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Britain's top hot cross bun has been crowned, retailing at just 35p each and beating pricier alternatives from Waitrose and Sainsbury's.

The victor was announced by consumer group Which? following a blind tasting to identify the finest choices for Easter 2026.

The test tried more than 400 individual buns, evaluated by a panel of 75 participants. They sampled 10 supermarket varieties, featuring products from Aldi, Lidl, Asda, Waitrose and Sainsbury's.

A joint winner emerged for the Best Buy accolade, with both Asda and M&S achieving 77%.

Though the Asda Exceptional Extra Fruity Hot Cross Bun claimed a double triumph, additionally securing a Great Value distinction with the buns costing £1.40 for a pack of four, or 35p each.

The Asda buns were deemed to possess the most appealing presentation whilst being delightfully sweet. The majority of testers considered the texture, taste and fruit content were perfectly balanced, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The M&S Luxury Hot Cross Buns matched the score for flavour, with most finding them wonderfully sweet and spiced, containing an appropriate quantity of fruit. Nevertheless, they cost over £1 more than Asda's offering at £2.50 per pack of four, or 63p each.

Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Fruity Hot Cross Buns likewise won over the panel, securing a score of 75%, narrowly missing the summit.

The tender texture was "spot on", and they had precisely the right level of sweetness, though approximately half the panel suggested they would favour slightly more spice.

The majority of tasters appreciated the soft texture and "good amount of fruit" of the Tesco Finest Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns, though approximately a third of our panel believed the buns required more spice and slightly greater sweetness.

Lidl and Aldi both priced their buns at 37p each, achieving scores of 71% and 70% respectively.

The panel appreciated the sweetness and texture of Lidl's buns yet found them excessively dry.

Regarding flavour, roughly half of the testers believed they needed more spice. Aldi's buns similarly lacked sufficient spice, ranking amongst the lowest for sweetness, though they contained a reasonable quantity of fruit.

Waitrose Richly Fruited Hot Cross Buns, notwithstanding being the second most costly at 50p per bun (matching Coop, Tesco Finest and Sainsbury's Taste the Difference), achieved the lowest score at 68%.

Most tasters indicated the spices were insufficiently robust, whilst half found the buns dry. They required additional fruit and lacked adequate sweetness.