Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Why settle for traditional hot cross buns when you can have chocolate hot cross buns? Soft, aromatic and filled with chocolate chips, these are the buns you need to make at Easter time. Serve them warm with lashings of butter for the ultimate treat!

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• Why this recipe works
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Why this recipe works

• They're homemade. You can't beat the taste and flavour of homemade hot cross buns. They're free from any preservatives or nasty additions, and you know they are good because you made them. Better than store-bought too! Your house will smell incredible as they are baking - trust me on this.
• They have chocolate. Do you need any other excuse? My chocolate hot cross buns recipe uses chocolate in three different ways. Firstly, I've used a good quality cocoa powder as part of the dry ingredients giving it a lovely cocoa hit. Secondly, there are chocolate chips incorporated in the dough itself. The final chocolate hit comes from the crosses used to decorate the buns.
• They're the ultimate breakfast treat. Imagine waking up to these choc chip hot cross buns on Good Friday morning! Breakfast will never be the same! Pour yourself a hot cup of coffee and make sure you have plenty of butter on hand.

What goes into this recipe

• All-purpose flour / plain flour - You can make these buns using regular all-purpose flour, but if you want to "take it up a notch", use a strong bread flour. Your buns will produce a softer crumb.
• Milk - regular full-fat milk works best. However, you can use a lower fat variety. I'm personally not a fan of skim milk or 0% milk. And yes, you can substitute it with plant-based milk. I prefer oat milk for its rich and creamy texture and flavour when used in baking.  
• Yeast - helps the buns rise. Active dry yeast needs to be dissolved in a warm liquid to be activated. If using the instant yeast variety, add it with the dry ingredients.  
• Cocoa Powder - use a good quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder. I prefer the taste of a Dutch-processed cocoa powder because it has a neutral taste when used in baking. I find that regular cocoa powder can be a little bitter. If you prefer to use raw cacao powder (which is unprocessed), be wary that it will taste a little different.
• Butter - this recipe is similar to brioche bread in that it uses butter to give the bread a certain "richness". I use unsalted butter in my baking, but you can use salted butter if that's all you have on hand.
• Chocolate Chips - I've used dark chocolate chips for this recipe with a minimum of 70% cocoa solids. I prefer to use this percentage of chocolate in my baking as I find it's not too sweet and "just right". Regular milk chocolate chips work well too.
• Sugar - for baking, I always recommend using caster sugar (superfine sugar). However, regular sugar works well too. If you prefer - substitute the white sugar with some dark brown sugar for an extra "caramel" hit.
• Mixed Spice - this is a combination of ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground cloves. This combination of spices provides an enticing spicy lift and an aromatic kick.  (Add some ground cardamom to make these extra special).
• Egg - used as a binder and along with the butter gives our chocolate dough a beautiful richness. For best results, use a room temperature egg.
• Raspberry jam for the sweet glaze. (Any flavoured jam will work - mandarin jam is another favourite!).

How to make this recipe

• Step 1: Combine the milk, yeast and sugar in a small bowl or jug and whisk until well combined. Set aside for 5 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy and the yeast has activated.
• Step 2: Using the large bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, add the flour, cocoa powder, mixed Spice, yeast mixture, melted butter and egg. Mix at a low speed for 5 minutes until you have a soft dough (it will also be a little sticky - that's fine). Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for 1.5 - 2 hours. Alternatively, you may like to use a wooden spoon to bring everything together and knead the dough on a floured surface before proofing.
• Step 3: Return the bowl to your stand mixer, add the chocolate chips and knead for 1 minute. Make sure that the chocolate chips are evenly distributed.
• Step 4: Place the dough on a floured surface and knead lightly.

• Steps 5-6: Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into 15 equal pieces.
• Step 7: Roll the dough into smooth balls and place in a lined and greased baking tray - my baking tray measured 20cm x 30cm or 8" x 12 ". Cover with a damp tea towel and allow them to proof for a further 30 minutes.
• Step 8: While the buns are enjoying their second rise, combine the flour, sugar and cocoa powder in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Place the piping mixture in a piping bag or use a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. The mixture should resemble the consistency of pancake batter for reference.

• Step 9: Preheat your oven to 180 deg C and pipe crosses along the top of the risen buns. Cook in a preheated oven for 20 minutes until the buns are cooked through.
• Step 10: Allow them to rest in the baking pan for 5 minutes and brush generously with warm raspberry jam - before removing and placing them on a wire rack to cool for a further 20 minutes. Serve the warm buns with plenty of butter.

Expert tips

• Have patience. Unlike regular Easter buns, these have cocoa in them, which slows down the initial proofing time. Leave them to rise in a warm place for an extra hour (mine took approximately 2 hours), and your patience will be rewarded.  
• As tempting as it is - DO NOT eat these straight out of the oven. Allow the buns to cool slightly and dry before biting into them!
• Use good quality chocolate chips. I can't emphasise this enough. Spend a little extra for a good quality brand. Lesser quality chocolate chips are loaded with extra sugar and fat. If you find yourself with nothing else on hand, reduce the sugar by a third.
• Experiment with different flavours. My other favourite variation on this recipe is to use a hint of orange in the filling. Add the grated orange zest to the dry ingredients along with a half teaspoon of ground cardamom. Brush the top of the buns with orange marmalade for a heavenly choc-orange hit! - this is a flavour sensation!
• Use lukewarm milk. If it's too hot, it will kill the yeast. Test this by placing your finger in the milk. If you feel it's too hot, allow the milk to cool (it should be "just warm").
• For even-sized buns, use a kitchen scale to weigh your dough. Mine weighed approximately 90 grams each.

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This post was originally published in March 2013, but was republished with additional pictures and new content in April 2022.