Hot Cross Buns from seven supermarkets ranked - and the best works out at 18p per bun

For some, there as much of an Easter tradition as chocolate eggs.

But for others, they won't even have them in the kitchen! Whatever you think of hot cross buns, at this time of year they're a staple of supermarket shelves, and now there are more varieties than ever.

Marks and Spencer has seen its banoffee and extremely chocolatey hot cross buns both fly off the shelves, but rather than getting all fancy, our colleagues at the Manchester Evening News decided to taste test the most basic traditional version available in the seven main supermarkets. Here's what they found.

Read more: Heinz appals shoppers with hot cross bun mayonnaise 'blasphemy' this Easter

A quick glance over the hot cross buns from Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury's Lidl, Tesco, Morrisons, and of course Marks and Spencer, showed that they varied in size, glaze and quantity of fruit. The ones with more glaze were considered more appealing, while Tesco's, Lidl's and Morrisons' were thought to be particularly sticky.

The three stickiest tasted "okay," but weren't among the testers' favourites. Asda's were the biggest and were praised for their softness, but also missed out on the top three.

M&S and Aldi took joint second place as they were both moist and had a thick texture with chunky pieces of fruit. Aldi's was the only non-basic line tested as they were out of stock, and had been replaced with a luxury line.

The winner was Sainsbury's, with four out of five tasters preferring them to any other. Reduced from £1.40, they're on offer at £1.10, meaning each bun works out at 18p.

Though tasters didn't think they looked as appealing, with very little glaze at all and with less fruit than the others, they were moist and flavoursome with a hint of cinnamon and "just the right amount of everything."

Here are the prices for the hot cross buns

1. Sainsbury's £1.10
2. Aldi luxury £1.19, Marks and Spencer £1.90
3. Asda 99p
4. Morrisons £1.15
5. Lidl 99p
6. Tesco 99p

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