We ranked the best Easter hot cross buns from M&S, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and more

10 April 2019, 11:38 | Updated: 15 April 2019, 16:00

Hot cross buns are an Easter staple so make sure you're buying the right ones!

With Easter holidays just around the corner it's got us craving some hot cross buns, so we decided to take one for the team and try all of this year's supermarket hot cross buns to let you know which are the tastiest an best value for money.

We scoured the high street and tried one of the baked Easter treats from each of the biggest food retailers in the UK such as Sainsbury's, Asda, Marks and Spencer's and Tesco.

To make it fair, we undertook a blind taste test in two categories - regular fruit hot cross buns and alternative flavours.

All the decisions were based on the taste, texture, appearance and of course, value to keep you informed of where best to spend your money when getting the food shop done for the long weekend.

Here are the results from lowest scoring to highest...

Lidl, Deluxe Very Berry Hot Cross Buns 99p for 4

A tasty contender from Lidl gave some of the more premium supermarkets a run for their money, with our taste testers describing their buns as sweet, with plenty of spices. Considering they are 99p for four, they are by far the best value for money.

Our team scored them an average of 14 out of 20.

Asda, Extra Special, Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns, £1 for 4

Asda came up trumps in the moisture category, with our taste testers praising it's doughy texture. Despite Asda's promise of being 'extra fruity' due to their chilean raisins, left a lot to be desired as most complained about their lack of flavour.

Our team scored them an average of 10/20.

Tesco Finest, Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns, £1.50 for 4

While Tesco impressed with their perfectly brown and sticky appearance, first impressions didn't quite match up when it came to taster texture. Some of our taste testers commented on the texture being more on the dry side than juicy, while other claimed the buns could have had more flavour.

Considering they were the more expensive out of the ranges we sampled our team scored them an average of 11/20.

Sainsbury's Fruity Hot Cross Buns, Taste the Difference, £1.25 for 4

Sainsbury's Easter offering suffered the same fate, with our taste testers being delighted by their appearance. Each bun had a lovely golden colour and glossy finish that was sticky to touch, however, they lacked when it came to moisture.

At £1.25 they were moderately priced, so our team gave them an average score of 13/20.

Mark's and Spencer, Luxury Hot Cross Buns, for a pack of 4

When it comes to Easter, there's no doubt that M&S have a high reputation for making some of the best hot cross buns, but did they deliver this year? Their range of luxury hot cross buns didn't fail to disappoint and came out as one of the teams most favoured buns.

Topping the polls in appearance, texture and taste, our team were satirised with the juiciness of the raisins and the sweet glaze on the bun.

M&S are the most expensive at £1.50 for four, but judging just by taste they are worth every penny.

Our team scored them an average of 17/20 making them our overall winner!