Christmas mince pies have barely left the supermarket shelves when hot cross buns make their appearance, so clearly Australians have quite an appetite for these spicy, fruity baked goodies – and not just at Easter.
We taste tested 21 hot cross buns – 'traditional' fruit and chocolate varieties, both gluten-free and regular – from national supermarkets Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi, major bakery chain Bakers Delight and membership warehouse Costco, to see which buns are best.
On this page:
- Best traditional fruit hot cross buns
- Best chocolate hot cross buns
- Best gluten-free hot cross buns
- Vegan hot cross buns
- How we test
Best traditional fruit hot cross buns
The options when it comes to hot
cross bun varieties extend from Cadbury Caramilk to Burger Sauce, and seemingly everything
in between. Despite this, our polls consistently show that a traditional fruit
hot cross bun is our favourite.
So for those who'd prefer not to mess with a classic, which traditional buns are best?
Our panel of professionals taste-tested 21 hot cross bun products and recommended those that scored 70% or more. You can compare all products in our full hot cross buns review, but the following three products were the best of the dozen 'traditional fruit' buns we tested.
Woolworths Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns.
Woolworths Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns
- CHOICE score: 75%
- Toasted score: 77%
- Fresh (untoasted) score: 74%
- Price: 67c per bun ($4.00 per 6-pack)
- Health Star Rating: 3.5
- Good to know: Vegan friendly with 25% fruit. No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Experts say: Good crust, good cross, soft, toasts well, good texture.
Coles Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns.
Coles Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns
- CHOICE score: 72%
- Toasted score: 74%
- Fresh (untoasted) score: 72%
- Price: 67c per bun ($4.00 per 6-pack)
- Health Star Rating: 3
- Good to know: 27% fruit and vegan friendly.
- Experts say: Moist and soft, better toasted.
Woolworths Luxurious Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns.
Woolworths Luxurious Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns
- CHOICE score: 61%
- Toasted score: 64%
- Fresh (untoasted) score: 57%
- Price: $1.25 per bun ($5.00 per 4-pack)
- Health Star Rating: 3.5
- Good to know: No artificial colours or flavours and suitable for vegetarians.
- Experts say: Good colour, even cross, soft texture, toasts well, artificial cinnamon, pleasant fruitiness.
Best chocolate hot cross buns
Why wait for the Easter bunny to bring eggs when you can eat your chocolate in bun form?
Of the nine chocolate hot cross buns we tasted, none of them scored high enough (at least 70% for taste) to make it onto our recommended list. However, these are the top three.
Aldi Bakers Life Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.
Aldi Bakers Life Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
- CHOICE score: 57%
- Toasted score: 63%
- Fresh (untoasted) score: 55%
- Price: 58c per bun ($3.49 per 6-pack)
- Health Star Rating: 2
- Good to know: Suitable for vegetarians, no artificial colours or flavours, no preservatives, source of protein, source of fibre.
- Experts say: Little chocolate, good appearance, much better toasted.
Community Co Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.
Community Co Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
- CHOICE score: 56%
- Toasted score: 56%
- Fresh (untoasted) score: 54%
- Price: 67c per bun ($4.00 per 6-pack)
- Health Star Rating: 3
- Good to know: No artificial colours or flavours, no added preservatives, Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa.
- Experts say: Clear cross, soft, better toasted.
Coles Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.
Coles Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
- CHOICE score: 53%
- Toasted score: 57%
- Fresh (untoasted) score: 52%
- Price: 67c per bun ($4 per 6-pack)
- Health Star Rating: 2
- Good to know: Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa, highest chocolate percentage at 25% (equal with Bakers Delight Handmade Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns).
- Experts say: Tastes better toasted, salty after taste.
Coles I'm Free From Gluten Wheat & Dairy Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.
Best gluten-free hot cross buns
Many people need to avoid eating
gluten, so we included gluten-free traditional fruit and chocolate offerings
from Coles and Woolworths in our taste test.
Generally speaking, the gluten-free buns scored poorly compared with regular versions, but the best gluten-free bun, with a CHOICE score of 35%, was Coles I'm Free From Gluten Wheat & Dairy Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.
Vegan hot cross buns
If you're avoiding animal products, you don't have to miss out.
Of the products we tested, the following four hot cross buns are vegan and contain only plant-based ingredients:
- Bakers Delight Handmade Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns
- Coles Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns
- Woolworths Free From Gluten Fruit Hot Cross Buns
- Woolworths Traditional Fruit Hot Cross Buns.
How we test
A selection of coded hot cross bun samples
Products
We tested hot cross bun products available in major Australian supermarket chains and bakeries, including Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Bakers Delight, as well as wholesale warehouse Costco. Traditional fruit buns and chocolate buns were tested separately. Price is for the pack sized specified and bought in Sydney stores (not on special).
Tasting
Our experts tasted the hot cross bun samples 'blind' (without knowing the brands) in a randomised order, which was different for each expert.
Scores
Experts independently judged all hot cross bun products. The CHOICE score consists of 90% sensory and 10% nutrition (based on the Health Star Rating). Of the 90%, 50% of the score represented the toasted bun sample and the other 50% represented the fresh (untoasted) bun sample.
Here's a breakdown of the sensory weightings:
- flavour (50%)
- appearance (20%)
- aroma (15%)
- texture (15%)
We recommend products with a CHOICE score of 70% or more.
Meet our expert taste testers
Adam Moore
Adam Moore is a prolific culinary judge. His credits include judging for Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) Fine Food competitions across a range of categories.
He has formal qualifications in pastry, charcuterie and butchery, sensory evaluation, food styling and food photography. With more than 25 years in the industry, Adam has worked in restaurants, food service, retail, food manufacturing, marketing and sales. He's a certified global executive chef, and culinology director at Culinary Revolutions.
Brigid Treloar
Brigid Treloar has been a freelance food consultant for over 30 years. The author of eight cookbooks, she also contributes to newspapers and magazines, reviews restaurants, judges cookery and recipe competitions, and judges chocolate in the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show Competition.
Brigid has presented specialist cooking classes around Australia and overseas, and often appears on TV and radio. She's an industry assessor for Le Cordon Bleu, advises many of Australia's food companies on product and recipe development, and also provides recipes and cooking information for company websites.
Anneka Manning
Anneka Manning is the creator of the Sydney- and Milton-based baking school BakeClub. She has worked as an author, food editor, consultant, teacher and publisher with leading Australian magazines, newspapers and book publishers, including Gourmet Traveller, Australian Good Taste and The Australian Women's Weekly. Her books include Bake Class and Mastering the Art of Baking.
Anneka specialises in teaching not only the 'how' but also the 'why' of baking, giving home cooks a complete understanding and the skills to bake with confidence and success.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
