It's the middle of March right now. Across the UK (and Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand) supermarket shelves will be rammed with Hot Cross Buns - a yeasted, moderately sweet treat, laden with dried fruit and fragrant spices, and traditionally associated with Easter.
Until the rise of supermarkets, hot cross buns were almost exclusively baked and consumed on Good Friday. But times have changed - significantly.
Firstly, hot cross buns are now available year-round.
Secondly, the quiet mid-2000s move to offer one or two alternative flavors (presumably to attract younger palates unimpressed with the centuries-old flavor profile) has exploded into something else entirely!
By way of an explainer, here are some fun market facts for you:
- By 2019, UK shoppers spent approximately £153.1 million on hot cross buns
- Approx. 55% of UK households buy hot cross buns annually, averaging 8–9 packs per family.
- Primary season remains January to Easter, with 1.5 m+ packages sold the week before Easter.
- Sales growth continues. Sainsbury's reporting a 62% uplift in early 2024.
- Here in the US, driven presumably by ex-pats from hot-cross-bun-eating nations, demand for hot cross buns continues to grow, with small-batch bakers happy to oblige.
To say the hot cross bun has had a makeover is something of an understatement.
A quick google of just one high street food retailer (M&S) reveals that for 2026 their Hot Cross Bun range flavors include ‘recognizable’ variations (candied apple & sultana; rich chocolate; and classic with tea soaked fruit), a cheesy option ‘Cheddar & Red Leicester’, and filled versions (dark choc chips with white choc filling; lemon zested bun filled with lemon curd; and a mocha infused bun with mascarpone-style filling.)
There’s a part of me that scoffs a little at this flagrant departure from tradition. But with such a rich, storied history dating back to Pagan Britain, and then early adoption into British Christian culture, I also rather admire the innovation of introducing modern flavors and styles in a bid to revitalize this tasty piece of social history. The numbers speak for themselves. It's not going to happen any time soon, but how sad would it be, if a little bun once regulated by Elizabethan laws and immortalized in 18th century nursery rhymes were to die out?
Whatever my opinion of this relatively recent departure from my childhood traditions, as you might expect, no supermarket creation will do for this family. So I will continue to bake our own naturally leavened Hot Cross Buns, with traditional fruits and spices, and, my nostalgic preference, a piped dough cross. And we’ll serve them warm. Sometimes toasted, but always slathered in butter. And jam. Or apple butter, which to my wife’s delight, the UK is finally catching onto.
But I am also leaning in to the now well established tradition for change surrounding this Equinox bun, and so have been working on developing a second recipe that combines a modern flavor combo with traditional fruit and citrus zest, while celebrating spring themes. The yellows, purples, and whites of the first blooms, and special ‘rebirth’ meaning for us, and our former bakery…
Stand by for the member exclusive Sourdough Geeks Blueberry Lemon Spring Spiced Bun!
Both the traditional and modern 'cross bun' recipes will feature a sweet liquid starter for a mild flavor, and soft dough. Not sure how we’ll deal with the cross on this one yet. Turns out the dough version of the cross is no more traditional than scored or iced, so we shall see.
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