Tesco Melting Snowman White Chocolate Cookies

A quick review for these new Tesco Christmas Melting Snowman White Chocolate Cookies. I previously reviewed the Tesco Mince Pie Cookies, which are quite similar, HERE. The Melting Snowman cookies are described as soft, chewy cookies with a white chocolate filling.

The cookies have a domed shape with an obvious lump where the white chocolate filling is.

The white chocolate portion is very generous, although it would be nicer to have it a bit more spread out within the biscuit, rather than all in the centre. The cookie itself has a lovely soft and chewy texture, whilst the inner filling is extremely sweet with a creamy and distinct white chocolate flavour. It's quite a simple flavour combination but it creates a satisfying treat nonetheless. At first I thought these cookies were too sweet for me, but I soon found myself wanting to eat another - they're actually very moreish! 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Melting Snowman Cookies

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £1.00p.

New Haywards Hot & Spicy Pickled Onions

Haywards are Britain's best loved pickled vegetable brand and they've recently launched a new pickled onion - Hot & Spicy. Each jar contains pink and black peppercorns and Birdseye chillies to give the onions a fiery twist. They are described as working perfectly with a variety of food including cheese and cold meats and have a bold new flavour that will liven up any Boxing Day leftovers!

I'm a fan of most types of pickles so I was very happy to be asked to give these new Hot & Spicy Pickled Onions a try. There are plenty of small onions within each large jar, with a liberal sprinkling of the additional peppercorns and chillies. The flavour is still surprisingly sweet and tangy with a lovely peppery hint and a fairly mild, but zingy, heat from the chillies. The overall balance between the sweetness of the onions and the mild tangy heat is just perfection here, and the flavours really do work wonderfully with a selection of cheeses and cold meats. I especially enjoyed them with some mature cheddar and pitta chips - creating a delicious medley of flavours. If you're a fan of pickled onions then you have to give these a try! 

Haywards Hot & Spicy Onions are available now from Sainsbury's and Morrison's and will be in Tesco from next spring. RRP - £1.89p.

PR Samples. 

Konditor & Cook Mince Pies

Konditor & Cook is a London based bakery/cake shop (with six locations) that specialises in hand made cakes and freshly made savouries. I don't tend to buy mince pies very often, at least not before Christmas week itself, since it's only myself and my eldest son who will eat them. However, this year, we decided to treat ourselves to a box of the gorgeous mince pies from Konditor & Cook. 

These mince pies are handmade and have been described by the The Telegraph as "Britain's best mince pies". They certainly have a homemade appearance with their slightly irregular shaping, but the egg glazed pastry looks extremely appetising nonetheless.

Each mince pie is quite thin, especially the layers of short, buttery pastry, but with a relatively generous portion of sweet mincemeat filling. I'm not usually a fan of "luxury" mince pies as that usually denotes extra ingredients such as brandy or peeled fruit, that I'm not keen on. However, that's not the case with the Konditor & Cook mince pies. The filling is sweet, with plump raisins and a delicately spiced flavour and is perfectly matched by the firm yet buttery pastry. These literally melt in the mouth and, unlike a lot of mince pies, they are not too sweet or too heavy. Even though these come with a VERY hefty price tag, they still count as the best mince pies I've tried - although I've never actually had a homemade mince pie! 

I'd love to know what your favourite brand of mince pie is - let me know in the comments below! 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Konditor & Cook Mince Pies

RATING: 9 out of 10.

Buy them again?: Yes (but once a year!).

Purchased: Konditor & Cook - locations HERE.

Price: £6.50p for six.

Tesco Gingerbread Smoothie

I featured this smoothie in one of my new instore round ups a few weeks ago, thanks to a photo from Lucy W. (see post HERE) but I hadn't actually seen it in my local store until today. The Tesco Gingerbread Smoothie is described on the front as a gingerbread inspired smoothie with orange, apple, ginger and cinnamon. The ingredients listed on the back include; biscuits (4%), banana purée, ginger purée, honey, lemon juice and cinnamon extract. I was quite surprised that this Gingerbread Smoothie actually has biscuit in it!

The funny thing about the photo above, that you might not notice at first glance, is that this smoothie is so thick, the straws are able to be suspended in the middle without any support. The smoothie itself is a real medley of different flavours that all combine to create a lovely warming fruit drink. The orange and apple are both evident, and so is the banana from the thick texture, but the extra boost of flavour from the strong ginger, and a background of cinnamon spice, are the real stars of the show. These gingerbread inspired ingredients provide a warmth and depth that is very different for a smoothie of this type and quite enjoyable. I'm a big fan of ginger in juices (I usually add it when using my juicer) and I liked the fact that it gives a little heat to this smoothie. 

There is also a Figgy Pudding Smoothie available in this festive smoothie range from Tesco, which is a blend of apple, cherry, fig, and chestnut purée! If you've tried that one I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Tesco Gingerbread Smoothie

RATING: 7 out of 10.

Buy them again?: Yes.

Nutrition: 100 calories per 150ml.

Purchased: Tesco.

Price: £2.00p (750ml).

Chips Ahoy Battle! Cadbury Vs Milka

I recently reviewed the Cadbury Dairy Milk Chips Ahoy! chocolate bar (see post HERE). A few months ago, I bought the Milka & Chips Ahoy! chocolate bar (while on holiday in Portugal), but hadn't actually got around to trying it out. Since Milka and Cadbury are both owned by Mondelez they often have similar themed products and flavours (as seen in my previous Cadbury Vs Milka Oreo review HERE). As I happened to have both Chips Ahoy! chocolate bars in my possession, I thought it was only fair to do a comparison review!

The packaging is quite different, Cadbury and Milka both manage to incorporate the Chips Ahoy! brand whilst still retaining thier own identity. The Cadbury Dairy Milk wrapper is more playful with it's fun little biscuit pirate character. 

Top: Milka, Bottom: Cadbury

Side by side, the chocolate bars have very different appearances. Even though these are both 100g bars, the Cadbury's one looks bigger - it simply consists of more rows containing smaller pieces. The Milka bar is flatter and is made of much wider rows - it definitely seems smaller as a result.

Top: Cadbury, Bottom: Milka

The Cadbury bar has a deeper filling, with more of the creamy Chips Ahoy! layer compared to the flatter Milka with Chips Ahoy! bar.

However, the individual Milka pieces are much bigger, even though the filling is flatter. This composition actually creates the main difference in flavour between the two bars. The Cadbury Chips Ahoy! is much sweeter, due the smaller pieces having relatively more of the sweet biscuity filling. The Milka with Chips Ahoy! has a more chocolately flavour, due to the almost equal filling-to-chocolate ratio. It also has a slightly richer and creamier flavour to the chocolate compared to the super sweet Dairy Milk chocolate. The filling is similar in both, but the Cadbury Chips Ahoy! seemed slightly crunchier with more of the cookie pieces. They're both delicious bars, and it was hard to choose a favourite, but overall I actually preferred the less sweet Milka bar.

Just a quick note on Chips Ahoy! Cookies (I also bought a pack in Portugal which features in the photos above). Even though two varieties of Chips Ahoy! cookies are now available in the UK (see review HERE), they are both new flavours rather than the classic chocolate chip. It's a shame because these are classic chocolate chip cookies, with a great balance of buttery and sweet chocolate flavours, and a slightly salty edge - it would be great to have these released in the UK too.