Reviewing Supermarket’s Festive Sweet Treats
All your sweet-treat inspiration for the last few weeks of term
Amidst the rain, the dropping temperatures and the increasing workloads of December, what is open all hours of the day to tend to your sweet treat needs? 24-hour Sainsbury’s is.
The need for a sweet treat now and again (…every day) has swept the student population by force. Whether it’s the burning desire for a hot chocolate after your 9 am lecture, the mouth-watering temptation for some biscuits after dinner or even the inarguable need for a mince pie with your cup of tea, once that craving is satisfied, there’s nothing quite like it. And as the very merry festive season has now reached us, my fellow sweet-treat connoisseur friends and I have taken it into our hands to give you our ever-so-jolly ratings and opinions of the sweet treats that Leeds has to offer this Christmas.
Starting off with some of my favourites that you can grab from any supermarket, Malteser Reindeers are a classic; small but perfectly sweet and creamy, with good crunchy and smooth textures and they’re 60p — I could eat five. Lindt provides the richer bite-sized chocolate animal — their teddy bears and reindeer are also 60p and crafted to delectable perfection — I hope Mr. Lindt gets a well-deserved rest this Christmas. Terry’s Chocolate Orange is also very high on the list — flawless in my opinion — and the new Mint Orange is something a little bit different to try too.
One of our favourite festive finds from the supermarkets were Cadbury’s Robins and Cadbury’s Hazelnut Jingly Bells. These were divine. They come in a sharing packet and are individually wrapped, perfect for snacking and bringing on the go. The inside of the jingly bells tastes like Nutella, and they are £1.35 each.
Tesco Cookie Dough is high on my recommendations as I love baking but don’t have any ingredients in my flat. Found in the chilled section and costing £2.15, you can spruce them up with any sort of chocolate and decorations, even peanut butter or Nutella, and they are ready within 13 minutes.
If I really want to treat myself, if I’ve worked really hard, I mean really hard, sometimes I find myself in M&S Food Hall, and they definitely have a selection of festive treats that I know big old Saint Nicholas would love himself. Their “Very Merry Munch” is an assortment of chocolate-covered popcorn, pretzels, peanuts, almonds and smarties. For £4 you get a reasonable amount; M&S truly are good at their snacks. However, making a festive trail mix at home would be more affordable and allows you to have larger quantities and more personalisation. Get some popcorn, a chocolate orange, candy canes, some mini Lindor balls, anything that grabs your fancy, and Bob’s your uncle.
Venturing out of the supermarket now, Cinnabon’s new shop on Commercial Street in the city centre offers warm Cinnabon buns covered in delicious, thick icing from £3-4. The Biscoff bun proved to be a great treat for me and my cousin’s viewing of the new Hunger Games film. So, if you want something a bit different and have a big sweet tooth like me, these are perfect for the cold winter days.
Mince Pies. Not everyone loves them, but they come around once a year and at the right time and on the right day, they hit the spot. Having reviewed Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s, Morrison’s and M&S’ pies, the ones that shined for us were M&S and Tesco. Morrison’s pies were quite sickly, and the pastry was too dry and stiff, and Sainsbury’s were also a bit dry. M&S and Tesco’s pies had soft, buttery and crumbly pastry, with a great filling-to-pastry ratio. In both of them, the filling was neither too sweet nor too dry.
I hope this article has given you some sweet treat inspiration for the last weeks of the semester. If you’re feeling blue, or not feeling festive, go get yourself a treat… you deserve it. Spread some festive cheer, enjoy some chocolate and have a very Merry Christmas!
