serve cut in half and toasted with vegan butter.
More hot cross bun recipes
More Easter recipes
In my Easter recipe collection you'll find everything from Easter cakes and bakes to all you need for a delicious Easter lunch. Get the recipes here.
Leave a Reply