Best hot cross bun taste test

Overall winner: Marks and Spencer’s luxury hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These hot cross buns are made with sultanas, Vostizza currants, orange and lemon peel and spiced with ground cinnamon, coriander and cassia.

Comments: With a soft bread crumb, plump juicy fruit, delicate spice and distinctive cross on top, these hot cross buns were our overall winner. We think they'd be great to eat on their own with their slightly sticky texture.

Price: £1.70/pack of 4 (310g), marksandspencer.com

Best homemade style hot cross buns: Daylesford organic hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These hot cross buns are made with white spelt flour, currants, sultanas, orange peel, cinnamon and mixed spice.

Comments: These hot cross buns had a homemade appearance with a really light crumb, good amount of peel and nice spice. We thought they were more scone like than your traditional hot cross bun.

Price: £3.99/pack of 4, daylesford.com

Best hot cross bun for a crowd: Betty's

About the hot cross buns: This large hot cross bun is made with currants, sultanas, raisins and citrus peel.

Comments: This hot cross bun was different from others as it looked more like a cake. It had a slightly dry texture but was filled with lots of currants. Buy this if you want a family-size hot cross bun.

Price: £5.75/500g, bettys.co.uk

Best hot cross bun if you like a lot of spice: Lidl hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These hot cross buns are made with raisins, sultanas, currants and flavoured with orange and lemon peel.

Comments: These hot cross buns had a darker exterior than others we tried with a shiny glaze, but the overpowering flavour of clove was too much for us.

Price: 85p/pack of 6, lidl.co.uk

Best hot cross buns if you don’t like spice: Tesco hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These hot cross buns are made with sultanas, raisins, currants, orange and lemon peel with mixed spice.

Comments: The fruit in these hot cross buns was softer than others, with a squidgy texture, however there wasn’t a lot of spice in them, leaving them a little bland.

Price: £1/pack of 6 (446g), tesco.com

Best hot cross buns for toasting: Co-op Irresistible hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These hot cross buns are made with Chilean flame raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel and enriched with orange blossom honey.

Comments: With plump fruit and a good amount of spice, these hot cross buns had a good flavour but were slightly dry, so try toasting and spreading with lots of butter.

Price: £1.25/pack of 4, co-operativefood.co.uk

Other hot cross buns we tried

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference fruit hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These hot cross buns are made with moistened raisins, moistened sultanas and currants and flavoured with cinnamon, orange zest, lemon zest and spice oils.

Comments: A good mix of sultanas and currants and a slightly spiced scene, these buns had plump fruit but were a bit too dense.

Price: £1.40/pack of 4 (280g), sainsburys.co.uk

Waitrose richly fruited mini hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These mini hot cross buns are made with sultanas, raisins, orange and lemon zest.

Comments: These mini hot cross buns were very small, with an okay amount of spice and fruit but were a little dry in texture. Buy these if you want a small taster of a hot cross bun.

Price: £1.69/pack of 9, waitrose.com

Asda Extra Special extra fruity hot cross buns

About the hot cross buns: These hot cross buns are made with dried vine fruits, Chilean flame raisins and mixed peel.

Comments: These hot cross buns were a little dry for us, but they had a good glaze on top and the fruit was plump and juicy (when you came across it).

Price: £1.20/pack of 4, groceries.asda.com

Looking to make your own hot cross buns? Click here for our hot cross bun recipe