Hot Cross Buns – Gluten, dairy, egg, grain free

These Hot cross buns are all the spiced, warm bready delight I could have hoped for in a gluten, dairy, soy, egg, nut and coconut free bun. The secret is in the psyllium husk, which helps to give it that springy bread feel. For some reason I only developed the recipe to make 4 buns because I honestly thought, when I could make a version with other stuff in it, why would anyone need to share my everything free buns. But it turns out my family love this version the best, and even myself, who can now have eggs and coconut, actually enjoy this recipe the most. So from now on I’m going to be making a double batch, every time. Below, I will include the double batch measurements for you, in case you would like to come back and do the same! Happy hot cross bun making, i’d love to know what you think of these, and as always happy to answer any questions. If you would like to check out the gluten, dairy and grain free version you can find that here.

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4.5 from 2 votes

Gluten, dairy, soy, egg, grain free hot cross buns

Gluten, dairy, soy, egg, coconut and grain free hot cross buns. Options to make nut free as well. These give a pleasingly bready texture with the perfect amount of fruit and spice to satisfy all your hot cross bun cravings.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Course: Breakfast, celebration, easter, Snack, treats

Servings: 4 Buns

Ingredients

• 1 cup Almond meal or sunflower flour for nut free (Make your own by blending sunflower seeds to a fine flour)
• 2 Tbsp psyllium husk 
• ½ cup tapioca flour
• 1 tsp baking powder  (for grain free use 1/2 tsp baking soda)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp each ginger, nutmeg and cloves
• ½ cup almond milk (or rice milk, hemp milk for nut free)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp sweetener 
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 
• ¼ cup dried apricots (chopped)
• ¼ cup dried cranberries 

The Cross

• ⅛ cup almond meal or sunflower flour
• ⅛ cup tapioca flour
• 1 tsp of water at a time

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180°c fanbake.
• Put all the ingredients in a bowl together and mix.
• Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes so the psyllium husk can do its thing, and soak up the liquid.
• Divide the mixture into 4 (or 8 if you have doubled the mix) You should now be able to gently shape the buns with greased hands, into balls, then flatten them slightly. They can be rustic, if you handle the dough for too long it will start to stick.
• For the crosses:

  Combine the almond meal and tapioca in a bowl, add the water 1 tsp at a time, until it is a thick, but pipeable consistency. Add the mix into the end of a piping bag, with the smallest nozzle. Or into a glad bag, and just cut a very small snip off the corner. Pipe the mix over your buns to make the crosses.
• Line a square baking pan with greased baking paper. Place the buns touching one another in the middle of the pan. ( if you have doubled the mix they will take up most of the pan)
• Cook for 20 minutes (or 35 minutes if you have doubled the mix).
• The buns should be starting to turn golden on top. The ones around the edges will be well cooked, but check the buns in the middle, they might need an extra few minutes. I have found that when they are just a little softer to touch, they continue to cook after I take them out of the oven and when left to sit for a while, end up cooked through.
• Remove the whole baking paper with buns still on top, to a wire rack to cool. Don't worry about removing the paper from underneath until they are cooled properly. You can eat them warm, but give them 20 minutes to cool down a little first.
• Enjoy cut in half and spread with dairy free spread. Or toast them first in the oven before spreading.

Double The Buns:

If you would like the double the mix, I have made it easy for you here. Follow the instructions as above.

• 2 cup Almond meal or sunflower flour for nut free (Make your own by blending sunflower seeds to a fine flour)
• 4 Tbsp psyllium husk 
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 2 tsp baking powder  (for grain free use 1/2 tsp baking soda)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp each ginger, nutmeg and cloves
• 1 cup almond milk (or rice milk, hemp milk for nut free)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp sweetener 
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar 
• 1/3 cup dried apricots (chopped)
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries