With Easter around the corner, consumer advocacy group Choice put in the hard yards and taste-tested hot cross buns from Australia’s biggest supermarkets and bakery chains to find out which reigned supreme.
Choice taste-tested 23 buns across several categories, including traditional fruit, chocolate, and gluten-free.
The buns were purchased from Coles, Woolworths, IGA, Aldi, Bakers Delight and Costco – many of whom put hot cross buns on shelves immediately after Christmas.
Woolworths took out the top gong for its traditional fruit hot cross buns, with judges praising their “plump” fruit and “awesome” texture.
Aldi took out the chocolate hot cross bun category and Coles followed close behind, both owing some of their success to “evident” chocolate pieces in the mix.
“Our experts blind taste-test all the hot cross bun samples in the Choice kitchen,” Choice editor Marg Rafferty said.
“Each of the buns are given a Choice Expert Rating, which is calculated by assessing flavour, appearance, aroma and texture.”
Costco’s traditional fruit buns were found to be the cheapest in the competition, coming at 46 cents per fruit bun, with Aldi following at 50 cents per chocolate and fruit bun.
Bakers Delight customers will be spending more to get their Easter fix, with the bakery chain’s fruit and chocolate options costing $1.33 and $1.75 each, respectively.
Choice’s expert judge panel included culinary judge Adam Moore, TAFE NSW teacher Janet Aislabie and pastry chef Andre Sandison.
