I Love Baking - Manuka Honey Muesli Cookies product reviews

We do go through a few cookies in our house I don't really give my kids a lot of sugary treats espeically lollies and chocolate so cookies are usually the treat of choice and they love the act of dunking cookies in hot chocolate. These cookies sounded delicious we love honey and oats so were in for a treat with this combo. From the packet I could see the product picture but was thinking the actual cookie would be more oaty in appearance rather than the solid shortbread style shape these were.

I think the oats were a smaller part of the ingredient list as they were quite hard to see in the cookie and the cookie had more of a buttery shortbread consistency than a muesli consistency which I had expected. There were definitely plenty of raisins and I could taste the date which was obviously used as a natural sweetener along with the manuka honey. I again thought the honey must of been a small ingredient as it wasn't actually that noticeable in the taste of the cookie. I think for me that the cookies were called Manuka Honey Muesli Cookies I found it disappointing that these were not the stand out tastes/textures.

All in all the cookies tasted nice and everyone enjoyed them I was just expecting something different with the price in mind I thought you could get something like this cheaper but I did like that they used natural ingredients and weren't overly processed. The package is a good size and the resealable pack is great for being able to store any remaining cookies without them going stale and soft. I would buy them again and am keen to see what other varities are available in store.

I was excited to see this product up for review. My son is off to school camp soon and one of the items on his gear list is a packet of cookies or home baking. Now as much as I love to bake, I don't always have the time for it so I'm always on the lookout for healthier snack alternatives.

I was hoping that these cookies would fit the bill and while they are definitely a healthier alternative I was expecting a bit more from the ingredients list. I'm assuming (since it's not specified) that the wheat flour used is white flour which has little to no nutritional value and three different types of sugar (not including the sultanas) seems a bit excessive. I would also have liked for the ingredients list to specify what type of unrefined sugar was used as there are many people (myself included) who prefer to steer away from cane sugar completely.

Upon first opening I was a little surprised as they looked nothing like you would expect a muesli cookie to look. I was hoping for something rustic - oaty and wholesome, studded with sweet sultanas - instead what I got were cookies that looked like shortbread. Fairly small, round, uniformly shaped, white cookies with the occasional visible sultana, no oats in sight.

I took a big whiff from the packet and the smell was divine - sweet and buttery. Despite my initial surprise I couldn't wait to give them a try. We're not used to overly sweet foods and these were a little too sweet for my taste. My son enjoyed them but he didn't keep coming back for more which is a telling sign. They taste very rich and decadent, buttery soft and slightly crumbly - very reminiscent of shortbread. The well hidden oats and chewy sultanas give them a pleasant texture. However, I don't think there were enough oats for them to qualify as a muesli cookie.

While we were quite happy to munch on them straight from the packet, I also wanted to try using them in a different way. I had some frozen bananas in the freezer which needed using up so I decided to make some banana ice cream with chunks of these cookies mixed through - a healthier alternative to cookies and cream if you will. It was also great for my son to help with too, he had the job of smashing the cookies and lets face it smashing things is fun. It was a great success though the sultanas did get a little too hard with freezing. My son really liked them this way and they gave great texture to the ice cream.

Next up I want to try the choc chip cookies and maybe even grab an extra packet for my son to share around at school camp. While they are a healthier alternative they're certainly not healthy and they're not something that I'll be purchasing regularly - definitely a treat only item.

Confession time I have never had Honey biscuits before and the sound of them, Manuka Honey even, had my mouth watering. When I received the bag I was surprised at how cute it all looked and I have to say it has got to be one of the better looking biscuits packets I have ever seen. It revealed so much information on the bag that I could not wait to rip into it and try.

The packet was so easy to rip into and I was pleased to see it could be resealed. My husband and I had just sat down to watch a movie and I started to feel a little peckish, I returned shortly from the kitchen with the packet and asked my husband if he would be keen to try, like me he had also not had Honey biscuits before. I found the size of the biscuit perfect, it was small but fat and looked like home baking. I took a nibble and I noticed the taste of butter with chewy dates and they were delicious. It took me a little while to realise that it was not butter that I was tasting but in fact the honey and I have to say oh my goodness these are amazing!

It was not long before my husband and I were fighting over the bag and both wanting to have another one. I think because of the size of them we ended up eating them like chips. They went down perfectly and I found them full of flavour. I did expect them to be more crumbly but I am so happy they weren't. This is the sort of biscuit that I wish I could make, unfortunately baking is not my strong point but I can say now that I have found these little gems they will always be in the pantry from now on. They look like home baking so when the girls take them to school I will not feel guilty. My husband and I did finish the packet off on Tuesday night and so today I went to the groceries and brought another packet. Definitely my new favourite biscuit.

I thought I was in for a treat when I got these to review and I was mostly right. The hardest part about having something special to eat when you work on a big construction site is that your workmates usually want to give it a go too. When everyone grabs one cookie each, a 185g bag disappears pretty quick, so I had to hide these as best I could. Didn't do a great job of it though, because I got maybe 6 cookies and the rest just vanished when one of the guys came out of the office with this bag in one hand and shoving a cookie in his mouth with the other and asked out loud "Who's stashing all the good stuff and not sharing, eh?"

From the few I got to eat I can say these are cookies I will be buying for sure, but only when I have some down-time. I'm never taking these back to the site again because I'll never get any now that everyone knows my stash spot. If these taste so good, I also want to buy some of the others in the range because good quality in one product usually means good quality in the rest too.

I was really taken by the texture. They were soft to bite on but chewy to eat, and had a really nice range of flavours that came through as you chewed. There was the first hint of cinnamon spice, with some date flavours coming through along with the sultanas as you chewed on them, then the oaty flavour came at the end. At least for me.

Comments from the other blokes on site who managed to snatch one before the bag was empty ranged from things like "just as good as my Mum's/Wife's ones" to "Damn, I gotta get me some of these, they're better than anything I have tried in ages." One guy reckons he wants to try making some like this himself. We all had to laugh coz the last time he got loose in the kitchen he burned the baked beans and the eggs were all rubbery because he used way too much vinegar to poach them.

Yeah, I'm gonna be buying more of these for sure. A great flavour and sure to be a hit with kids who like fruity baked stuff. I just wish they came in bigger bags though.

Because of a long family history of brittle teeth on my father's side, I have been 'blessed' with teeth that can no longer handle hard foods like biscuits. Thus, I wasn't at sure about these until I had the chance to try them at a food show recently. From the moment I took my first bite of the soft, chewy, sweet cookie... well, I was sold. I was determined to review these.

The flavour is something very hard to talk about without sounding super-gushy. It has all the rich, sweet notes from the fruity, and the honey, but also the date puree as well - which not only adds sweetness but an extra layer of flavour that you don't really pick out as distinct - a plus for anyone who's not a huge fan of dates I think. (I AM a huge fan of dates, so for me this was simply another bonus.) The cinnamon is by far one of the stronger flavours to come through, which really lifts these to a new level when combined with the texture of the oats and sultanas - it solidly carries the whole "muesli" vibe without overloading you with nuts and corn flakes - things that my teeth don't appreciate at all.

The packaging is stunning, very eye-catching, and from what I have seen on supermarket shelves, is leading a new trend in 'fun food packaging' that engages adults because of the nostalgia it can trigger, and kids for the sheer fun of it. For the life of me though, I could not find any signs or symbols on the pack that indicated whether it was recyclable or not, so it loses a little in my eyes for that. I put a lot of stock in packaging that is recyclable, and will change brands at the drop of a hat if I find a similar product that proudly displays a little 1 or 2 in a triangle on the pack.

Overall, well worth trying, and if you like the sound of them you'll probably love the taste too. Glad to see it states clearly on the front "No Palm Oil" though I'm not too rabid about that. The "Unrefined sugar" *IS* a big thing though, so huge kudos for that one folks!

Having already tried one variety of these cookies and loved them, the family were all keen to try another in the range. The children liked them just as much as the first flavour they tried, but their reaction was more low-key. Instead of buzzing with excitement, they ate these with an air of quiet enjoyment. I think the reason was partly that the flavours were a lot more subtle so they found it difficult to pin down what they were eating.

Mr Seven was taken in once again by the date puree component. This is a flavour he would normally reject, but he did not so much as register that it was there. He does not like honey much either, so it says a lot for the product that both these ingredients had been blended in so well that they did not stand out as distinctive flavours for him. The one thing that Mr Seven did comment on was the cinnamon - he found that it was quite strong, but as he likes cinnamon that was all good! I like cinnamon myself and would agree with him there - the cinnamon was one of the flavours that stood out for me too.

Miss Five is easier to please: she will try unfamiliar foods and then take a little while to decide whether or not she likes it. After taking two smallish bites and rolling the biscuit around her mouth she assured us that it was yummy and requested another one! She described it as floury and not too sweet, a bit like the home-made biscuits her mother sometimes makes.

Their parents, too, found it difficult to pin down the flavours. My son-in-law said they reminded him of home-made cinnamon biscuits or maybe Anzac biscuits - both reasonably close to what the list of ingredients on the packet might suggest. Personally, he found them rather dry, and suggested that they might need more butter. However, he was the only one with this reservation - everyone else thought they were fine just as they were.

My daughter was pleased that the packet was resealable, and that the ingredients were all natural - just like those she would use if she were making similar biscuits herself. She thought the price was reasonable too since the family has biscuits as an occasional treat, not as an everyday food item. She described the taste as "wholesome" and gave the product her tick of approval!

As for me, I appreciated that the honey included was manuka as this has its own distinctive flavour as well as the extra health benefits. I could taste the honey along with the cinnamon, and with this combination the biscuits are a personal winner for me. I also liked the innovative packet design which was similar to the packet for the variety we had already tried - and which must draw the consumer to choose it over other biscuits because it is so charming. I am even tempted to take up learning to play the hand bells as a result!