“Good Friday comes this month, the old woman runs, with one or two a penny hot cross buns…” was written in Poor Robin’s Almanac in 1733, marking one of the first definitive representations of the sweet annual tradition within the United Kingdom.
The spiced and saccharine Easter saviour and the baked good we most look forward to consuming with lashings of butter when spring finally rolls around, the hot cross bun carries some lofty lore within its humble glazed shell. Traditionally eaten on Good Friday to commemorate the crucifixion, the hot cross bun was actually banned for a period of time by Elizabeth I – who found their pompous popery wholly inappropriate and only allowed for them to be eaten on specific holidays.
By the grace of all things good, the ban was lifted in the early 18th century, allowing for the scrumptious and fruity buns to be sold on the streets of towns and cities across the country. Yet with the continued consumption of the Lenten treat came a variety of superstitious tendencies. Some believed that a hot cross bun baked on Good Friday would never rot and often hung them within their kitchens for good luck.
Others believed they were medicinal, and sailors even took them on sea voyages to protect them from shipwrecks. Friends and lovers would also go halves on hot cross buns to bless the relationship with good luck and prosperity.
Whatever the strange mythology hot cross bun enthusiasts of ‘ole and present choose to believe, one thing is for certain – the spiced sweet buns are a delicious Easter treat which aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
Though traditionally made from a simple mixture of eggs, flour, milk, yeast, sugar, spices and currants, recent years have seen a myriad of unorthodox recipes and toppings crop up within bakeries and supermarkets across the country. From Jaffa cake flavours, to spiced apple and cinnamon, we tried some of this year’s most popular seasonal varieties. Keep scrolling for our thoughts.
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Gail’s Hot Cross Buns
Baked fresh daily, Gail’s has revamped their classic hot cross bun recipe this year. Though still packed with delicious dried fruits and currants, the new composition also includes nutritious rye oat flavours and spice mixes from Grains of Paradise – a black-pepper-like spice with hints of citrus which is closely related to cardamom.
The buns are glazed with a sweet, spiced syrup whilst warm, ensuring the perfect golden-brown casing for the wonderfully fluffy buns. Available to be picked up in bakeries or delivered to your home in time for Easter Sunday, one hot cross bun is £2.50, a box of three are £7.50 and a box of six are £15 (a far cry from one a penny, two a penny, but so it goes).
We taste tested these wonders fresh from the Gail’s bakery, and the ES best team and friends all decided that these luxurious buns take the crown for Easter 2023. With a wonderfully soft base which crisps up perfectly after some light toasting, we struggled to share these buns with even our best friends. The delicate spice mix paired with a light but not overpowering sweetness alongside some delicious salted butter was simply *chef’s kiss*.
Buy now £15.00, Gail’s
Tesco Finest Red Velvet Hot Cross Buns
These unorthodox buns divided opinion across the team, and based off of the Tesco website’s commenters – we weren’t alone in this split. Some of us found the almost doughy, soft texture delicious despite tasting slightly cakey. Others found that it remined them of children’s party food, and not in a good way.
The packed recipe includes white and dark chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, buttermilk and soft cream cheese for that extra bit of indulgence. The red velvet effect is surprisingly amplified by natural beetroot and carrot concentrates, though most of us consider very little else about these buns to be natural. A fun alternative to try during the Easter season for some, our overall verdict is that we’d go for a traditional bun over these strange and stodgy ones.
Buy now £1.60, Tesco
Waitrose No.1 West Country Mature Cheddar & Stout Hot Cross Buns
Opinion was once again split when it came to tasting these savoury buns from Waitrose. Made using sourdough starter and a mouth-watering combination of West Country mature Cheddar cheese, stout and red Leicester cheese, this umami take on what is traditionally one of the sweeter Easter treats – we’re sorry to say – cannot be classified as a true hot cross bun.
This isn’t because these baked good don’t taste delicious. The cheesy combination shines through the simultaneously crumbly, soft and wheaty dough while the subtle stout flavour adds an additional subtle bitterness. However, the ultimately dry texture and lack of contrasting sweet currants make these treats more like a posh cheesy bun.
Waitrose suggests enjoying these buns with mustard butter, thick cut bacon and a poached egg for the ultimate (and not very Lenten) breakfast - think a McMuffin but fancier. The overarching critical takeaway was that these buns were just slightly too dry. However, it was nothing a good toasting and a healthy lathering of butter couldn’t solve.
Buy now £2.00, Waitrose
M&S 9 Luxury Mini Hot Cross Buns
Now these wonderfully scrumptious buns, we all agreed, are the true and traditional hot cross bun that the majority of the British public will be looking for come Easter. Perhaps controversially, we adored the miniature stature of these bitesize buns, and think that 2p per bun is an incredibly reasonable and ever-so traditional price point. Enriched with a unique spice blend, juicy sultanas, Vostizza currants, orange and lemon peel and some unsalted butter, we simply don’t have any criticisms for these lovely treats. Enjoy them toasted with butter, or even dry, for a tasty boost to your day.
Buy now £2.00, Ocado
Sainsbury's Lemon Curd & White Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
Despite a lovely and strong lemon scent, our tasters found the actual depth of the lemony flavour to be lacking in these alternative buns by Sainsbury’s. As far as texture goes, these hot cross buns were not too dry, but they lacked a crucial, silky smooth and aesthetically pleasing glaze – which we found to be disappointing.
Nevertheless, the white chocolate added some sweetness and texture to the buns, and we ultimately thought they tasted quite yummy and served as a highly enjoyable afternoon treat.
Buy now £1.25, Sainsbury’s
Morrisons The Best Bramley Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns
These delicious hot cross buns are one of our top picks. The flavours don’t stray too far from a standard hot cross bun so you know exactly what you are getting with each and every bite. Rather than a complex and varied spice blend, the supermarket chose to stick to a tried and true flavour combination of apple and cinnamon which we have absolutely no qualms with.
If, like some of us, you find the loaded spice recipes and abundant currant mix associated with traditional hot cross buns too much but still want to partake in the delicious tradition – these buns are your saving grace.
Buy now £1.25, Morrisons
Aldi Village Bakery Jaffa Hot Cross Buns
We were treated to an exclusive taste of these brand-new and rather different hot cross buns by Aldi. Featuring dark chocolate chunks and a complementary, flavoursome orange twist – these were certainly a scrummy afternoon snack enjoyed with a good brew. We can’t truly compare them to Jaffa cakes, or traditional hot-cross buns for that matter, as they simply combine well-known flavour combo with a fluffy teacake-like bun. Nonetheless, we absolutely enjoyed munching on this sweet treat and adored the tangy aftertaste.
They’re not available to purchase online just yet, but they are currently stocked in most Aldi’s across the country already, and are priced at £1.29. Head over to your local before all the buns are gone.
Buy now £1.25, Aldi
Tesco Finest Triple Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
Not too dissimilar from the red velvet variety from Tesco that we already taste-tested, these triple chocolate hot cross buns are a decadant treat for the chocoholics among us. We may sound like a broken record at this point, but the truth of the matter is that these are simply not hot cross buns. They’re more of a cake-like dessert to be enjoyed at teatime, rather than in any overt seasonal Easter celebration.
We somehow found these buns to be slightly less stodgy and far more airy than the red velvet variety, but they still felt sticky enough to make us feel as though we needed to gulp down a tall glass of milk afterwards.
Buy now £1.60, Tesco
