There’s something deliciously wholesome about a McVitie’s Hobnob (or two). Perfect for dunking into tea, they are a favourite in my household. I think it’s the rich oatyness that makes them feel more virtuous than your shortbread, chocolate digestive or custard cream even if that’s probably not true.
A pack of original McVitie’s Hobnobs isn’t cheap so they are a bit of a treat for us. In a bid to save some money, I decided to buy some supermarket own brand versions to see if we could find any that were comparable.
I picked up equivalents from Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Aldi and Morrisons and, licking my lips, put the kettle on as soon as I got home. I have to say, the kids were more than happy to help out with this taste test challenge and I was very pleased with the result. Here’s what happened.
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McVitie’s Hobnobs
So, naturally, we started with the real deal. McVitie’s Hobnobs cost £1.60 for 255g from Tesco. This worked out to 63p per 100g, or just over 9p per biscuit as there were 17 Hobnobs in the packet.
Made with 40% rolled oats, each biscuit contained 3.5g sugar, 1.3g saturated fat, 72 kcal, 1g fibre and 1.1g protein. There’s an almost caramelly flavour to the sweet, moreishness of real Hobnobs. Treacly-dark in colour, they were packed full of oats.
They had a lovely soft texture but maintained their integrity when dunked. I gave them 5 out of 5 stars and the kids agreed. This was going to be a tough cookie to beat.
McVitie’s Hobnobs (top) compared with Oat Nobblies from Morrisons, Oaties from Aldi, Oaty Rounds from Sainsbury’s and Oaties from Tesco (bottom left to right clockwise)
Tesco Oaties
Tesco Oaties cost 80p for 300g, which works out to 27p per 100g – so less than half the price of the McVitie’s. But would they be as good? There were 20 biscuits in the packet so this worked out to exactly 4p per biscuit.
The ingredients showed that they actually boasted more oats than the McVities – 42% instead of 40% – and each biscuit contained 3.4g sugar, 1.1g saturated fat, 70 kcal, 0.8g fibre and 1.1g protein so they were comparable nutritionally.
This packet was easy to open with a pull tab. They were crunchy and dunkable, a lot more crispy than most of the other brands. But the flavour wasn’t a patch on the original. There was nothing wrong with it, but nothing special either. We gave them 3 out of 5 stars.
Aldi Crumbly Oaties
Belmont Crumbly Oaties cost 55p for 300g from Aldi, which works out to 18p per 100g – so cheaper still. There were 20 biscuits in the pack so it worked out to just under 3p per biscuit.
Just like the Tesco packet, this one had a pull-tab around the top, which made it easy to open. These biscuits were made with 45% oat flakes, a higher percentage than the originals and Tesco but it did say ‘oat flakes’ rather than ‘rolled oats’ or ‘oats’. Not sure if this makes much difference.
Each biscuit contained 3.2g sugar, 1.4g saturated fat, 70 kcal, 1g fibre and 1.2g protein so they were slightly less sugary than the McVitie’s but a little more fatty.
These biscuits looked the most like original McVitie’s as they were quite dark in colour but that’s where the similarity ended. The texture was like cardboard and they seemed quite dry. Whilst they didn’t crumble in the dunk test, the flavour was quite bland. We gave them 2 out of 5 stars.
McVitie’s Hobnobs (top) compared with Oat Nobblies from Morrisons, Oaties from Aldi, Oaty Rounds from Sainsbury’s and Oaties from Tesco (bottom left to right clockwise)
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Morrisons Oat Nobblies
Morrisons Oat Nobblies cost 80p for 300g, which works out to 27p per 100g – the same price as Tesco’s. There were 21 biscuits in the packet so this worked out to just under 4p per biscuit. Made with 41 percent oat flakes, each biscuit contained 3.4g sugar, 1.2g saturated fat, 69 kcal, 0.7g fibre and 1g protein. These biscuits had the lowest number of calories of all the ones we tried.
Unfortunately, the pull tab was broken on this packet so they were trickier to open. That, however, was my only complaint. These biscuits were delicious with a lovely brown sugar, caramel flavour.
They weren’t as crispy as the Tesco’s variety and we preferred this. It meant the texture and the flavour was the most similar to McVitie’s. It was only the colour that was different as they were paler. They were great for dunking. We gave them 5 out of 5 stars.
Sainsbury’s Oaty Rounds
Sainsbury’s Oaty Rounds cost 80p for 300g. There were 20 biscuits in the packet so this worked out to 4p per biscuit – price matched to Tesco and Morrisons. There was no pull tab so you just had to rip the packet apart to get into them.
Made with 40 percent oats, the next highest ingredient was sugar – unlike the McVitie’s and Aldi packets where wholemeal wheat flour came next on the list. Each biscuit contained 3.3g sugar, 1.1g saturated fat, 71 kcal, 0.7g fibre and 1.1g protein.
They were much more crunchy than the McVitie’s brand, more like the Tesco ones in texture. But they didn’t taste very treacly or sweet and not so oaty. It made them a little dull by comparison. We gave them 3 out of 5 stars.
Overall verdict
As a family, we now have a new favourite biscuit. Whilst we thoroughly enjoyed tucking into the branded McVitie’s Hobnobs, we loved Morrisons Oat Nobblies just as much. And, aside from the great name and flavour, they were less than half the price per biscuit and they contained a smidge fewer calories per biccie too. Bonus.