New Asda Dunkers (Bakery)

Asda have some lovely new flavours in their Chosen By You oaty biscuits range. These Dunkers come in three varieties, Oat & Honey, Fruit, or Chocolate. I've been trying to find the Chocolate ones to review but they always seem to be sold out whenever I try. Instead I bought a pack of the Oat & Honey, a complete bargain at only 60p for 5 large oat cookies.

Image: Asda

Apparently Asda have launched this biscuits to be more robust than the usual cookie to withstand dunking in a hot cup of tea. The shape and consistency has been designed with this in mind to ensure the biscuits won't break or crumble when dunked.

The texture is very good, with a soft and slightly chewy consistency. They're not too sweet and are packed full of oats which makes them very filling. They're just a big oaty biscuit, like a much larger and softer Hob Nob. I actually made a cup of tea for the first time in weeks (I can't drink tea in hot weather), just to test out the dunkability, and they passed with flying colours. The rectangular shape is the perfect size for dunking and there were absolutely no crumbling incidents.

Image: Asda

Meanwhile, I'm still on the lookout for the Chocolate Dunkers!

Check out Asda's funny article on the "science" behind the Oat & Honey Dunkers - Are your biscuits tough enough? HERE

Grocery Gems Verdict: Asda Oat & Honey Dunkers

RATING: 8 out of 10
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Asda.
Price: £0.60p.

Sedita Attack - Hazelnut Wafer bar

Another interesting chocolate wafer find from the fab @Banjo_Chocolate. Similar to the Sedita Lina (reviewed HERE), the Sedita Attack is also a wafer bar from Slovakia and comes in lots of different flavours including this Hazelnut. The yellow and black packaging might look more akin to a warning symbol but I like the commitment to the Attack theme with this bold look.

The wafer layers are lovely and light, with a a good crunchy quality. The chocolate covering and layers have a decent amount of hazelnut aroma and this continues through to the actual flavour. Chocolate and hazelnut is always a winning combination and that is certainly the case here too. An all round great snack for wafer fans.

Thank you so much to @Banjo_Chocolate, for sending me this Sedita Attack. Please like the Bring Back Banjo Chocolate Bar Facebook page to get Mars to bring the Banjo back in production!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Sedita Attack - Hazelnut

RATING: 7.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: I'll definitely try to find some of their other flavours.
Purchased: Check out your local Polish or East European grocery shops.

New Walkers Mighty Lights - Roast Chicken

Walkers has added to it's rapidly growing range of kids snacks with these new 30% lower fat Mighty Lights. These come hot on the heels of two previous new additions aimed at kids; Baked Stars and the wholegrain Hoops & Crosses, both of which are lower in fat than standard crisps. There are three flavours of crinkle cut crisps in the new Mighty Lights range; Cheese & Onion, Lightly Salted, and this Roast Chicken. All are free from artificial colours, preservatives, MSG, and are suitable for vegetarians.

The packaging fits in well with the rest of the Walkers range and the cheerful character on the front was instantly appealing to my boys. I like the name Mighty Lights too, it's quite fun but instantly conveys the tasty-but-light message that Walkers are going for with these.

The crinkle cut crisps were all decently sized with a lovely golden colouring. The Roast Chicken flavouring is exactly what you would expect from Walkers, and is very similar to the chicken flavour already available in their standard crisps range. It's certainly a great flavour for kids because it's not too heavily seasoned but is still very tasty. The crisps themselves have a great crunchy texture without being too greasy. A thumbs up all round from us and we'll certainly be trying the other flavours in the range!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Walkers Mighty Lights - Roast Chicken

RATING: 8.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: (per 25g bag) 114 calories, 2.1g protein, 15.1g carb., 4.7g fat.
Vegetarian: Suitable for Vegetarians.
Purchased: Asda.
Price: £1.00 (special offer).

Limited Edition Cadbury Cherry Ripe Burst (Australia)

I picked up this Limited Edition Cherry Ripe Burst from the CyberCandy stall at HyperJapan last weekend. I've always wanted to try the Cherry Ripe bar, not just because of it's a cherry and coconut filling, but mainly to figure out why this has been Australia's most popular chocolate bar for years.

A standard Cadbury Cherry Ripe bar consists of a cherry flavoured coconut filling wrapped in dark chocolate. The Limited Edition Cherry Ripe Burst is quite similar but has the bonus of an extra cherry layer.

It's a slightly weird fact that even though I love coconut I really don't like Bounty chocolate bars at all. This is mainly due to the sugary nature and soggy texture of the Bounty filling, It just doesn't do anything for me at all. I much prefer coconut when it's used just as a flavour. The only reason that I mention that is because, even though the Cherry Ripe Burst has a very similar filling to a Bounty, it's an infinitely more enjoyable chocolate bar.

The cherry and coconut combination here is sweet and delicious. The extra jam-like cherry layer not only gives an extra burst of fruity flavour, which is very welcome, it also helps to curb the dreaded Bounty like texture. Meanwhile, the outer dark chocolate coating, whilst being quite thin, complements the coconut and cherry flavours perfectly with it's sweetly dark flavour. 

It's certainly a lovely tasting bar to eat in the summer. I had kept mine in the fridge (not something I usually do with chocolate) and it was absolutely delicious when eaten slightly cold. The whole thing is about a million times nicer than I thought it would be when faced with the description, and I can understand now why it's been such a popular bar in Australia. It's definitely a bar I would want to buy again in the future.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Cadbury Cherry Ripe Burst

RATING: 8.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Available from CyberCandy. 
Nutrition: 230 calories.
Price: £1.89.

KP Snackers Salted and Spicy Chilli Review

These Snackers from KP have been available for a few months now and are currently on a buy one get one free offer at Tesco. They're a simple, but very satisfying, mix of potato snacks and jumbo peanuts. There are three flavours available; Salted, Spicy Chilli and Salt & Vinegar.

The Salted variety is described as a mix of salted jumbo peanuts, Hula Hoops, mini tortilla chips, and crunchy corn strips. It's basically like having a couple of packets of crisps and a bag of nuts on the go at the same time but all conveniently placed in one bag!

There is a decent distribution of all the various ingredients, including the jumbo peanuts. The flavour is simply salted and extremely enjoyable because of all the different types of snack within. The mix of tortillas and potato chips works very well with the peanuts and creates a fun snacking combo. I think these would be great for serving as a party snack.

The Spicy Chilli is described as a mix of spicy chilli flavour jumbo peanuts, crunchy corn strips, mini tortilla chips and multigrain crispy bites. The elements are all similar to the Salted mix, but with the wavy multigrain chips instead of Hula Hoops.

The flavour of these is more varied than the Salted version, with each type of snack having a different level of chilli. The mini tortillas have quite a light and sweeter chilli flavour whilst the jumbo peanuts are quite strongly flavoured with a spicy chilli. The overall chilli flavour has a slight kick to it, and builds with intensity but is still fairly mild and enjoyable for the whole family. Another great snack mix that I would definitely buy again.

Grocery Gems Verdict: KP Snackers

RATING: 8.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition: 181 calories per 32g.
Vegetarian: Yes.
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £1.99p for 160g bag (also buy one get one free).