How Many Calories in a Hot Cross Bun?
How many calories in a hot cross bun turns out to be a pleasant surprise: 218 kcal for a typical 70 g bun, from 312 kcal per 100 g, rising to 292 kcal once 10 g of butter melts into it. That undercuts the croissant it shares the breakfast table with, on roughly half the fat.
You'd need to walk about 44 minutes to burn the 218 calories in a 70 g bun.
How long does it take to burn off a hot cross bun?
A 70 g bun is 218 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 218 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 44 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 27 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 31 min |
| Jogging | 26 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 48 min |
Times are for a 154 lb (11 st) adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (70 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Quick facts
- Per bun, toasted and buttered
- Bun vs croissant vs scone
- Where the sugar comes from
- Most popular hot cross bun brands
- FAQ
Quick facts
Homemade-style hot cross bun, per the UK government's food analysis:
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per bun (70 g) | % RI (per bun) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 312 kcal / 1,305 kJ | 218 kcal / 912 kJ | 11% |
| Protein | 7.3 g | 5.1 g | 10% |
| Carbohydrates | 58.3 g | 40.8 g | 16% |
| Fat | 5.8 g | 4.1 g | 6% |
| – of which saturates | 1.95 g | 1.4 g | 7% |
| Fibre | – (not published for this item) | – | – |
| Sugar | 23.4 g | 16.4 g | 18% |
| Salt | 0.19 g | 0.13 g | 2% |
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from CoFID, the UK government’s Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified August 2026. How we verify our data →
RI = Reference Intake of an average adult (2,000 kcal a day).
On the plate, this is a carbohydrate-and-sugar item, not a fat item: 41 g of carbs and 16 g of sugar per bun, but barely 4 g of fat. One stroke of the butter knife reverses that balance, which is why the butter question matters more than the bun question.
Per bun, toasted and buttered
| Serving | Calories |
|---|---|
| 1 bun (~70 g), plain | 218 kcal |
| 1 bun, toasted, no spread | 218 kcal |
| 1 bun with 10 g butter | 292 kcal |
| 2 buns, plain | 436 kcal |
Toasting changes the texture, not the number: driving off a little steam does not remove calories. Butter does the changing, at 74 kcal per 10 g knob, and a hot toasted bun melts butter fast enough that most people use more than they think.
The realistic Easter breakfast, two toasted buns with butter, comes to about 584 kcal. That is a proper meal, not a snack. One buttered bun at 292 kcal, with its 5 g of protein, is the version that fits an ordinary morning.
Size is the other quiet variable. The 218 kcal figure describes a standard 70 g bun; supermarket mini buns can weigh half that, and the luxury fruited ones run heavier. At 312 kcal per 100 g, every extra 10 g of bun is another 31 kcal, so a quick glance at the pack weight tells you which kind of bun you are actually holding.
Bun vs croissant vs scone
| Bakery item | Typical piece | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Crumpet | each | 95 kcal |
| Hot cross bun | ~70 g bun | 218 kcal |
| Croissant | each | 224 kcal |
| Scone | medium | 229 kcal |
| Bagel | each | 230 kcal |
The verdict: the crumpet wins on calories by a street, at 95 kcal, if all you want is a warm base for butter. Among the sweet contenders the hot cross bun quietly beats croissant, scone and bagel while carrying about half a croissant's fat, and it is the only one on the table that brings fruit with it.
The gap to the rest of the bakery is wider still. Next to a jam doughnut, the bun is the restrained option, sweetness supplied mostly by currants rather than a sugar-and-jam payload.
Where the sugar comes from
A bun holds 16.4 g of sugar, from 23.4 g per 100 g. Part of that is added sugar and the sticky glaze; a good share sits inside the currants and raisins themselves. Fruit is why the CoFID analysis, the UK government's food composition dataset, puts the bun among the sweeter breads rather than the cakes.
For scale, the NHS caps free sugars at 30 g a day for adults. One bun's sugar is comfortably affordable inside that; two buns plus a sweetened coffee start to crowd the limit. If you are watching overall calories, it is the butter, not the sugar, that moves the total fastest.
Most popular hot cross bun brands in the United Kingdom
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United Kingdom, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each label.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Morrisons Hot Cross Buns | 310 kcal |
| Tesco Hot Cross Buns | 290 kcal |
| Co-op Hot Cross Buns | 267 kcal |
| Tesco Finest Bramley Apple & Cinnamon | 266 kcal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels.
FAQ
How many calories in a hot cross bun with butter?
292 kcal for a 70 g bun with a 10 g knob of butter, against 218 kcal plain. Butter adds 74 kcal per knob, and a hot toasted bun soaks it up quickly, so a generous spreader can easily add double that. The bun is the cheap part of the plate.
How many calories in 2 hot cross buns?
436 kcal plain, or about 584 kcal if both are buttered. Two buttered buns is a full breakfast's worth of energy, roughly a quarter of a 2,000 kcal day, with 33 g of sugar between them. One bun with butter at 292 kcal is the easier daily habit.
Do toasted hot cross buns have fewer calories?
No, a toasted bun is still 218 kcal. Toasting drives off a little water and changes texture, but the energy stays put. The number only moves when something lands on top, and 10 g of butter takes the bun to 292 kcal.
How much sugar is in a hot cross bun?
16.4 g per bun, from 23.4 g per 100 g. It is a blend of added sugar, glaze and the natural sugars in the dried fruit. Against the NHS 30 g daily free-sugar guideline, one bun fits without drama; the trouble starts when buns come in pairs.
Hot cross bun or croissant - which has fewer calories?
The bun, narrowly: 218 kcal against 224 for a croissant, but with roughly half the fat, 4 g versus a croissant's laminated-butter load. The bun also brings 5 g of protein and fruit. As pastry-adjacent breakfasts go, it is the better daily pick.
Are hot cross buns healthy?
At 218 kcal with 5 g of protein and very little saturated fat, a plain bun is a reasonable breakfast bread, better than most sweet bakery. The sugar, 16 g a bun, is the thing to respect. Butter and a second bun are what turn it into a 584-kcal event.
How many calories in supermarket hot cross buns?
Recipes and sizes vary by range: mini buns, luxury fruited versions and flavoured editions all land differently, so the pack label is the number to trust. The 218 kcal figure for a standard 70 g bun is the right mental baseline for comparing them.
How much salt is in a hot cross bun?
Just 0.13 g per bun, from 0.19 g per 100 g, which makes it one of the lowest-salt items in the bakery aisle. Salted butter nudges that up slightly. For anyone tracking salt against the 6 g daily maximum, the bun is a rounding error.
Similar foods
- Tortilla wrap — 196 kcal per large wrap
- Jam doughnut — ~241 kcal each
- Sausage roll — 348 kcal a Greggs roll
- Scone — 229 kcal per medium scone
- Bagel — 230 kcal each
- Baguette — 658 kcal whole
Have the bun, keep the count
Point the camera at your plate and BodyPal logs the bun and the butter separately, so the 218 and the 74 both end up where they belong.
