Hot cross buns are one of those seasonal treats that supermarkets have latched onto with a vice-like grip. Every year, we are treated to not only your conventional hot cross bun – a lightly spiced, sweet bun studded with currents and candied peel and topped with a cross – but also an array of novelty flavours that skew from genuinely delicious to properly weird.
This year, for example, the UK’s supermarkets have offerings that range from cheddar and carrot cake to tiramisu, Neapolitan ice cream and Marmite. Some of them are even filled with curds or flavoured creams, making them impossible to cut, toast and butter.
Whether this defeats the point of the HXB (as they are known in the biz) is a topic for another story. For here we are once again braving the gastronomical wastelands of HXB innovation. For the traditionalists, we have taste tested all the classic “luxury” (aka adequately fruited) buns to be found at local supermarkets; and for the daring, we have also taste tested every strange, novelty flavour we could get our hands on.
Ahead are those we’ve chosen which, if any, deserve your money: based not only on flavour but crumb, texture, target audience and – crucially – ability to butter.
The traditional
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Fruity Hot Cross Buns
£2.00 for four
I find these unappealing as they are almost matt on top and have a plasticky odour. When bitten, the dough collapses immediately with no strong flavour. Perfectly fine amount of fruit but otherwise unimpressive.
3/10
Aldi’s Luxury Hot Cross Buns
£1.19 for four
These were slightly more citrusy than the Sainsbury’s buns but dissolved into nothing in my mouth. The spice was there but subtly.
4/10
Tesco Finest Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns
£2.00 for four
A good all-rounder with a nice spice-to-fruit-to-dough ratio. However, they left a slightly funny aftertaste in my mouth which ruined the experience somewhat.
7/10
Waitrose Easter Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns
£2.00 for four
These had a lovely flavour, good density of fruit and a nice bite.
8/10
M&S Collection Fruited Hot Cross Buns
£2.25 for two
This is a hefty bun that proclaims to be rich and fruity. The addition of dried cranberries feels a touch incongruous, as does the vanilla glaze, but the dough is beautifully spiced with a generous distribution of fruit. It is lovely but feels try-hard compared to Lidl.
9/10
Lidl Deluxe Luxury Hot Cross Buns
£1.19 for four
Lovely scent and nice subtle shine from the glaze. Shape-wise, I also find these the most inviting as they are lumpen rather than falsely inflated. The fruit is nice and plump, good bun density and a lovely subtle spice.
9.5/10 [RUNNER UP]
The posh options
Gail’s Hot Cross Buns
£14 for six or £2.80 for one
The problem with Gail’s it that their baked goods really are lovely. These feature a lovely spiced glaze and mix of dried fruit, creating a lovely bite. However, they were a bit doughy and dense which is what you’d hope to avoid, given the price.
7.5/10
Honey & Co’s Hot Cross Buns
£3.90 each, Honey & Co online order
These were utterly delightful. The spices used made for a deep and warming flavour, while the spelt flavour adds a very subtle nuttiness. The dried fruits are generously shared and the crumb is light and fluffy. These were gone within half an hour.
10/10 [WINNER]
The novelty flavours
M&S Red Velvet Filled Hot Cross Buns
£3.00 for four
Of all this year’s innovations these are the ones that I was most threatened by. I was right to be. These were one of the “filled” varieties, meaning they were impossible to toast without starting a fire. These pinky red buns are studded with dark chocolate chips and something that claims to be “white chocolate filling”. It looked, frankly, like bodily fluid and tasted like nothing. An abomination.
0/10
M&S Tiramisu Hot Cross Buns
£2.50 for four
Oh, man. It is very hard to make something both “coffee flavoured” and “delicious”, no matter how much you like actual coffee. Toasting the bun pushes coffee flavour over to bitter and acrid, unpleasantly grainy. Not a trace of mascarpone. Bad, not nice.
2/10
Exceptional by Asda’s Cherry Bakewell Hot Cross Buns
£1.40 for four
Flavour wise, this was a punch to the back of the throat. The cherry played a role but the almond flavour was overpowering and saccharine. I actively disliked this.
2/10
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Rhubarb and Ginger Hot Cross Bun
£2.00 for four
These tasted neither of rhubarb or ginger, just a slightly wrong hot cross bun. No, thank you.
2/10
Aldi’s Mighty Cheesy Hot Cross Buns
£0.99 for four
These are one of the savoury options on the market, proclaiming a strong cheesy flavour. I thought these would be flavoured with the Aldi equivalent of Marmite but it turns out that was actually a serving suggestion. A pungent bag but unimpressive bun: no strong flavour in the end just emphatically “not sweet”. Dissolved in the mouth. Meh.
4/10
Tesco Finest Marbled Neapolitan Hot Cross Buns
£2.00 for four
Pink is clearly one of the themes of 2026 and these mad buns (with milk chocolate chips, strawberry-flavoured jelly fruit pieces and “dried cream”) are all over it. These are an atrocious use of food colouring and smell sweet, artificial and desaturated. Although visually fun, these are very much not for me – the pink blobs taste like old, stale foam shrimps. Artificial, flat and perfect for children.
4/10
Tesco Finest Cheddar & Red Leicester Hot Cross Buns
£2.00 for four
These honestly don’t really smell like much, but after a toast and a butter they are quite cheesy and inviting. The butter, unfortunately, was doing a lot of heavy lifting in the flavour department and the texture became sludgy. A disappointment, but texturally better than Aldi’s.
5/10
Morrison’s The Best Lemon Drizzle Hot Cross Buns
£1.50 for four
This just tastes like someone forgot how much zest they put in and added a bit too much. Fine, but nothing special.
5/10
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Waitrose No.1 Berry Blush Hot Cross Buns
£3.00 for two
These are properly pink and smell like Special K red berries. They are also massive. The fruit array is different but in the same family as a classic HXB so I think it could work. However, they are also full of white chocolate which promptly burnt my fingers when toasted. The flavour itself isn’t awful but verges on artificial and reminds me of freeze dried fruit in cereal. Not my favourite, but fine.
6/10
M&S Extremely Lemon Curd Filled Hot Cross Buns
£3 for four
Unlike their red velvet counterparts, I had high hopes for the lemon curd-filled offering. I was delighted to find that I actively enjoyed these. They frankly have nothing to do with hot cross buns. They are simply a lemon curd-filled sweet bun with no fruit to speak of, but the curd is tangy and the bun a lovely compliment.
8/10
Waitrose No.1 Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
£2.00 for two
These are proper sticky bun material. Rich cocoa flavour but light texture, excellent use of dark chocolate chips and all-round delightful. Again, nothing to do with a hot cross bun but a ripper experience, particularly toasted and buttered.
9/10 [RUNNER UP]
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns
£2.00 for four
To my surprise, I really enjoyed these. They successfully riff on hot cross bun’s flavour profile (mixed spice, dried fruit) while actually doing something different. The white chocolate chips are unnecessary but enjoyable and the flavour is really lovely. A great HXB adjacent.
9/10
OVERALL WINNER: Honey & Co’s Hot Cross Buns
2nd: Lidl Deluxe Luxury Hot Cross Buns
3rd: Waitrose No.1 Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
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