It's Marks and Spencer Hot Cross Bun season! The 2 for £2.50 deal is back, and very hard to resist.

The retailer sells 42 million hot cross buns every year and for 2017 is selling an exciting range of hot cross buns with nine different varieties for customers to enjoy. All of the M&S hot cross buns are made by Gunstones in Sheffield. To meet demand for the buns in the run up to Easter, the factory produces 24 hours per day.

The first new flavour to introduce you to is the ‘Savoury Cheese Bun’ is made with a blend of two cheeses, juicy Turkish sultanas, onion, chives and of course the traditional hot cross bun spice mix. It is said to be the perfect pairing of fruit and cheese and delicious stuffed with bacon for a gourmet bacon butty. It's the first savoury Hot Cross Bun, and it's well worth picking up to try.

M&S has also launched the first carrot cake/hot cross fusion – the Carrot Cross. A delicious bun made using carrot slithers, citrus and spice flavours and of course stuffed with a moreish cream cheese frosting. As this is a stuffed bun, you get two per pack, but they are handy on the run as you don't need to find butter or a knife to fill them yourself.

Cream cheese filled carrot cake Hot Cross Bun

M&S Hot Cross Bun Product Developer, Sadia Usman, commented, “We wanted to have some fun with our hot cross bun and create a range of new flavours for our customers to enjoy. Our savoury bun is amazing served as a bacon butty, whilst the Carrot Cross is perfect for afternoon tea.”

My favourite new addition however, is the Chocolate Orange flavour buns. I've already gone through two packs. I'm not a huge sultana fan, so I always loved the toffee and fudge variety, but this new delight is even better. There's just a slight hint of spice to it.