With Easter around the corner, the sweet smell of hot cross buns is starting to waft out of bakeries across Melbourne. With so many on offer, it’s hard to know who makes the best hot cross buns in Melbourne. Is it the traditional take? Is it a chocolate-filled number? Or is it the undignified 'fruitless'? Luckily, you have Urban List doing the hard yards for you.
For the best hot cross buns Melbourne has to offer for 2025, keep on reading:
Morning Market
Various Locations
Image: Morning Market | Supplied
Morning Market have entered their hot cross bun era and we’re here for it. For the first time ever, the gang at Morning Market are baking their own hot cross buns and this is no ‘first pancake’ situation. The bakers have spent months perfecting the new recipe. The dough is infused with a warming combo of cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg and clove. It’s then folded with a delightful and plentiful array of pastis and brandy-soaked fruit including everything from orange to raisins. Hit up the Fitzroy or Prahran location where you’ll find these bad boys in store now until Easter Saturday. Or you can pre-order online here.
To Be Frank
Various Locations
Image: To Be Frank | Supplied
The only thing better than hearing that To Be Frank are already slinging their mouth-watering hot cross buns, is hearing that they’ll soon be available at the about-to-be-opened Brunswick East Village location as well. Word on the street is the new digs will be open in time for Easter, and suddenly we’re not so sad that summer has come to an end. Traditional hot cross buns are in store now, with special flavours dropping soon. Check their Insta for all the updates.
Antara
128 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Image: Antara | Supplied
The wood oven at Antara is what makes the magic happen, as well as their unreal flavour combinations for their hot cross buns. The secret? A maceration of their fruit with rum, giving it that extra richness that goes above and beyond. But this year they’re leading with a savoury number, a spicy cheese, rosemary and chilli topped with hot honey which we’re going to call the breakfast of champions. They’re also bending baked good genres with a laminated hot cross bun scroll loaded with cardamon and a choc-cherry chonker that’s our new obsession. They’re also slinging a vegan coconut creation that has just the right texture and bounce. Visit them in the CBD or you can order online closer to Easter.
Pretzel
Various Locations
Image: Pretzel Australia | Supplied
Step aside, traditional hot cross buns—Pretzel Australia has reimagined the Easter classic with its limited-edition Hot Cross Bun Pretzel. This playful mash-up wraps the warm, spiced sweetness of a fruit-studded bun into the iconic twist of a soft pretzel thats just begging to be torn apart! Crowned with a dreamy glaze of cream cheese— It’s perfect for those who like their Easter treats with a side of surprise. This exclusive seasonal special is a must-try before it disappears like chocolate eggs on Easter morning. Find it at Pretzel stores across Melbourne—but don’t wait ‘cause this twisty treat won’t stick around forever. Place your order now.
Agathé Bakery
Various Locations
Image: Agathé Bakery | Supplied
The handcrafted hot cross buns at Agathé Bakery hit differently. The original classic HCBs have all the usual suspects as well as a delectable spice blend from Gewurzhaus. If you’re into something a bit less conventional, you honestly couldn’t be in for more of a treat. There’s a coffee, pecan & caramelised white chocolate HCB that has us chomping at the bit. Or for the chocolate fanatics, there’s the triple chocolate and cranberry flavour which is dotted with milk, white and dark chocolate throughout. They’re available now until Sunday 20 April at both their South Melbourne Market stall and Royal Arcade CBD store.
Hochi Mama
Various Locations
The hot cross bao is one seriously drool-worthy Easter treat. It’s a scoop of salted caramel, pistachio & vanilla ice cream inside the warm, fluffy texture of a bao with the spiced warmth of a hot cross bun. The team at Hochi Mama have paired up with Wonderbao to create this invention and we’re officially indebted to them. They’re available at Hochi Mama in Richmond and the CBD from 17 - 21 April. You can book your table here.
Penny For Pound
Various Locations
Image: Penny For Pound | Supplied
There's hot cross buns, and then there's fun twists that combine your favourite pastries with a hot cross bun—Penny For Pound have both. A strong contender for the best hot cross buns Melbourne has to offer, go all-natural with the traditional fruity bun, or die and go to chocolate heaven with a choc-soaked bun.
You can stick to that, but we recommend going all out with a Hot Cross-Ant: a flaky croissant filled with cinnamon and orange-spiced almond frangipane before the final addition of a signature white cross. We haven’t even told you the best part yet… You can buy them fresh in-store, or get a bake-at-home frozen pack and start your Easter morning with spiced, buttery croissant aromas wafting through your home. They’re available 1 - 20 April, and you can pre-order here.
Ferguson Plarre
Various Locations
Image: Ferguson Plarre | Supplied
With 120 years of experience, the team at Ferguson Plarre know how to make a hot cross bun. While the chocolate chip variety is the answer to every chocolate-lover's dreams, it’s no surprise the classic hot cross buns are three times more popular at this bakehouse. The recipe has been perfected over more than a century, and they say the secret is a dash of orange juice for extra sweetness. At just $9.90 for a half dozen, these are serious contenders for best hot cross buns in Melbourne if you’re after an affordable option. Find them in store or order online here to nail down your buns.
Brunetti Classico
Carlton, Coburg, Moonee Ponds & Tullamarine
Image: Brunetti Classico | Supplied
This Easter, Brunetti Classico is spicing up its hot cross bun game with Pistachio and Nutella flavours alongside its traditional offering. Owner Fabio Angele says the new varieties are a response to rising cocoa prices and growing demand for alternative Easter treats. “Hot cross buns have always been a best-seller, and this year we’re adding Pistachio and Nutella to the mix,” he explains. Available in single portions ($4.90 for your trad number, $5.50 for pistachio or Nutella). These indulgent buns are perfect for Easter brunch. Order online over here.
Tivoli Road Bakery
3 Tivoli Road, South Yarra
Not one for half-measures, the institutional bakery destination, Tivoli Road Bakery has long been lorded as one of the finest establishments in Melbourne to tackle Easter buns. Made with elite precision and featuring a to-die-for brown sugar glaze, this is a recipe that’s been refined year on year, down to fine art, with that perfect mixed peel twinge to every bite. Even though they churn out a staggering amount of the hefty buns each day they still walk out the door at a staggering rate so ensure you’re there pre 11am if you want to secure one.
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Falco
Various Locations
Image credit: Falco | Supplied
A local favourite and Collingwood icon (now with a store in Abbotsford), Falco is the small-batch bakery known for its rustic loaves and flakey pastries. Their hot cross buns are some of Melbourne’s finest, and if there’s one thing this city needs in 2025, it’s a healthy dose of wholesome baked goods from some small businesses. The best part, Falco's HCBs are available right now. Get to it.
KOI Dessert Bar
100 Queen Street, Melbourne CBD
Image: KOI Dessert Bar x Benriach Distillery | Supplied
Meet the adult’s boozy take on the classic HCB: the Scotch Cross Bun. Family run dessert restaurant, KOI Dessert Bar has teamed up with Benriach Distillery to add a little pep (read: Whiskey) to your hot cross bun. It’s a vanilla mousse infused with spices and currants which are soaked in Benriach’s single malt whiskey, all wrapped up in KOI’s dessert finesse. They even gift a little present with your SCB, a 50ml bottle of whiskey for you to enjoy. Available in store 1 - 17 April.
Rustica
Various Locations
Image: Rustica | Supplied
The sourdough specialists at Rustica sure know how to make bread, and luckily for us that transfers over into some mouth-wateringly good hot cross buns. Take your pick from the classic, featuring plump, juicy buns, filled with the usual collection of fruity goodness along with pureed oranges and a secret blend of spices. Or if you’re strictly a fruit-less HCB consumer, get your hands on the dark choc variety. Of course, if you’re really feeling freaky you’d be crazy to go past the Hot Cross Bun Donut. Think Rustica’s traditional hot cross bun dough, fried then filled with a vanilla, cardamom and brandy creme along with sultanas and currants, then rolled in cardamom sugar and crossed with white chocolate. Yum. Get them from any Rustica store from 7 March, or order online here.
American Doughnut Kitchen
Shop 803 Prahran Market, South Yarra
Image: American Doughnut Kitchen x Melbourne Cocoa | Supplied
American Doughnut Kitchen have paired up with Melbourne Cocoa to give the hot cross bun a serious glow up this year. Their Hot Cross Ganache Doughnut takes the classic cinnamon-dusted doughnut we all know and love, tops it off with a chocolatey cross and serves it up with a delicious pot of Melbourne Cocoa’s milk chocolate ganache. It’s warm, it’s gooey, and it’s only available during Easter week at their Prahran Market store.
Baker Bleu
Various Locations
Image credit: Baker Bleu | Supplied
Baker Bleu are keeping things classic with their humble take on the traditional HCB. This bun has notes of cinnamon, ginger, the finest Australian raisins and fresh orange pulp. New to the menu this year is a sour cherry and chocolate hot cross bun, which is delightfully dotted with sour cherries and dark chocolate, and then finished with a cocoa-infused cross. These buns are best paired with a thick layer of butter and coffee. They’re ready for walk-in purchases at the Cremorne, Caulfield North and Hawksburn stores. Or you can order online here.
Phillippa’s
Various Locations
Image: Phillippa's | Supplied
Bakery queen, Phillippa Grogan, is known for using only the best ingredients and it shows. The traditional HCBs at Phillippa’s are filled with organic vine fruit and house-made candied peel from unwaxed oranges. But this year she’s also unveiling some other Easter goodies to accompany your buns. Think gingerbread Easter eggs and honey bunny biscuits. You can see the full Easter collection and put in an order here.
Cellar Bar
80 Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
Image: Cellar Door | Supplied
If you’re looking for a HCB in the CBD you can’t go past Cellar Bar. This Italian restaurant might be best known for their fresh pasta, but the pastries are just as good and when Easter rolls around that includes hot cross buns as well. These delightfully soft and fruity buns are available for pre-order from 1 - 17 April, and you can place your order here.
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