This easy make ahead hot cross biscuit recipe is perfect for baking for Easter. Serve it as part of your Easter brunch or as a sweet treat before the Easter egg hunt begins! Tasty cream cheese frosting crosses are the perfect finishing touch to the flaky biscuits studded with sweet currants.
PREP TIME 20 minutesminutes
COOK TIME 15 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME 35 minutesminutes
YIELD 12biscuits
Ingredients
For the Biscuits:
3cupsflour
2tablespoonssugar
4 1/2teaspoonsbaking powder
3/4teaspoonsalt
2teaspoonslemon zest
3/4cup(1 1/2 sticks) buttercold
1/2cupdried currants
1large egg
3/4cupbuttermilkcold
For the frosting crosses:
4tablespoonsbuttersoftened
3tablespoonscream cheesesoftened
1cuppowdered sugar
1/2tspvanilla extract
Instructions
Bake the Biscuits:
Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the top third of the oven, you don't want the bottoms of the biscuits to get too dark. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk them together. Add the lemon zest and whisk it in.
Cut the cold butter into small cubes. Add it to the bowl and use your clean fingers to pinch the butter into the flour. Work quickly and lightly, you don't want the butter to melt in your fingers. Continue to pinch and stir the flour and butter with your fingers until the butter is completely incorporated and the flour starts to clump together.
Stir in the dried currants, coating them in flour will help them distribute evenly throughout the biscuit dough.
Measure the buttermilk in a measuring cup and then whisk the egg into the buttermilk. Pour the mixture into the bowl of flour. Use a fork to stir the ingredients together. Make sure there are no dry pockets of flour.
Sprinkle some flour onto a large cutting board or work surface. Pour the biscuit dough onto the flour. Rub your hands with a bit of flour so the dough doesn't stick to your fingers and then gently pat the dough together into a ball. You may need to knead it together a little but don't overwork the dough. Gently pat out the dough so that becomes a 1-inch thick circle.
Use the bottom of a drinking glass (about 3-4 inches) to cut circles of biscuits out of the dough. Place the biscuit rounds on your prepared baking sheet. Knead together the dough scraps and pat it out again. Keep cutting circles of dough until you've used everything up.
Brush the tops of each biscuit with a little more buttermilk.
Bake for 6 minutes and then rotate the pan in the oven. Bake another 5 - 6 minutes until the tops of the biscuits are golden brown.
Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool so the bottoms don't over-brown. Let cool COMPLETELY before frosting.
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting Crosses:
Add the butter and cream cheese to a medium bowl. Beat them together with a hand mixer on medium-high speed.
Add the powdered sugar and beat it into the butter mixture on low speed until smooth. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high and beat the frosting for 1 - 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
Transfer the cream cheese frosting to a ziptop baggie. Snip a tiny corner off the bag and pipe the crosses on the cooled biscuits.
Recipe Notes
Make Ahead Tips:
If you want to prepare these in advance for your Easter brunch, you can assemble the biscuit dough and cut the biscuit rounds the day before.Place the prepared biscuits on a baking tray lined with parchment and cover tightly with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out in the fridge.In the morning, unwrap the pan and brush the tops with buttermilk. Bake as directed.You can also make the cream cheese frosting the day before. Store it in an airtight container or transfer it to a piping bag and refrigerate.Then you can simply frost the crosses on top of the cooled biscuits and serve.