Gluten-Free Vegan Hot Cross Bun Loaf

This Gluten-Free Vegan Hot Cross Bun Loaf is moist, fragrant, fruity and subtly spiced. It's easy to make as it's made in one bowl, yeast-free and no-knead. It's also refined sugar free, great for breakfast, brunch, dessert or a snack and perfect for Easter! It's a flexible recipe that can be adapted based on your taste preferences: for example, you can replace the raisins with chocolate chips or any other type of dried fruit!

How to make this recipe

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

• Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.

• Transfer the mixture to a one-pound loaf tin.

Tip: Line the tin with greased baking paper to make the loaf easier to remove afterwards.

How to make the cross

• Mix together the flour and the water in a small bowl until you get a smooth, fairly thick paste.

Tip: Add the water a tiny bit at a time so you don't add too much.

• Transfer the mixture into a piping bag with a round nozzle.
• Pipe the flour paste in one vertical line down the middle of the length of the loaf and then do two horizontal lines at even intervals.

• Bake in oven for around 45 minutes.

• Once out the oven, transfer to a cooling rack.

• Mix together the apricot jam and hot water.

Tip: The water is just to thin out the jam, so don't use too much!

• Use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to evenly brush the jam mixture all over the top surface of the loaf.

• Leave to cool and dry completely before slicing.

How long does this keep for?

It keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days - best reheated in the toaster!

Substitutions you can make

• You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
• You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
• You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
• You can replace the ground almonds (almond meal) with ground walnuts.
• For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds (almond meal/almond flour) with ground sunflower seeds. 
• You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you're not gluten-free.
• You can either use freshly squeezed orange juice, or orange juice from a carton.
• You can replace the orange zest with candied orange peel or 1 teaspoon orange extract.

Flavour substitutions

• You can replace the cinnamon with mixed spice (or a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves).
• You can replace the raisins/sultanas with any other dried fruit (dried cranberries, chopped dates, chopped prunes, dried mango, dried pineapple, dried papaya etc).
• You can replace the dried fruit with chocolate chips!

More gluten-free vegan bread recipes

• Gluten-Free Vegan Chickpea Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Blueberry Banana Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Irish Soda Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Almond Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Oat Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Dinner Rolls
• Gluten-Free Vegan Seeded Buckwheat Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Cornbread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Coconut Flour Bread
• Gluten-Free Vegan Walnut Bread

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I'd really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Watch how to make it

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