Hard to tell without knowing what you DID do...
They look good to me!! I'd eat one!!
Linda C

In England, the cross is made with flour/water paste and put on before baking. Can't help you without seeing your recipe.

Here's a link for a recipe so you can compare it with yours.

Here is a link that might be useful: BBC good food site

Any suggestions for a "no-fail" recipe for these/ I've actuall ynever made them, but since I am on a baking kick I figured what the heck, I will give them a shot for Easter...

Alexa

Here's my favorite.

Hot Cross Buns with Dried Sour Cherries

Yield: 16 buns

For Buns:
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Grated zest of one lemon
1/4 cup warm water
2 packages (1/2 ounce or 4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 whole egg plus 2 egg yolks
3 1/3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, plus more for kneading
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried sour cherries
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Melted unsalted butter for pan and brushing
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon milk (glaze)

For Icing:
1 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons milk, heated

Buns:
Combine 5 tablespoons of the sugar, the milk, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and lemon zest in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the milk is hot and the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl. Let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, combine the warm water with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk the whole egg, the egg yolks, and the yeast into the cooled milk.

In another bowl, stir together the 3 1/3 cups flour and the salt. Add the yeast mixture, stirring until a sticky dough forms. Stir in the sour cherries and pistachios. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or countertop and knead until smooth and elastic, 10 to 15 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle with a little more flour.

Transfer to a lightly buttered bowl and brush the surface with a little melted butter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Punch down and knead briefly. Re-cover and let rise a second time, about 30 minutes. Punch the dough down again and knead briefly. Divide into quarters and divide each quarter into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball and place in a lightly buttered 9-by-13-inch pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise a final time until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the buns with the egg glaze. Bake until golden brown and the buns sound hollow when rapped on the bottom, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Icing:
Combine the confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon warm milk in a bowl. Stir until smooth, adding another 1 teaspoon milk if needed to achieve a smooth consistency. Spoon into a pastry bag or a lock-top sandwich bag, seal, and snip off the tip of one corner. Squeeze the icing from the bag, piping a cross over each cooled bun. Serve the buns at room temperature.

Note: sometimes I use chopped candied fruit, instead of the dried cherries.

Nancy

Ooooh Hot Cross Buns... almost time to make some for Easter. Thanks for the reminder. By the way, your buns look good to me.

Al

Yup, clairdo, they look good to me too, I'd eat one. So what did you do and what was your recipe and how were they a "little heavy"? As in too dense, or didn't rise enough?

Nancy, thanks for that recipe. I detest candied fruit, at least the commercial stuff, but I love dried cherries. Yum...

Annie

Oh Yum! they sure look good to me!

My recipe is similar to Nancy's but I use a dried blueberry, cranberry, cherry mix. I don't liked candied fruit either.

Actually if I recall correctly I made these as part of our Dried Fruit Cook a Long thread, must have been one of the first ones.

I made some a couple of days ago, I should have posted a picture because my hot cross blobs would have made you feel good about yours. I forgot to add the melted butter to mine. Do you think you forgot an ingredient? Mine were blobby because I tried adding the butter after the first rise. Bad idea. We still ate them even though they were ugly and heavy. Anyways, I think they may be fussy because in the past when I made them they were always hit and miss.

I am going to try Martha Stewart's or Nigella Lawson's. It's a toss up right now. Or maybe I should try them both?

When I made them last year, they looked like yours (good), but heavy. Can't remember whose recipe I tried, but it was neither of these two ladies. I even looked at the BBC site to see if something caught my fancy as well. Will report back how mine turns out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hot Cross Buns

As promised. I tried Martha Stewart's recipe which I posted above, and these came out perfect! They're soft, moist, delish and well worth the effort.

I baked mine (convection) and lowered heat setting from 350 to 300, for about 20 minutes. I don't know how she got 24, but I got 16. Maybe my "buns" were bigger than hers? LOL

Sorry. Couldn't resist!