'This hit like a flavour bomb': We road-test the best new hot cross bun flavours of 2026

Hot cross buns have come so far since their religious origins in the 14th century.

Originally, they were simple yeast-based spice buns. It's understood the cross on top was meant to signify the four seasons or phases of the moon; later, it came to symbolise the Christian holiday of Good Friday.

Today, hot cross buns are not only more mainstream, but they come in endless varieties and flavours – including sweet and savoury, brioche, and gluten free plus collaborations with famous food brands and trends.

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Woolworths sold out of its most recent flavour, the Indulgent Mudcake Filled Hot Cross Bun – 350,000 packs flew out the door and they won't be back until next year.

Across all retailers, Australians will purchase approximately 200m hot cross buns in 2026.

Given all this history and variety – and today being Hot Cross Bun Day at Bakers Delight – we thought it was time to try some of the most popular hot cross bun options on offer in 2026, with a focus on newer flavours and all of the chocolate ones.

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Some were more flavoursome and delicious than we could have imagined, while others were a little lacking. Here are the results of our nine.com.au in-office hot cross bun taste test.

Coles

Coles has embraced popular food products and trends in its 2026 range, and the results surprised us.

1. Coles Sticky Date Inspired Hot Cross Bun

These rated highly among nine.com.au staff, owing to their strong sticky date flavour.

"This hit like a flavour bomb," one staffer said.

"It tasted like a slightly dryer sticky date pudding. I wish I had heated it up and put ice cream on it."

"These surprised me. They didn't look all that great, and they look like they are a caramel colour and flavour, but as soon as I tasted it, it tasted exactly like sticky date," another said.

Another staffer said the bun was "actually really, really good," adding, "It tasted like a cake ... it has a centre on the inside that tastes like sticky date exactly."

2. Coles Doritos Inspired Cheesy Jalapeno Hot Cross Bun

In a surprise result, the Doritos collaboration scored highly among staffers, although smelling them first isn't recommended.

"I tried the Doritos jalapeno and cheese one thinking it would be disgusting, and it was surprisingly pretty good!" one said.

"Even though it had jalapeno pieces through it, it wasn't spicy in the slightest (for me, a spice lover so other people's mileage may vary with that!)."

Another noted these buns "had a kick later" after taking a few bites, while many agreed they tasted similar to pizza bread and scrolls.

"The smell definitely raised some eyebrows across the office," one staffer said, "The taste is actually kind of sweet, actually. Overall I'd give it a seven out of 10."

3. Coles Arnott's Iced Vovo Hot Cross Bun

In third place in the Coles category is the Arnott's Iced Vovo Hot Cross Bun, which looks amazing in appearance but was let down by inconsistent ingredients.

"I bit into this expecting a strong Iced Vovo flavour, but it was a little lacking," one staffer said.

"Mine had heaps of flavour and white chocolate in it, but others didn't get much of this in theirs, so they are a bit inconsistent.

"If you get a good one, they taste amazing."

4. Coles Arnott's Mint Slice Inspired Hot Cross Bun

These buns were always going to prove divisive, owing to their unique blend of mint and chocolate, which isn't for everyone.

Staffers who are fans of Mint Slice Biscuits liked it, but felt the texture could have been better.

"I kept expecting crunchy biscuit to be in them ... I like Mint Slice biscuits, so I thought they were okay," was one's verdict.

"I'm not a fan of mint and chocolate so I tried this one reluctantly," another said. "I still don't like mint and chocolate, even in a hot cross bun."

5. Coles Matcha & Raspberry Hot Cross Buns

Matcha has been a popular flavour of late, particular matcha and berries, but this bun didn't prove popular during our in office survey.

"Not enough matcha or raspberry. The flavours hit you nice when you find the spots, but majority is just plain scone," one staffer said.

"It tasted okay, but the green colour put me off a bit. I know matcha is green, but it looks better in a matcha drink than in a hot cross bun."

Woolworths

The Woolworths Indulgent range has been glorious this year. We tried five options.

1. Woolworths Chocolate Hot Cross Buns Inspired By Cadbury Caramello

These looked quite plain at first, but when you pull one apart the inside reveals itself: a gooey, caramel centre several nine.com.au staffers agreed was delicious.

"Overall, I thought it was delicious," one declared.

"I think the caramel filling helped it feel less dense, but I think it would have been better with the filling evenly spread throughout, as opposed to just being in the centre."

"I think it was very indulgent and delicious, though it could have benefitted from more caramel filling as the bun was slightly dry on its own," another agreed

"Overall, it is as far as you get from a traditional hot cross bun, but it is a yummy Easter treat."

2. Woolworths Indulgent Hot Cross Buns With Cadbury Caramilk Chips

The second most popular Woolies hot cross bun was the Cadbury Caramilk Chips, which made for a great flavour collaboration.

However, some staffers didn't get as many Caramilk chips in their hot cross buns as they would have liked.

"They had a nice, mild Caramilk flavour, and once I heated mine up, it was very moist and melty," one said.

3. Woolworths Brioche Hot Cross Buns With Cadbury Milk Chocolate Chips

Brioche varieties of hot cross buns have proven popular over the past several Easter seasons, and these didn't disappoint.

"I love Brioche because I find most hot cross buns too dry, but this was a winner for me," one tester said.

"I hate sultanas so I only eat fruit-free or chocolate chip hot cross buns, and I'd definitely eat this one again.

4. Woolworths Indulgent Cinnabon Filled Hot Cross Buns

These have proven popular for Woolworths, even winning awards, and nine.com.au staffers who tried them enjoyed the cinnamon flavour.

But it was hard not to compare them to traditional Cinnabon or cinnamon buns.

"These tasted amazing, but I kept wishing it was an actual Cinnabon cinnamon scroll," one said.

"Not bad for a hot cross bun, but nowhere near a cinnamon scroll."

5. Woolworths Indulgent Caramelised Biscuit Filled Hot Cross Buns

These buns sadly disappointed staffers who tried them.

"Not enough Biscoff and not centred. Nice and gooey for where they have included it, though. I give it 2.5 stars," one staffer said.

"I didn't get much of the gooey centre in mine, and it needed heaps more of it."

"A bit too dry for me," another said.

IGA

IGA has certainly delivered when it comes to brilliant hot cross bun flavour collaborations.

They have collaborated with Terry's Chocolate Orange and Reese's to create two delicious new varieties. We tried them both – and FYI, they are meant to be eaten warm.

1. Terry's Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns

With both of these collaborations, it was fans of the original products who liked them the most.

"I want to eat these every single day for the rest of my life," one Terry's fan in the office commented.

"These were way more moist than what I was expecting. Sorry I had to use the word 'moist' but there's no other word I could think of. Yum."

2. Reese's Hot Cross Buns

Reese's uses a famously salty peanut butter flavour in their chocolates, and that is the exact flavour you will get for these.

"I didn't mind these, but I do wish there was way more peanut butter goo in them," one reviewer said.

"I think I could fix these. I have Reese's at home, I could shove a couple in the middle and microwave it."

Aldi

Aldi has a great range of hot cross buns, and we tried two of the more unusual collaborations. Overall the flavours were quite strong, which is great.

Carrot cake and banana fans loved them – others, not so much.

1. Aldi Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns

These hot cross buns smelled amazing, exactly like carrot cake, and it appears the flavour delivered too.

"I absolutely loved this one, and I also love carrot cake," one staffer said.

"The spices are perfection. Desperate to eat one toasted with slathers of butter," added another.

One staffer commented: "I inhaled this. Yum. Could have used a bunch of cream cheese frosting. But I can probably do that part myself."

2. Aldi Indulgent Banoffee Inspired Hot Cross Buns

The Banoffee inspired option wasn't as popular.

"They taste better than they smell," one staffer commented.

"These tasted like a softer banana cake but I really wanted walnuts in them or some caramel filling or something."

Other felt the caramel flavour that is key to the banoffee flavour profile was lacking.

"It was alright," another said. "It's a hot cross bun. Nothing too crazy. It's sweet. You can really taste the bananas. It's mostly banana."

Honourable chocolate mentions

Whether they be chocolate or choc chip, hot cross buns and chocolate are always a winning combination, especially if they are served hot.

Bakers Delight Choc Chip

Bakers Delight has some winning hot cross bun flavours, and the choc chip proved a winner among staffers, with both the texture and chip ratio getting a firm thumbs up.

"I loved it. It's literally the perfect hot cross bun. The choc chip to bun ratio is great, it's soft and fresh and tasty," one said, while another declared, "Can't go wrong with this one, delicious."

Another preferred a classic Baker's Delight hot cross bun over the chocolate variety.

"I had a traditional Baker's Delight Hot Cross Bun, and really, you can't go wrong with that. A good cheeky treat that pairs well with your morning coffee."

Woolworths Cadbury Milk Chocolate

And, of course, we had to try Woolworths' award-winning chocolate hot cross buns.

These were recently named the best hot cross bun of the year by consumer group Choice, beating out even traditional fruit varieties – and we can see why.

They are a heavier hot cross bun, but one full of flavour.

"Very nice, very chocolatey," was one comment. "Gooey in the centre. A little bit stodgy as a lot of store-bought hot cross buns can be."

"This tasted more like cake than a hot cross bun," one staffer added.

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