Can You Freeze Hot Cross Buns?

4 minutes

Is it the time of year when hot cross buns are everywhere and you’ve ended up buying far too many? Well, you don’t have to throw them out! Freeze them!

How To Freeze Hot Cross Buns

When freezing these delicious treats, you can freeze them after baking or before baking. Let’s take a look at how.

How to Freeze Baked Hot Cross Buns

This method is perfect if you have more hot cross buns than you can eat before they go stale. Or you can make up a batch and bake them before freezing.

Then you can grab a bun and toast it right from frozen whenever you need an easy afternoon snack.

1. Cool: Allow any home-baked hot cross buns to cool completely before freezing.
2. Cut in Half: If you plan to toast the hot cross buns from frozen, you should cut them in half before freezing.
3. Wrap: Wrap each hot cross bun individually in cling film. You want to ensure they are sealed tightly and protected from the air.
4. Bag Up: Prepare a large freezer bag by labelling it with the date and contents. Pop each wrapped bun into the bag.
5. Freeze: Seal the bag and freeze. This method ensures you can grab out just one bun at a time if you need.

How to Freeze Unbaked Hot Cross Buns

If you want to freeze unbaked hot cross buns so that you still get the excitement (and odour) of freshly baked buns, then use this method: 

1. Make and Shape: Prepare your hot cross bun dough as usual. Shape and add the crosses as you normally would. Just don’t add any glaze or wash to the top of the buns.
2. Wrap: Wrap each bun individually in non-stick parchment paper.
3. Wrap Again: Add a layer of cling film to each bun.
4. Bag Up: Pop each individually wrapped bun into a freezer bag.
5. Freeze: Label the freezer bag with the contents and the date, then put it into the freezer to freeze.

You must be careful with how you place and handle the bag until the hot cross buns are frozen. They will become misshapen if you aren’t careful, so place them in the bag and into the freezer.

3 Tips for Freezing Hot Cross Buns

Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing hot cross buns to have the best results:

Slice in Half
Generally, you will toast hot cross buns before eating them. To make it easier to defrost and toast, slice them in half beforehand so you can throw them directly into the toaster. 

Try Freezing Shaped Dough
If freezing hot cross bun dough, shape it into buns before freezing. This makes it far quicker to bake. 

Airtight is Key
Air, as often is the case, is the enemy of frozen buns. Ensure you wrap them tightly and then store them in thick freezer bags to keep the air out. 

How Long Can You Freeze Hot Cross Buns?

Unbaked or baked, you should be fine to freeze hot cross buns for up to 6 months. Plenty of time to get around to eating those leftovers or to plan for a tasty treat occasionally.

You do need to ensure that they are kept airtight during this time, or they will end up with that freezer-burnt taste.

How Do You Defrost Hot Cross Buns?

The best thing about frozen baked hot cross buns is that you don’t need to defrost them at all! You can pop them under the grill or into the toaster and toast them right from frozen.

For unbaked hot cross buns, you need to allow them to defrost and prove before baking. Just grab them out of the freezer, pop them onto a baking tray.

Cover the buns with a damp tea towel and pop them in a warm place in the kitchen for a few hours before baking as normal.

Can You Refreeze Hot Cross Buns?

We wouldn’t recommend refreezing any baked hot cross buns once they have been thawed out.

The quality won’t be the same, and nobody wants their favourite Easter to treat ruined!

There is an exception to this when it comes to unbaked hot cross bun dough.

You can defrost and bake the dough, and then once the baked hot cross buns have cooled, you can pop the finished result into the freezer using the abovementioned method.

Do Hot Cross Buns Freeze Well?

Hot cross buns do freeze well.

Baked goods often do, and these sweet treats are no different. If you taste right from frozen, you shouldn’t notice too much at all.

You may find that if you defrost the buns first, the texture may be slightly soggier than the texture would be with fresh buns.

FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing hot cross buns or hot cross buns in general, then these may help: