Deliciously Soft Double Chocolate Hot Cross Buns Recipe

There’s nothing quite like soft sticky hot cross buns, but have you ever had a double chocolate one? Gorgeous cocoa rich dough studded with chocolate chips and embellished with a dramatic white cross. These are next level hot cross buns.

My it’s been a long hard Winter! But at last things are starting to look brighter. The first signs of spring are hitting at the same time as an early Easter. It’s such a joy to see the spring flowers burst through and the first real warm sunshine of the year. It seems like a hopeful time.

Easter means plenty of hot cross buns and chocolate so why not combine both to get the best of both worlds! I really enjoy making hot cross buns, they’re pretty simple but there’s something magical about the soft dough, sweet spice and gorgeous shine.

I have a lot of flavour varieties on my site (just put hot cross buns in the search bar!) but these are particularly rich and decadent so I would urge you to give them a go. Plus the white cross on the dark chocolate dough is particularly striking!

lucylox

Double Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan

makes 4 large buns or 8 small buns

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Resting time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 250 g strong bread flour
• 20 g cocoa powder
• ½ tbsp dried yeast
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp mixed spice or cinnamon
• 200 ml warm dairy-free milk
• 2 tbsp dairy-free margarine
• 40 g dairy-free chocolate chips
• for the crosses:
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp water
• for the glaze:
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp water

Method

 

1. In a large bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, yeast, sugar, salt and spice. Make a well in the centre and pour in the dairy-free milk and bring together to form a dough (adding more flour if too wet, or more liquid if too dry)
2. Gradually add the dairy-free margarine in small pieces and knead in. This will enrich the dough.
3. Knead for about 5 mins until the dough is smooth
4. Place in a bowl and cover, leave in a warm place to double in size. This will take about an hour.
5. Knock back, knead again and then form into 4 or 8 even sized balls. Place well spaced on a baking sheet lined with grease proof paper
6. Leave to rise again for 20-30 minutes
7. Mix together the water and flour to make a paste and pipe onto the top of the buns in crosses. Bake at 190 degrees/Gas Mark 5 for 15-20 minutes until risen and the buns sound hollow
8. Make the glaze by dissolving the sugar in the water and boiling briefly. Brush over the hot buns.
9. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
10. These buns are best kept loosely covered or the glaze will make them go a bit soggy.