Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Make these easy, no-knead chocolate hot cross buns this Good Friday. These soft and fluffy buns are filled with chocolate chips and topped with cocoa cross. Definitely the delicious and perfect chocolate buns for kids!

After making no-knead hot cross buns and traditional hot cross buns, I decided to add a little twist to my hot cross buns these year, by adding cocoa powder!

The chocolate hot cross bun dough is lightly spiced with a little cinnamon powder, and filled with chocolate chips. These buns are soft and fluffy. My kids super love the buns when they are freshly baked, eaten slightly warm.

What Are Hot Cross Buns?

Hot cross buns are sweet bread buns, traditionally made with spices and raisins. They have this recognizable cross on the top of the buns. These buns mark the end of Lent. Traditionally, it’s supposed to be eaten on Good Friday.

Ingredients for No-Knead Chocolate Hot Cross Bun Recipe — Ingredients for the Bread Dough. Sorry I missed the egg!

Ingredients You Will Need To Make These No-Knead Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Unsalted Butter: We will be using melted butter. You can melt the butter over a pot of hot water or in the microwave.
Whole Milk
Egg: Use medium or large sized egg, around 55 – 60g.
Instant Yeast
Caster Sugar
Bread Flour
Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder for baking use. You can use Hershey’s, or for a treat, use Valrhona cocoa powder.
Ground Cinnamon
Vanilla Extract: For a treat, you can use a better quality vanilla to add flavor to the buns, or just normal vanilla extract.
Chocolate Chips: I used the mini chocolate chips here; you can also use the normal, regular size ones.

Easy Hot Cross Buns in Pan — Before baking & after baking.

How To Make Hot Cross Buns

Making these no-knead hot cross buns are really easy! No-knead can save you a lot of energy; you just need a little more time to proof and fold the dough. I’ll say give yourself about 2 – 3 hours for a leisure bake.

Making the Dough: You will just need to add all ingredients according to sequence, mix it well and set the dough aside to proof. It’s that easy!
First Proof: Set dough aside, covered, for about 15 mins. Then, flip the dough over and fold in from 4 directions. Flip the dough back and proof again.
Second Proof: Set dough aside, covered, for about 20 mins. We will then do the second folding of dough.
Last Proof: Rest the dough covered for about 15 mins.
Making the Buns: Divide the dough into 9 portions. Round the dough and set aside to proof for 8 – 10 mins. Finally, bake in preheated oven at 190C for 15 – 20 mins.

How Do These Chocolate Hot Cross Buns Taste Like?

For me, these buns taste a little like brioche bread – with slightly denser crumbs and a rich chocolate taste. Don’t omit the chocolate chips, so you get the melty chocolate taste in your mouth!

If you were to store the buns overnight, it may turn a little dry the next day, just like usual homemade bread. I think that it’s not too bad, given it’s a no-knead recipe. So yes, you definitely can make this ahead. Or, you can make these buns in the morning for your tea break!

Extra Hot Cross Bun Baking Tips

I did not glaze the hot cross buns here. If you prefer a glossy look, you can apply egg wash to the bun dough before piping the cocoa topping.

Also, for a more uniform size, you might want to weigh the dough individually when dividing them. I simply just estimate and divide into 9 portions.