Trial and Crucifixion Story Cooking Workshop Lesson

“Hot Cross Buns”

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Children will learn about the crucifixion and make simple hot cross buns, a traditional Good Friday pastry. They will leave with one bun to share, along with the Good News that Jesus died for our sins and rose again.

There are many recipes for making hot cross buns. Essentially they are a sweet biscuit or bun with a cross drawn on it using wet flour. A simple recipe using pre-made flaky biscuit dough is used in this lesson. You can substitute your own recipe.

Scripture Reference:

John 19, Jesus before Pilate, Jesus on the Cross

Leader Preparation:

• Read the scripture and background materials ahead of time.
• Gather the materials.
• Preheat the ovens.
  
  

Materials List:

• Pillsbury ‘Grands’ original – flaky layers (2 per child, one to eat and one to share)
• Dried fruit (raisins, apples, etc. to go into the dough)
• An egg and a bit of milk (for the egg wash)
• A quarter cup of flour to make the "cross paste" to put on dough
• Vanilla frosting
• Sandwich bags to pipe flour paste and icing onto the buns
• Cookie sheets
• Spatula
• Plates
• Knives
• Napkins
• Grape juice
• Cups
• Foil to wrap extra buns for sharing

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Greet the children and introduce yourself.

Explain that, in olden times, bakers tried to make special breads to remind the people of the crucifixion. A special cross decorated the top this bread and they were called “Hot Cross Buns.” These Hot Cross buns were eaten on Good Friday as a symbol of the crucifixion.

We are going to make Hot Cross buns to remember Good Friday, and to share with a friend.

What is Good Friday? The day Jesus was killed/crucified – sometimes called "Black Friday."

Make Hot Cross Buns

• Have the kids wash their hands.
• Each child may make 2 buns, one to eat and one to share.
• Prepare the dough for baking:
  o Peel apart a biscuit into 2 or 3 layers. (The Grands separate fairly easily due to the ‘flaky layers’.) Place several pieces of dried fruit on the dough. (We used a bag of pre-cut “Sun Maid” Fruit Bits.) They can decline the fruit if they want.
  o Put the biscuit back together (don’t smash it down).
  o Place on a cookie sheet to bake (greased or ungreased – whatever the directions on your can say).
• IMPORTANT STEP! Put the cross on the hot cross buns before baking! If you want to make traditional buns, simply brush a bit of egg wash (yolk and milk) on the top of the dough (to create the bun's traditional sheen), then mix a bit of flour with water and pipe it onto the top of the dough in the shape of crosses. See helpful video below. 
  
  AFTER the buns are done baking, you can draw vanilla icing over the cross shape to make the buns sweeter. Yes, this is "doing the cross twice" but it's the key symbol in the lesson and gives you twice as many times to talk about it.
• Bake according to the directions. (Ours said 350 degrees – 14-17 minutes.) Check them early, so they don’t burn.

TIP:  Students may wish to MARK THEIR BUNS so that they get to eat/share the ones they customized with a particular fruit. If you want them to do so, you can have them "sign their dough" before baking with dots of flour paste (keep the signature very simple as there won't be much room). You can also bake buns in separate baking dishes, or mark buns with toothpicks to remember "which belong to who." 

Here's a video showing how to put the cross on hot cross buns dough:

Because you're going to read the scripture while the buns are baking, you're going to introduce the story and its key meaning as you prepare the dough for baking. One popular teaching technique in the Rotation Model's Cooking Workshop is to connect ingredients to the story such that they become like object lessons.

• Flour =  Jesus feeds our souls. Jesus is the "Bread of Life."
• Fruit = We are called to bear "good fruit" ...what does that mean? (good deeds, good attitude, good relationship with God and others)
• The Cross symbol = The flour paste we first drew on the buns was bitter, but then we made it sweet after baking by adding icing. How is that like Good Friday and Easter Sunday?  What does that say about what God wants for our lives?
• The Icing = Name some "sweet" things about what Jesus did on the cross for us?
• The Eating/Sharing = When you share your hot cross bun with someone, what will you say about it?

While the buns are baking:

Read the Scripture passage of Jesus' crucifixion story.  You may choose student Bibles or an illustrated storybook version for greater dramatic impact.

Discussion:

1. How does this story make you feel?
2. Did Jesus deserve what happened to him?
3. Could God have stopped Jesus from being hurt and killed?
4. Why didn't God stop it? What was God trying to teach us about himself and our relationship with him?
5. How does this story end? What happened to Jesus after he was dead?
6. Let's try and summarize the death and resurrection of Jesus in one sentence with as few words as possible that still make sense.

When the buns are done baking,

• Remove buns and place on plates.
• Frost a cross on top of each bun. (Put frosting in a small zip-lock baggie and cut a small wedge in one corner. Kids squeeze the frosting out the wedge. Or "paint" thin lines of frosting with a knife.)
• Say a prayer – Your own, or this one: Dear Lord, thank you for gathering us together today to learn about You. Help us to remember your sacrifice on the cross, your forgiveness of our sins, and not be afraid to share this GOOD NEWS with others. Bless this food we are about to eat. In Your name we pray, Amen.
• Serve with grape juice.

Save additional buns for sharing by wrapping them in foil.

Additional information:

• Hot Cross Buns Wiki -- history and types
• Hot cross bun photo https://commons.wikimedia.org/...x.php?curid=10391073

Original lesson posted by Rachel Haugland from Bethel Lutheran Story City, IA. Revised and updated by the Rotation.org Content Team