Waitrose No.1 Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns Review

Today’s review takes us to Waitrose, where I picked up the Waitrose No.1 Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.

These are not new or anything, but they were new to me, because I had never tried them before. They were on offer for £2, and I think they are normally £2.50, so I thought I would try them.

I went through some of the Waitrose No.1 range because I wanted to try something that looked quite good, and these grabbed me. They did not seem too expensive either, especially for something a bit more treat-like.

🌱 Are They Vegan?

I think these are technically vegan, or at least I couldn’t see anything obvious in the ingredients that wasn’t. It does matter for me more because of the milk side of things, as I have a mild milk allergy.

I don’t have a severe milk allergy, so I should be alright with things that may contain milk, but obviously if you have a serious allergy, check the packet properly yourself. I am not being held responsible for hot cross bun drama.

🍞 What Waitrose Says

The packet says these are two hot cross buns made with Belgian dark chocolate chunks, sourdough, and fat-reduced cocoa powder.

I don’t know if anyone is that worried about fat-reduced cocoa powder when they are eating a chocolate hot cross bun, but there you go.

Waitrose also says these are their most chocolatey buns, enriched with cocoa and packed with chunks of dark Belgian chocolate. The crosses are applied by hand, and they are made with sourdough for extra flavour.

We do like sourdough, so that sounded good to me.

Waitrose recommends eating them toasted with creamy butter and marmalade, but I didn’t have all that. I just used Vitalite, because I still buy the dairy-free one, and I still like it.

🧊 CFS And Being Organised

This was meant to be for my tea, lunch, or whatever you want to call it. I had soup earlier because I was fatigued, and even though it was apparently warm outside, I was absolutely freezing.

That is how it goes sometimes with CFS. Some days I get the hot way, and some days I get the absolutely freezing way.

I also made sure not to wear a white shirt for this review, because chocolate and white clothing is just asking for trouble. That is what I call being organised.

✨ Shiny, Sticky And Very Chocolatey

The buns looked very shiny when I got them out, and once I cut one open, you could see the dark chocolate inside.

They were also quite sticky, so I don’t know if I would recommend eating these outside. This feels more like an eat-at-home situation unless you want to look like you have been fighting a chocolate cupboard.

I toasted one and spread some Vitalite on it, then got stuck in.

And yeah, this was very good.

😮 Better Than I Expected

I thought this might be a bit sickly, but it was actually better than I expected. Yes, it is sweet, but the dark chocolate really helps because it gives it that richer taste.

It is very chocolatey, but not in a cheap way. If you like dark chocolate, I think you will probably really like these.

Taste-wise, this was exactly what I needed.

It was one of those products where you take a bite and think, yeah, this is hitting a high score from that first taste in your mouth.

🍫 Dark Chocolate Does The Work

The dark chocolate chunks were really good, and the bun had that rich chocolate taste without just feeling like sugar overload.

It is still sweet, of course. This is a chocolate hot cross bun, so you are expecting it to be sweet. I’m not sure anyone is going into this expecting something with no sugar.

The sourdough side gives it a nice texture as well. It felt like a proper supermarket treat rather than something boring.

🐣 My Easter Thing Is Done

I don’t do loads of desserts or sweet reviews because that is not really my main thing, but because it was getting near Easter, I thought I should do at least one Easter-style product.

So there we go. I have done my Easter thing.

My mum is more traditional with hot cross buns. She does not really understand all the different flavours. For her, a hot cross bun should probably just be a normal hot cross bun.

But I am not that worried. I like trying the different ones, and these sounded good.

🛒 Worth Getting From Waitrose?

For a supermarket hot cross bun, this was very, very good.

Obviously, if you went to a proper bakery, you might find something better, but most people are buying these sorts of things from supermarkets. So if we are judging it as a supermarket product, I think Waitrose have done really well here.

At £2 on offer, they are definitely worth it. I would even say they might be worth going to Waitrose for if you like this sort of thing.

At the full price of £2.50, I still think they are worth trying, especially if you like dark chocolate and have a sweet tooth.

⭐ Score

I’m giving the Waitrose No.1 Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns a 9.5 out of 10.

Yes, you may get better from a proper bakery, but we are testing supermarket products here. And for me, I haven’t tasted any supermarket hot cross buns as nice as these.

That is why they are getting such a high score.

They are very chocolatey, the dark chocolate is rich, the bun has a nice texture, and they feel like a proper treat.

You will not regret having one if you like dark chocolate and sweet things.

Very, very good.

Stay Sneaky, everyone.