While Easter is often associated with chocolate and bunnies, there is another seasonal item that makes an appearance in almost everyone’s kitchen: hot cross buns. Whether you’re a purist who shuns chocolate chips or someone who welcomes change, there’s a hot cross bun out there for you.
This family-owned and operated bakery, located in Sherwood Park, has served up tasty treats for more than 50 years. The fourth-generation bakers don’t allow any nuts into their facility, meaning that people with nut allergies can feel safe ordering some baked goods. In addition to bread, pastries, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, meat pies and sausage rolls, they also whip up hot cross buns for Easter. They also do custom orders, and can accommodate some dietary concerns, such as swapping out low-carb dough and nixing dairy, in some of their goodies.
Good news, hot cross bun lovers! Bonton Bakery offers this seasonal treat as soon as Valentine’s Day wraps up, all the way to Easter. Their fruity, spicy buns, with light lines of icing, are so tempting you may want to start eating them sooner rather than later. Pick up a half-dozen of these festive, fun treats, in addition to the bread, bagels, buns and baked goods offered year-round.
Cobs Bread really knows how to do hot cross buns well. They offer not one but three varieties of everyone’s favourite Easter treat (after chocolate bunnies, obviously): traditional fruit, cranberry orange and chocolate chip. While nothing beats chocolate, why not try all three kinds and see which one wins your heart? Every flavour of bun features the traditional currants and raisins, resulting in a spicy, aromatic treat. Buy ‘em by the bun or the half-dozen.
This shop whips up hot cross buns in that crucial week prior to Easter each year. They may not offer them for a long time but that’s part of what makes the hot cross buns at Bonjour Bakery so special – unless you stock up and freeze some, you’ll only be able to taste their slightly sweet and spicy buns for seven days of the year. Bonus: This bakery uses Alberta wheat and bakes everything fresh daily, with no preservatives or additives.
Located on Whyte Avenue, this cute little German bakery began work on batches of hot cross buns at the end of February, and will continue until Easter. Their delicious Easter treats fly off the shelves, especially in the week leading up to the holiday, so they recommend pre-ordering hot cross buns in order to guarantee access to this sweet and spicy bun-dessert hybrid.
This European bakery makes six-packs of dreamy, fresh hot cross buns around Easter time. These soft, big buns, complete with traditional spices and just the right amount of icing, are always ideal for breakfast or a snack. Snap them up while they’re fresh, because they don’t last long! The bakery is usually closed on Good Friday but opens the next day, just in case you need some extra goodies.
The market’s bakery sells fluffy, fresh hot cross buns in singles or by the half-dozen. If the traditional spicy and sweet buns with currants, raisins and icing don’t appeal to you for some reason, they also bake up a gorgeous, decadent hand-braided Easter bread, with lemon peel, raisins and almonds.