Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

Learn how to make gluten-free hot cross buns, made with spiced yeast dough, plump raisins, and a cross of sweet icing. These traditional buns are the perfect complement to Easter dinner. This recipe creates a small batch of 8 rolls, but it can easily be doubled if needed. Dairy-free options included in the recipe.

A plate with gluten-free hot cross buns spilling over the edges. One split to the side.

While it may be hard to find gluten-free hot cross buns for sale, that doesn't mean you have to miss out on this traditional Easter bread, full of history! You can make them right at home with this easy recipe!

If you've never had a hot cross bun, you're in for a real treat! This recipe starts with the same sweet dough used in these Gluten-Free Hawaiian Rolls, then the recipe gets jazzed up from there. These lightly sweet dinner rolls are spiced to perfection with cinnamon and nutmeg and dotted with plump raisins. Then they are topped with a touch of sweet icing. Think of them as a cross between a dinner roll, cinnamon raisin bread, and a cinnamon roll. Sounds perfect, right?

Ingredients

These rolls consist of mostly pantry items, which means you can whip up a batch anytime, not just at Easter!

Gluten-free Flour: I highly recommend Caputo Fioreglut Gluten-free Flour or Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour for this recipe.
- Caputo Fioreglut is a special Italian gluten-free flour that I use most notably in my gluten-free pizza dough, you can also read a little bit more about the flour in that post. Please note: Fioreglut does contain gluten-free wheat starch.
- Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour came in a close second in this recipe. The results were great, although slightly more dense than the rolls made with Fioreglut. Please note: Cup4Cup does contain dairy.
Psyllium husk powder: Adding psyllium husk powder to yeasted bread recipes helps them to rise a bit more and gives the bread a better structure.
Potato Flour: For this recipe, you'll want potato flour, not potato starch.
- In a pinch, you can grind plain mashed potato flakes into a powder if you have a high-powered blender, like a Vitamix.
Yeast: The yeast for this bread is rapid rise yeast. It may also be labeled as instant yeast or bread machine yeast. The benefit to this type of yeast is that it is a bit easier to work with. You don't have to dissolve it first. It can be mixed right in with the dry ingredients.
- If you only have regular yeast, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk first before adding it to the recipe.
Brown Sugar: For sweetness.
Milk & butter: For dairy-free, substitute your favorite dairy-free baking substitutes such as almond milk and canola oil or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks.
Raisins: You can also substitute currants.
Spices: Cinnamon and nutmeg, or apple pie spice if you have that on hand.

Gluten-free hot cross buns in pan, one split on a plate next to it.

Equipment

You don't necessarily need any special equipment to make these rolls but they will be much easier to make if you have a stand mixer.

The dough is mixed for 2 minutes to get it very smooth and well combined, which would be a challenge without a stand mixer. Since the dough is also pretty thick, I do not recommend using a hand mixer.

How to Make Gluten-free Hot Cross Buns

These sweet yeast rolls are shockingly easy to make! Plus the dough only requires one rise, which means these rolls will be done in under 2 hours, from start to finish!