A fun twist on the traditional hot cross bun, this Easter Hot Cross Scones Recipe is great for cooking with kids.

Hot Cross Scones Recipe

We love Hot Cross Buns! But I try to keep Hot Cross Buns as an Easter week treat – a tradition from when I was a growing up as our family would only eat them in the week leading up to Easter Sunday.

However at this time of the year I feel like I am trying to avoid all of the Hot Cross Buns that have been on sale in the stores and bakeries for what seems like months. And they smell so divine!

Which is why it is usually about now that hot cross scones make an appearance in our kitchen on the weekends. They smell almost as good as the buns, are great for cooking with kids, make a super treat for lunchboxes or for afternoon tea…and, at least the way I see it, although they are almost the same as hot cross buns they don’t quite cross the line to break our family tradition!

You’ll find the full recipe for Hot Cross Scones in the recipe card below but here are a few hints and tips before you begin;

Scones are really easy for children of all ages to help with. My girls love mixing with their hands and making any recipes that involve dough, like these 3 Ingredient Scones or our Homemade Jam Tarts.

Hot Cross Scones Recipe for Easter. A simpler version of Hot Cross Buns, perfect for cooking with kids.

If you can source it, use freshly ground nutmeg. It provides a great opportunity for children to see what an ingredient like nutmeg looks like in its original state, and they can help to grate the nutmeg as part of the cooking experience.

Once it is ready, don’t overwork your dough too much or your scones will turn into rock cakes!

Scones should be golden brown on top when done.

Use melted chocolate to create the crosses on your scones. We prefer to use a teaspoon to dribble a little of the melted chocolate on to the top of each scone in a cross shape. You can place your melted chocolate into a piping bag but I have found that the bag is generally too hot for children to handle.

Yield: Makes 12

Hot Cross Scones Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups self raising flour, plus extra for bench
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
80 grams cold butter
¾ cup dark chocolate chips
1 ¼ cups milk, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing tops of scones
100 grams white cooking chocolate

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Sift flour into a large bowl.
Add cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg. Stir well.
Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the flour mix.
Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. I tell Bee and Bear they are ‘tickling’ the butter and flour.
Mix in the chocolate chips and the milk. It will form a soft dough.
Place the dough onto a lightly floured bench or board and gently knead it. Don’t work them too much or the scones will turn into rock cakes!
Flatten the dough with your hands to 2cm thick.
Use a circle biscuit cutter dipped in flour to cut out the scones and place them on the prepared tray about 1cm apart. If you don’t have a circle cutter just cut the dough into 12 evenly sized squares.
Brush the tops of the scones with milk and bake in oven for 10-12 minutes. The scones should be golden brown on top when done.
Melt the white chocolate according to the directions on the packet. We find the microwave the most successful way of doing this.
Use a teaspoon to dribble a little of the melted chocolate on to the top of each scone in a cross shape. If you prefer, you could put the melted chocolate into a plastic bag and pipe the crosses onto each scone. I have found that by using a spoon to add the chocolate Bear and Bee can help whereas the melted chocolate in a zip lock bag is too hot for them to handle.