The Best Hot Cross Buns in Sydney
It’s hard to believe hot cross buns are on the shelves as early as January. And while a classic HCB is a fine choice, we love it when the city’s top bakeries start putting their own spin on the genre. From pandan- and custard-filled buns to a bun-cruffin lovechild, these are the hottest takes around. Cross a few off the list before they’re gone.
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AP House
The AP team toast and mill cinnamon, clove, allspice and nutmeg in-house, before marrying them with classic Aussie sultanas and candied fruit. It’s all in a dough naturally leavened with the team’s panettone starter, the deep-brown buns brushed with a cinnamon-brown-sugar glaze. Order in-store or online, $5 a pop or six for $25.
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Humble Bakery
The best time to hit Humble this bun season is on opening, when the glossy-topped hot crossies are hot out of the oven (7am weekdays, 8am weekends). The soft dough is powered by house-ground cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, with the deep-brown tops sticky with glaze. Limited servings available in-store daily, or as six-packs online.
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Baker Bleu
Pick between a traditional cinnamon-spiced sourdough HCB with raisins, and the sour cherry and dark chocolate number finished with a cocoa-spiked cross. Singles available in-store, and six-packs from $25.20 online.
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Norma’s Deli
To celebrate Easter family style, Norma is bringing back its HCB bread wheels made of 30 spiced mini buns infused with dried fruits and zesty orange peel ($68). Pick between traditional or chocolate, pre-order online, then tear and share.
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Shadow Baking
Shadow’s scroll-bun hybrid sees classic HCB dough filled with vanilla custard and candied fruit. Or go for a decadent chocolate option – both sold in packs of six for $39.
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Sweet Belem
Sweet Belem is famous for its pastel de nata – but it also makes one hell of a HCB. Picture fluffy brioche buns filled with port-soaked raisins, and topped with a vanilla or a chocolate custard cross you won’t see anywhere else. Single buns are $6, or in packs of four, six or 12. Order in-store and online.
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Flour and Stone Annexe
Nadine Ingram is taking you to Italy for Easter, via her Tuscan pan di ramerino. The rosemary and cardamom-spiced brioche buns are found all over Italy at Easter, and are available in-store and online from Monday March 23.
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Tuga Pastries
Tuga goes big for Easter – literally. Its B.I.G. Bun sandwiches whipped honey butter, and is topped with a nest of Easter eggs. It’s $45, and easily feeds eight. The Nutella babkas return, along with HCBs aplenty. Order choc and classic buns in packs of six, 12 or 18 online or in-store.
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Bourke Street Bakery
The powerhouse bakery’s buns come in traditional fruit and chunky chocolate-cranberry varieties, along with a family-size hot cross loaf. This year, there’s boozy small-batch spiced rum butter too, made together with Rozelle’s Red Mill Rum distillery. Order in-store and online.
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Madame & Yves
Master pastry chef Yves Scherrer returns with his crème brûlée bun. The sticky, custard-filled beauty is a winner every Easter, along with the gelato-stuffed HXB. Newcomers for 2026 include a miso-caramel-stuffed bun, and a tiramisu-filled number. Plus, classic buns aplenty. Order in-store and online.
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Loulou
The boulangerie keeps Easter sweet with Hot Heart Buns. The love-stamped baked goods are available in three flavours: traditional, chocolate and choc-hazelnut stuffed with custard. Singles and six-packs available, in stores (Milsons Point; CBD) or online.
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Khanom House
Self-taught baker Yeen Verasenee is adored for his Thai-influenced treats. For Easter this year, he’s doing pandan-stuffed hot cross buns again. Light milk buns are piped with the softly sweet custard, then marked with a cross and a snip of pandan. Available Friday to Sunday, and daily during Easter weekend.
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Wholegreen Bakery
Wholegreen’s buns are free from gluten, dairy and nuts, accredited by Coeliac Australia, and certifiably delicious. Both the traditional fruit with cinnamon, and chocolate are $4 each, or $13 for four. Available in-store, online and at Harris Farm.
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Black Star Pastry Newtown
Black Star dazzles with two HCB renditions for 2026: a traditional bun glazed with frankincense syrup, and a chocolatey custard-filled number made in collaboration with Whittaker’s (available from Monday March 23). Grab six from $27, or a dozen from $50. Order in-store and online.
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The Grumpy Baker & Bar
Will you go for a Grumpy HXB studded with raisins or chocolate? Either way, you’ll get a family-recipe bun owner Michael Cthurmer has been baking for 24 years. And they’re coming out of the ovens daily at every Grumpy Baker around town.
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Baking 101
Just like everything else baked at this Stanmore bakery, the hot cross buns are classics. Golden, fruity, lightly spiced – and ideal first thing in the morning, as soon as baker Jaemin Song takes them out of the oven.
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Tokyo Lamington
The tiny Newtown bakery’s got new buns for 2026: a whisky-laced Scotch Cross Bun that leans traditional with citrus peel and sultanas; and a choc-heavy lamington HCB crowned with coconut. Get both in a mixed pack of Easter treats. Order in-store and online.
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Brickfields
Brickfields is baking classic HCBs packed with all the usual good stuff: cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, sultanas, currants, cranberries, dried apricot and orange peels. Get a box of six for $20 in-store or pre-order online.
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Martha's
Wareemba, the teeny inner west suburb, is the spot for three new HXBs for 2026. Choose from a traditional bun, topped with a whiff of whipped butter; a chocolatey bun stuffed with dulce de leche mousseline; and a PB&J riff with peanut butter cream. All three are available at Martha’s, with online pre-orders from March 23.
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Pasticceria Papa
Come for inventive HCB flavours each week from creamy coconut renditions to mocha numbers. Or choose from the staples: classic fruit, choc chip and pistachio.
Find them in-store or order online.
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Sonoma Bakery
Sonoma’s Not Cross Buns have returned for another year. The bakery’s signature “S” is piped on top before they’re brushed with a sweet, spicy glaze. Choc Cross Buns join the mix, too – a fudgier bun carrying Valrhona dark chocolate, available for one week from Monday march 30. Try one for $4, or six for $22. Order in-store and online.
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Cafe Margaret
Neil Perry’s HXB are on at his Double Bay cafe – and the chef's keeping it classic. Soft buns are studded with fruit, and fragrant with cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. They’re $6 each, and best toasted with a thick spread of Copper Tree Farms butter – or with a swirl of soft serve added.
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Messy Spoon
Messy Spoon’s coeliac- and vegan-friendly buns are sultana-stuffed and dripping with a maple glaze. They’re also completely free of nuts and refined sugar. Get six for $28 in-store and online.
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