There’s nothing quite like the joy of breaking open a box of chocolate chip cookies while enjoying Christmas TV with the family. If you consider yourself to be a bit of an expert when it comes to biscuits, you will have noticed the seemingly endless supply of almost identical boxes of chocolate biscuits in every supermarket over the last few months.
Fox’s and McVitie’s are brand favourites, but supermarkets also offer their own brand versions – making it hard to work out which ones are worth it. Thankfully, BirminghamLive’s shopping writer has taken it upon himself to find out which one is best, once and for all.
The list includes six selections of chocolate chip boxes from Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose and Lidl. Unfortunately, the writer notes that she couldn’t find any in her local Sainsbury’s or Asda stores, so they missed the taste test. Here’s how they stack up in terms of taste, texture, baking, presentation and price.
Waitrose – selection of Christmas chocolate chip cookies, £5
Waitrose’s box had completely different packaging to the other supermarkets. According to the box, the biscuits are “made with love” and the packaging contains “rich, crunchy biscuits with an indulgently thick chocolate coating”.
The box was the second most expensive of all on the list and contained 11 different types of biscuits: two dark chocolate, eight milk chocolate and a single white chocolate biscuit. It also included an orange cream and vanilla cream flavored biscuit, plus the classic regent. There were 26 biscuits in total.
Lidl – Favorina Extremely Chocolatey Biscuit Selection, £4.49
Lidl’s box of biscuits came in at just 1p less than Tesco and Morrisons. The box boasted: “A decadent selection of all your tea bag favourites, generously coated in milk, dark and white chocolate.”
Like Waitrose, Lidl’s selection featured 11 biscuit varieties, including two dark chocolate, one white chocolate and eight milk chocolate options, along with orange and vanilla flavors – another recurring theme. And again there were 26 biscuits in total.
Aldi – Belmont Biscuits Extremely Chocolatey Milk Chocolate Biscuits, £3.99
Aldi has emerged as the budget-friendly champion with its box of biscuits costing just £3.99, although it has seen a slight increase from the £3.49 label in 2023. Shoppers may be slightly disappointed this year, however, as the variety appears to have a bang, contains only milk chocolate biscuits – no white or dark. Despite this, the range still boasts most of the same biscuits as other brands.
The theme across the board seems to be a blue box showing off the range of biscuits. Aldi’s offering includes nine varieties, all covered in milk chocolate, with classics such as Wiener Finger, Chocolate Ring and Regency, not forgetting the juicy orange and vanilla flavours. However, the box only contains 25 biscuits, one less than its competitors.
Tesco – Extremely Chocolatey Biscuit Selection, £4.50
Tesco’s offering is presented in a festive red box, reminiscent of Lidl’s packaging, complete with an almost identical photo of the biscuit on a black plate. Tesco’s selection has increased by 50p since last year, and the box entices with the promise of “A carefully selected selection of biscuits smothered in smooth chocolate.”
Tesco’s biscuit box contains 11 varieties of biscuits, including two dark chocolate, one white chocolate and eight milk chocolate.
Morrisons – selection of milk, dark and white chocolate biscuits, £4.50
Priced the same as Tesco, this selection also saw a 50p increase on last year. The box was also the same shade of blue with a picture of each biscuit. The box reads: “A delicious range of milk, dark and white chocolate covered biscuits.”
Inside there are 11 varieties of biscuits – two dark chocolate, eight milk chocolate and one white chocolate, with 26 biscuits in total.
Marks and Spencer – Outrageously Chocolatey Milk, Dark and White Chocolate Biscuits Biscuit selection, £5.50
The M&S biscuit box is on the more expensive side, but you get a bigger box. However, the question remains whether the extra cost leads to more variety or quantity. The box was the same blue as the others, with pictures of all the biscuits inside. It seemed like there were some new treats compared to the rest, and the packaging boldly claims: “More chocolate than biscuits.”
They weren’t kidding, because inside you’ll find 12 varieties of biscuits. Among them are two dark chocolates, eight milk chocolates, one white and one marbled swirl – quite a selection!
There were also Honeycomb Cream and Clementine Cream biscuits, offering a refreshing twist on the usual vanilla and orange flavors we’ve come to expect. However, the box only contains 24 biscuits, with only two of each variety.
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The taste test
Four types of biscuits common in various supermarket offers were tested to determine which brand would take the crown for best chocolate biscuit range.
Milk chocolate Regency
Milk chocolate regenerations are a classic feature of these boxes, easily identified by their distinctive ridges. Tesco, Aldi, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer all called it a Milk Chocolate Regency, while Morrisons chose the name Milk Chocolate Round and Lidl called it a Milk Chocolate Shortcake Round.
Lidl’s biscuits offered a pleasant crunch with an even balance between chocolate and biscuit, while Marks and Spencer’s boasted incredibly smooth chocolate combined with a sweet biscuit. But we found the chocolate and biscuits from Morrisons rather bland.
Tesco provided more biscuit than chocolate, but compensated with a satisfying crunch. Aldi’s crunchy biscuit was commendable, but the chocolate left something to be desired in terms of taste, while Waitrose impressed with a really smooth, chunky layer of chocolate, although the biscuit lacked a bit of flavour.
- Waitrose 4/5
- Lidl 3/5
- Aldi 2/5
- Tesco 3/5
- Morrisons 1/5
- Marks and Spencer 5/5
Wiener Finger
Each of the biscuit boxes also contained a wiener finger. They all called it the Milk Chocolate Viennese Finger – except for M&S who simply called it the Milk Chocolate Finger, while Waitrose went with the Milk Chocolate Biscuit Finger. Each had a milk chocolate coating with dark chocolate sprinkles.
Morrisons delivered a good crunch, according to BirminghamLive – but the biscuit-to-chocolate ratio was skewed towards the biscuit. Tesco’s biscuits were softer compared to the others, but the chocolate had a really nice flavour.
The Lidl biscuit was covered in a thick layer of chocolate, but it lacked the expected taste and crunch. BirminghamLive noted that the Waitrose biscuit seemed quite thin compared to the others and could have done with more chocolate, but it had a slight lemon flavour. Aldi’s biscuit was noticeably softer, but it was well covered in chocolate. The MandS biscuit, which had a hint of spice, was a particular favorite among the taste testers.
- Waitrose 3/5
- Lidl 1/5
- Aldi 4/5
- Tesco 4/5
- Morrisons 3/5
- Marks and Spencer 4/5
Milk chocolate cake
As for the milk chocolate cake, despite their identical appearance, the names varied greatly between supermarkets. Despite the different names, they are all essentially the same biscuit. They looked so alike they could have come from the same box.
BirminghamLive found that Morrison’s biscuits lacked a strong chocolate or biscuit flavour, while Lidl left a strange aftertaste. We felt that Aldi’s could have used a bit more chocolate to balance out the biscuit.
Tesco’s sweet shortcrust biscuits had a lovely chocolate flavour. Marks and Spencer’s had a spicy cinnamon flavor in the biscuit, which was quite fun. However, Waitrose’s biscuits were disappointing as they lacked any real flavour.
- Waitrose 0/5
- Lidl 1/5
- Aldi 3/5
- Tesco 4/5
- Morrisons 1/5
- Marks and Spencer 4/5
Orange biscuits
Every supermarket offered an orange flavored milk chocolate chip cookie. Once unwrapped, they all looked very similar, according to BirminghamLive – smooth, round chocolate biscuits with a hidden flavour. According to BirminghamLive, Tesco’s biscuits had a strong orange flavor complemented by a nice amount of chocolate and biscuits. In contrast, Lidl’s biscuits did not have a strong orange flavor and left a strange aftertaste.
Morrison’s offering reportedly had a strong orange flavor, but it was let down by the lack of biscuits inside the chocolate. Aldi’s version had a lovely orange flavour. Waitrose’s selection was disappointing, with little or no flavour. Marks and Spencer once again came out on top, as the biscuits tasted something like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
- Waitrose 1/5
- Lidl 1/5
- Aldi 5/5
- Tesco 4/5
- Morrisons 2/5
- Marks and Spencer 5/5
The winner is…
After adding up all the scores from the four taste tests, these are the best chocolate chip boxes in the supermarket for Christmas:
- Marks and Spencer 18/20
- Tesco 15/20
- Aldi 20/12
- Waitrose 20/8
- Morrisons 7/20
- Lidl 20/6
Overall, M&S was the clear winner. However, considering the price, Tesco and Aldi also scored quite highly – and they are more affordable options. We appreciated the variety in the M&S box, but Aldi and M&S had fewer biscuits than Tesco – so it’s a tough call. Morrisons and Lidl were reportedly particularly disappointing in terms of taste.
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