Hot cross buns

The jury is still out!

Too right. I like to stalk around the kitchen looking disapprovingly at DP when she eats them before GF while being a total martyr about it. Occasionally as they're in the house anyway and I don't want them to go stale I will eat one, but under protest.

They should only be eaten on GF!

Not because of God or anything, but because they're a traditional, seasonal foodstuff.

Supermarkets should make a spiced bun for general consumption, people do seem to want to eat them all year round. Then we can roll out the crossed buns for GF.

(Lightheated BTW, I'm an atheist, but I am very particular about seasonal foods. It makes them better!).

@HereintheloveofChristIstand which shop won?

We've recently 'discovered' the hot cross bun bacon butty... smoked streaky on a toasted hot cross bun.

It's incredible (has to be a fairly standard HCB not some fancy chocolate/apple/toffee abomination, the extra spiced is fine). Salty/sweet/crunchy/soft... mmm!

I like both

Started a debate about HCB in our church Lent group the other day. One lady is ADEMANT that they can only be consumed on Good Friday. I am like eeerrrr I eat them as soon as they come in the shops, do a consumer test to see which shop has the best ones and then stock the freezer.
I am a massive hedonistic sinner and am going straight to hell hahahaha (joke, it was light hearted and we all respected each otter's views RE HCB consumption)

I'd say it's just the same as putting them in the oven, just for much shorter time.

Any normal person toasts them. They are horrible untoasted. The ONLY exception to this is if they have been freshly baked and just out of the oven and are still warm. In which case, you could split and butter them without toasting.

On a similar note, I’m also baffled and repulsed by anyone who eats a scotch egg cold straight from the packet 🤢 You HAVE to heat a scotch egg in the oven so that the sausage meat is hot and you get a lovely crispy coating.

Has anyone tried putting them in the air fryer?

Definitely toasted. I wouldn't eat them any other way unless they have been freshly baked and still hot from the oven.
The clue is in their name, they have to be hot! 😁

I love them toasted, love the smell. They just wouldn’t be the same cold.

The correct way is to eat a cold one while you’re waiting for another one to toast 🤷‍♀️

This is why I usually don’t buy them - I’m a hot cross bun gannet 😳

I don’t eat butter but enjoy them with raspberry jam or almond butter (or both!). In the past I used to love them with Nutella.

Now I need to be strong enough to walk past them despite desperately wanting to try one with cheese as suggested by pp…

Preference is toaster and buttered but I would also eat them straight out the packet. To make it top tier add a slice of cheese after it is toasted and buttered.

Try it, decent mature cheddar goes so well with anything in the Xmas cake flavour family 😀

Hot cross buns are for Good Friday only!

It irks me that seasonal foods have become a pretty much all-year-round thing.

(See also, mince pies and any egg-shaped chocolate).

Fruit bread and teacakes are available if you have a hankering.

I was brought up to microwave them. Don't think my mum liked raisins in the toaster. Moved on with do and he was shocked by this.

You will not regret it.

Just had two, toasted with butter and cheese after being heavily influenced by this thread to drive to lidl and buy some so i can have my first hot cross buns of the year!

Always toasted, very carefully though as the sugar makes them burn so quickly.

Personally think they would be too claggy to eat straight from the packet.

They do also make the best ever bread and butter pudding 😋

No - I don't toast or eat cold - we warm them in the oven so they're hot and gooey on the inside

Cheese??????

im a fan of buttered malt loaf too. No excuse for not toasting a hot cross bun🤣
Totally different textures.

ooh, now you're talking. I like cheese with Christmas cake so will definitely be trying this. Thank you

Toasted always! Work did a coffee and cake morning for IWD and they had cold hot cross buns (no toaster) and I thought it was so bizarre but clearly there are people out there who would have still eaten them 😅
Also not opposed to some of the non-traditional flavours, Sainsbury’s do a lemon and white chocolate which is just heavenly

Yes! Nearly bought some as they've conveniently placed them next to the queue in Sainsbury's the other day, but they were apple ones only!

Why mess with perfection?!

I mean the clue's in the title isn't it?!

DH insists on grilling hot cross buns so only the cut side gets toasted but I'll usually chuck them in the toaster.

Those raisins and sultanas are absolutely bloody gorgeous when warmed up - squidgy and delicious!

I keep toying with the idea of getting a toaster for the office kitchen, but know it would be me that ends up having to clean it to stop it becoming a fire hazard, but this thread is really, really making me want HCBs now!