It’s time for Sydney’s best bakeries to shine as everyone competes to offer the best hot cross buns in Sydney. Easter means many different things to many different people. For some, it’s a time of great worship, and for others, it’s a glorious cluster of public holidays. For all, it’s a chance to eat soft, fluffy hot cross buns on a four-day weekend.
You’ll be flying through all different versions if you browse the best bakeries in Sydney. While most are sticking to tradition, attempting to perfect the classic hot cross bun recipe, others are getting experimental while some are thinking even bigger. That just means more options for you, so whether you want a doughy hot cross bun, rather something sticky, or opt for the sweeter side, you’ll find the best hot cross bun for you at one of the below bakeries.
Where to find the best hot cross buns in Sydney
1. Madame & Yves
Clovelly’s popular three-in-one dessert stop (Madame & Yves is pitched, successfully, as a gelateria, patisserie and bakery) isn’t taking Easter lightly this year. Paying homage to the occasion is a lineup of five hot cross buns, including the team’s popular crème brûlée hot cross bun filled with a gently spiced custard. Watch our taste test of this twist on the classic.
That one is $8 each but there’s also a number of less expensive options like the $5.50 choc cross buns with dark chocolate chips and spiced espresso syrup, and the classic with sultanas, raisins and candied orange peel, which you can get with a scoop of house-made gelato on top if you think complete palate satisfaction is worth $10.
Price: $5.50 – $10
Where: 343-345 Clovelly Rd, Clovelly NSW 2031
2. Black Star Pastry
Black Star Pastry is no stranger to making headlines amongst Sydney’s most discerning foodies. The creativity that sits behind this bakery business is endless, to the point where they’ve actually been able to convince people there’s more than just the famous strawberry watermelon cake available.
Such as these limited edition treats. The blueberry hot cross bun is one of the better ones we’ve tried this year, switching out raisins for juicy dried blueberries that bring a different, lighter dimension to the traditional flavour profile. Each bun is topped with a colourful crunchy biscuit crumb that’s been made with dairy-free butter, flour and blueberry puree.
Price: Six pack for $27
Where: blackstarpastry.com
3. Room Ten
You’re looking at the plain jain version of a hot cross bun if you want to show Room Ten some love this Easter. But the thing is, one of Sydney’s most iconic cafes, which just revealed a sophisticated new look, does everything so wonderfully well that they’ve presented the perfect hot cross standard. No flourishes necessary; just beautiful buttery bready brilliance.
Price: $5 each
Where: 10 Llankelly Pl, Potts Point NSW 2011
4. AP Bakery
It’s funny how one bakery has become so synonymous with top-quality baked goods in Sydney that it’s become a household name. Head along to A.P. House on the breezy Paramount House rooftop and you’ll find these fluffy hot cross buns brunched with a brown sugar and cardamom glaze. You can also grab them from A.P. Bakery in Newtown, at A.P. Place in the CBD or at A.P. Bread & Wine in Darlinghurst. They also have a stall at the Carriageworks Farmers Market every Saturday so you can find these A.P Bakery Hot Cross Buns there during April.
Price: Six pack for $29
Where: L2/80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
5. Humble Bakery
Humble Bakery is keeping things simple this year with traditional hot cross buns flavoured with ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, dried fruits, dried apricot, orange peel and honey. The hot cross buns are available in-store at all three locations for Humble Bakery, so you’ll find them in Surry Hills, CBD and Circular Quay.
Price: Six pack for $28
Where: Shop 2/50 Holt St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
6. Shadow Baking
Gelato Messina mastered the art of flaky experimental pastries when they opened Shadow Baking on Victoria Street a few years ago. You’ll find treats here that you won’t find anywhere else, so it’s no surprise to see them move far, far away from tradition. Hot X Scrolls are available now, filled with vanilla custard and candied fruit for a delicious flavour profile. There’s also a chocolate version with dark chocolate chips.
Price: TBC
Where: 243 Victoria St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
7. Fabbrica Bread Shop
You’ll want to join the queue spilling at all hours of the day out of Fabricca Bread Shop. Take your pick; there’s an outpost in Rozelle and one in Coogee, and they’re both exceptionally busy throughout the week. What do you get in return for your time? Housemade chai-spiced hot cross buns with ginger and cardamom played with currants and raisins, all smothered in butter.
Price: six pack for $30
Where: 733 Darling St, Rozelle NSW 2039
8. Baker Bleu
Double Bay’s ritzy locals are well taken care of for when Easter long weekend rolls around. The modest bakery has a solid reputation for elevated pastries and traditional breads, but they’re keeping it casual for these classic hot cross buns. You’re looking at notes of cinnamon and ginger buried amongst raisins and fresh orange pulp, which is then topped with that symbolic white cross. There’s a chocolate version as well, and this baking team isn’t being stingy with that rich, delicious Easter goodness.
Price: Six pack for $30
Where: 2 Guilfoyle Ave, Double Bay NSW 2028
9. Brickfields
One of Sydney’s best bakeries, Brickfields, isn’t about to sit this Easter season out. Although there’s plenty of competition vying for hot cross bun supremecy, Brickfields confidently struts onto the scene with currants, candied orange, apricots and cranberries, plus cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. It’s the classic recipe refined with a few modern twists.
Price: Six pack for $20
Where: 206 Cleveland St, Chippendale NSW 2008
10. Tuga Pastries
It’s hard to stand out as a bakery offering hot cross buns for Easter. Tuga Pastries does so by thinking bigger, supersizing the traditional hot cross bun with The B.I.G Bun, a seven-inch HCB filled with whipped honey butter and topped with spiced glaze, a white chocolate nest and speckled eggs. The bakery is also offering two traditional versions as well, including the hot choc buns with mixed spice, cinnamon and Callebaut dark chocolate.
Price: $40 (for The B.I.G Bun); six pack for $28 (for the standard versions)
Where: 10/112 McEvoy St, Alexandria NSW 2015
11. Sweet Belem
It’s hard to resist buying up a load of Portuguese tarts when you walk into Sweet Belem. The colourful inner-west bakery specialises in them, and makes the best pastel de nata you’ll find across the city. But those habit-forming treats will always be there. You want to switch your style a bit and go for one of the bakery’s fluffy hot cross buns with port-soaked raisins for a sweet, boozy finish and a custard cross to add a little bit of richness. There’s also a chocolate cross bun but we’re rocking with the standard one here.
Price: $5.50 each
Where: 35B New Canterbury Rd, Petersham NSW 2049
12. Ace Hotel
Surry Hills’ uber-hip Ace Hotel isn’t about to be left off the plate when it comes to Sydney’s insatiable love of hot cross buns. The property has hooked up with pastry king Andy Bowdy and Starward Whisky for a boozy reinvention of the holiday classic. Here you’ve got top-shelf fruit stuffed into a bun that’s been soaked in Starward Two-Fold Wheat and Single Malt whisky. The spiked flavour elevates your typical Hot Cross Bun profile.
Note you can only get these spiked buns from the hotel’s Good Chemistry laneway cafe. If you purchase two or more, you’ll be given a nice little Starward Old Fashioned cocktail at the bar as a complimentary add-on.
Price: $5 each
Where: 47-53 Wentworth Ave, Sydney NSW 2000
13. KOI Dessert Bar
Those creative sugar fiends at KOI Dessert Bar in Chippendale always manage to do things differently. For Easter 2025, that desire to be different has led to the Scotch Cross Bun, created in collaboration with Speyside’s iconic Benriach Distillery. You’re paying a bit more for this gorgeous treat, but it moves away from the stock-standard hot cross bun recipe with rich vanilla mousse infused with nutmeg and cinnamon before being spied with currants that have been soaked in the distillery’s The Original Ten whisky. Yum? Very.
You can grab these babies from KOI Dessert Bar outposts in Chippendale and Ryde.
Price: $22 each
Where: 6 Central Park Ave, Chippendale NSW 2008
14. Lune Croissantrie
Sydney’s newest bakery has already had a strong start, launching off its solid reputation for world-famous croissants with a massive store in Rosebery and a smaller one in Martin Place. Head along to either this Easter and you’ll find hot cross cruffins, stretching the limits of both a croissant and muffin with a little bit of DNA from your classic Hot Cross Bun thrown in for good measure.
Lune has been banging at this hybrid creation for awhile now, but this iteration uses Lune’s signature croissant dough.
Price: $10.50 each; six-pack for $63
Where: Shop N80.RT01 Metro Martin Place, 1 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000
15. Sonoma
Ever wonder why Hot Cross Buns had a cross on them? If you have, then you need to think about this a bit more. Religion. Easter…surely you get it? Sonoma gets it, which is why they’re getting a bit secular with it and replacing the cross entirely with an S. For Sonoma (not Superman).
These not-cross buns have been made with a more-is-more approach. You’ve got the bakery’s special blend of raisins, sultanas, candied orange, cranberries and apricot to bite your way into, while your palate dances across the coffee- and spice-steeped sugar glaze on top.
Price: $4 each; six-pack for $20
Where: Shop 11, East Esplanade Wharf, Manly, New South Wales 2095
16. Tokyo Lamington
Fancy some yuzu hot cross buns? How about lamington hot cross buns, or even hot crossed lamingtons? The ever-creative Tokyo Lamington has created all three for this year, giving the anti-egg crowd more than enough to last an entire long weekend.
Those yuzu hot cross buns present an interesting twist. They are zesty, citrus-forward twists on the Easter classic, with sultanas that have been macerated for three months before being added to a Japanese yuzu-infused spiced dough. You’ve got a tough choice for the other two: would you rather a hot cross bun that’s been flavoured with chocolate andcoconut like some kind of lamington stand-in, or would you prefer a lamington that’s been infused with the classic flavours of a hot cross bun? The only way to decide is to actually try them.
Price: $8 each (for hot cross lamingtons), $5 each for the buns
Where: 277 Australia St, Newtown NSW 2042
17. Top Impression
Keeping it simple is often the best way to go during Easter. If you don’t care for any of the extra theatrics and just want a plain, simple and delicious hot cross bun then head along to Top Impression Bakery at Victoria Cross North Sydney this week. The team is giving away their classic fruit hot cross buns with any purchase from 9am on Wednesday, April 16 and Thursday, April 17.
Price: Free with any purchase
Where: 30 Denison St, North Sydney NSW 2060
What goes into a traditional hot cross bun?
A traditional hot cross bun recipe focuses on keeping the dough consistent, big and fluffy. These yeasty sweet buns are generally filled with spices and various fruits before being decorated with a white cross to represent the crucifix. If we’re sticking strictly to tradition, hot cross buns are only eaten on Good Friday. But they are often so popular that they are popping up on supermarket shelves as early as January each year.
Why you should trust this list
Our round of hot cross buns in Sydney has been put together by extensive (see: delicious) research that involved the Sydney Travel Guide team buying each of these buns and simply enjoying them at the office. We discussed them as a team and the ones we didn’t like simply weren’t included on this list of Sydney’s best hot cross buns.
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