It all started with the subtle pimping of mince pies – switching up shortcrust pastry for puff and adding a soft cushion of almond-scented frangipane beneath. Then R&D chefs moved onto hot cross buns – they changed the recipe almost beyond recognition, stuffed the overly sweet halves with full English breakfasts and roast dinners – and the world order as we know it collapsed in a sugary puff of (toaster) smoke. But more on that later…
The history bit (sort of)
Anything remotely resembling the hot cross buns we are familiar with today date back to the 18th century. Before this, there are records of bread and buns being studded with dried fruits and spices and eaten at a variety of festivals and on special occasions.
The word ‘Easter’ in fact derives from Ēostre, the Saxon goddess of renewal, who is mentioned by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century. So the spring festival we know is Christian with distinctly pagan origins.
Today, you can buy hot cross buns pretty much all year round, but if we go as far back as the 1990s you’d be hard pushed to find anywhere selling these treats more than a month before Easter. And even a little further back, in the Georgian era, they would have been available to buy and enjoy on one day only – Good Friday. The cross on top would originally have been made with a knife; it wasn’t until the 19th century that this was replaced with a paste of flour and water, pastry, or icing, to make it more pronounced.
The tasting
Here at Homes & Antiques, we pride ourselves on taking any activity we indulge in in the name of the magazine deadly seriously. Armed with notebooks, box-fresh biros and just-brewed cups of tea, the editorial team spent an afternoon in the office kitchen testing a variety of hot cross buns, expertly chosen by how pretty they looked in their packaging and also, crucially, what was available to buy on testing day. It’s worth noting that we controversially ate them untoasted, without butter, so toasting them may render different results. We shall never know… (unless we do this all again).
Traditional
Co-op Irresistible Richly Fruited Luxury Hot Cross Buns, £2 for 4
‘They smell festive’ is the first comment uttered as the packet is opened. There’s a slight whiff of mulled wine from the orange-soaked sultanas, currants and citrus peel. ‘Solid’ murmurs someone, referring to the buns as fine rather than rock-like (I assume). ‘Funny aftertaste’ says another. Traditionalists may love these but, just like the dried fruits, our thoughts are mixed. We’ve also suddenly lost the ability to speak in full sentences.
Score: 2.5/5
Tesco Finest Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns, £2 for 4
These buns contain absolutely whopper flame raisins and the fruits are all nicely distributed. Not overly sweet, not under sweet, just right. Baby Bear would surely plump for these beauties. Whereas some buns can be a bit flat, these have good height and are weighty. ‘Yep, nice’ is the verbose verdict.
Score: 4/5
Apple & Cinnamon
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns, £2 for 4
Apple and cinnamon are the hot crossers of choice in my household so I’m pumped for these. But they’re weirdly dry and chewy, even though they’re well in date. There’s a lot of spice – too much, which is possibly contributing to the aridness. Toasting and slicking with butter would seriously enhance these ‘booooring’ buns. It’s a shame, as it says they’re made with a sourdough starter, so should be a bit more exciting.
Score: 2/5
Lidl Deluxe Bramley Apple & Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns, £1.19 for 4
These are really sticky on top – the glaze leaves smears on the packaging. There’s a lot more apple than spice to these and a slightly synthetic taste, which is off-putting. The dough is dense and leaves a strange aftertaste. ‘Rather unpleasant’ and ‘That was a chore’ are recorded comments.
Score: 1.5/5
Chocolate
The Newt Chocolate Hot Cross Buns, £5.95 for 4
These may be spenny, but Easter’s all about treats and we believe you’re worth it. These high-end buns are about 1.5 times larger than all the high-street varieties, as you’d hope for the price. They also look and taste more artisanal – they’re fluffy and light but also exceptionally gooey, with chocolate chips throughout the dough. We make the mistake of popping these in the work Breville, before reading that they must only be done under the grill. Cue a toaster now bejewelled with baked-on chocolate chips and an ‘everyone’ email telling us it’s out of action for the foreseeable. Whoops. Oh well, it was worth it for those delicious oozy morsels. These are truly the crème de la crème of hot cross buns, summed up in this mournful plea: ‘Oh, aren’t there any more?’ In a word: Addicted.
Score: 5/5
Waitrose Milk Chocolate & Fudge Hot Cross Buns, £2 for 4
These bad boys are tall and give off a delicious chocolatey smell as they exit the confines of their cellophane. ‘I’m getting chocolate milk vibes’ says someone instantly, and another agrees. Problem is, the first one thinks this is a negative while the second is positively beaming. We’re assured by the website that the fudge and chocolate pieces melt gorgeously when toasted, but we’re not venturing down that route again (we actually can’t – the toaster has been confiscated after the smoke alarms nearly went off). Where one says bland the other says divine. What can you do, eh? As I’m writing this I’m giving it the full score I feel it deserves (shhhh!).
Score: 5/5
M&S Red Velvet Filled Hot Cross Buns, £3 for 4
Once we’ve got over the vivid pinky red of these buns, which is frankly just screaming ‘danger’, we generally agree this is a soft and pleasingly squishy bun that feels light and spongey. Inside it’s filled with white chocolate goo, which some find sickly. The dough itself is oddly tasteless and the word that keeps coming up is ‘gimmicky’.
Score: 2/5
Lidl Deluxe Triple Chocolate Hot Cross Buns, £1.19 for 4
Just like the apple and cinnamon offering from Lidl, these are incredibly sticky in an off-putting way. Let’s have some decorum here, folks, hot crossers are not sticky buns. They taste underbaked and are dense in texture. Nicely chocolatey though and gooey in the middle. Despite my misgivings, several say ‘Would eat again’ and you can’t argue with that.
Score: 3.5/5
Waitrose White Chocolate & Lemon Hot Cross Buns, £2 for 4
Everyone across the board seems a teeny bit unhinged after the first bite. In a good way! Delicately chocolatey with a punch of lemon curd, these hit the jackpot. They smell like lemon drizzle cake, have a lovely fluffy texture, and are a resounding success for three out of four of us, although one just wishes they were eating real lemon drizzle cake rather than (in their eyes) a poor imitation masquerading as such. Can’t please everyone, can you?
Score: 5/5
Berry & Citrus
Waitrose No.1 Berry Blush Hot Cross Buns, £2 for 2
Strange how just popping two buns in a packet makes them seem more exclusive. The pinky glow of the crosses is unnerving (we’re a sensitive bunch) and there’s a strong synthetic strawberry scent wafting out of the packet on opening. These guys straddle a lot of fruits here, with their cranberries, blueberries and strawberries crammed in amongst the sultanas, currants and white choc chunks. Rather than luxe, we find them dry with a peculiar aftertaste. ‘Can’t finish that’, says one. ‘So wrong on so many levels!’, says another. I’ll put that down as a no then, shall I?
Score: 0/5
Waitrose St Clements Hot Cross Buns, £2 for 4
These have a peppy, energetic bounce to them and happily aren’t overly orange. They say ‘sweet and zesty’ on the packet and that’s exactly what you get. It’s almost floral in taste but not unpleasantly so and the texture is fluffy. Would make a delicious bread and butter pud. Reviewers are divided though: ‘Fine’ says one, damningly. ‘A good one for traditionalists’, says another, also faintly damning. They’re not going to terrify anyone come teatime but they’re also not going to be talked about afterwards either.
Score: 3/5
Cheese
M&S Extremely Cheesy Cheddar and Red Leicester Hot Cross Buns, £2.50 for 4
While cheese hot cross buns caused an uproar when they launched a few years ago – ‘That is NOT a hot cross bun and never will be!’ kind of outrage – it’s much less of a shock seeing them snuggling up to traditional varieties on supermarket shelves in 2026. Still, in some areas they are viewed with suspicion and a faint curl of the lip – it’s the foodie equivalent of socks with sandals. The majority of us on the team absolutely love these sunny beauties, and we get through a whole packet in one sitting. We are eating them fresh out the bag but they would be even more delicious toasted with lashings of butter. These smell enticing, they’re bouncy and fluffy and cheesy in every bite. ‘OMG, divine!’ says one, ‘Would eat again!’ says another, ‘Hey, your bit’s bigger than mine!’ says a third. We’ve become uncouth and it’s clearly time to stop this overindulgence of baked goods. We know our limits.
Score: 5/5
