Jacob's Mini Cheddars Original Baked Snacks, 12 x 23g

This is the big multipack of Jacob's Mini Cheddars Original: twelve 23g bags, 276g in all, for a fortnight of lunchboxes or a family cupboard. Mini Cheddars are small, round biscuits with cheese baked into the dough, and the full product name on the pack is Cheese Snack Biscuits.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the biscuits are made from flour (wheat flour with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin), vegetable oil (palm), dried cheese (10%, from milk, with a natural flavouring), sugar, glucose syrup, salt, dried whey (milk), barley malt extract, raising agents (ammonium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate), lactic acid and natural flavourings.

The same recipe as the six pack

The twelve bag pack holds the same biscuits as the six bag multipack, with the same recipe and the same figures for each bag. The only difference is the number of bags.

How the biscuits are made

The dough of wheat flour, palm oil and dried cheese is rolled thin, cut into small rounds and baked until golden. The pack says the biscuits are never fried, which is why they have a short, crumbly, biscuit bite rather than the hard crunch of a fried crisp.

Ten per cent cheese

Dried cheese makes up 10% of the recipe. It sits inside the dough, so every biscuit tastes of cheese all the way through rather than only on the surface.

The tang

Lactic acid and dried whey give the cheese its tang. Lactic acid forms naturally as milk turns into cheese, and whey is the liquid part of the milk left behind when cheese is made.

Malt

Barley malt extract, made from sprouted barley, helps the biscuits brown and adds a gentle, malty sweetness under the cheese. It is also the reason barley is among the allergens.

Light layers

Ammonium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate raise the dough in the oven, giving the biscuits light, flaky layers. Ammonium bicarbonate is used in crisp biscuits because it bakes off completely.

Fortified flour

UK wheat flour is fortified with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin, which is why those four appear in brackets after the flour.

Palm oil

The palm oil is the fat of the dough, as butter is in shortbread. The listing says the oil palm products are certified to come from RSPO segregated sources.

Numbers for one bag

The pack gives 117 kcal (491 kJ), 6.6g of fat, 3.3g of saturates, 11.8g of carbohydrate, 1g of sugars, 0.6g of fibre, 2.4g of protein and 0.5g of salt for each 23g bag. That is about 6% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 9% of the fat and 8% of the salt.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 511 kcal (2134 kJ), 28.6g of fat, 14.4g of saturates, 51.5g of carbohydrate, 4.6g of sugars, 2.6g of fibre, 10.3g of protein and 2.4g of salt.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat, saturates and salt are red and sugars are green. Cheese and palm oil make a rich biscuit, and the small bag keeps the portion small.

Protein

With 10% cheese in the dough, the biscuits carry 10.3g of protein per 100g and 2.4g in each bag.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, barley and milk: wheat in the flour, barley in the malt extract, and milk in the cheese and whey. The allergy advice says the biscuits may also contain egg and soya. The listing makes no vegetarian or vegan statement, and the biscuits are not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten or milk. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

No artificial colours or flavours

The listing says there are no artificial colours or flavours. The golden colour of the biscuits comes from the oven, the cheese and the malt.

Twelve bags

Twelve bags cover two school weeks of lunchboxes with two to spare, or a party table where every child gets a bag. The bags stay sealed until they are needed.

In a lunchbox

A bag of Mini Cheddars sits well beside a ham or cheese sandwich, a pot of fruit and a drink, and the small biscuits do not crush easily in a lunchbox.

At a party

Tip a few bags into bowls for a children's party, beside grapes and cucumber sticks, or hand out a bag each so every child gets the same.

With soup

A handful on a bowl of tomato soup softens at the edges into something like a cheese scone.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the biscuits make a cheesy crumb for a macaroni cheese, a fish pie or a gratin, browned under the grill.

Storage and packaging

The listing advises a cool, dry place. The recycling guidance says the bag is certified as recyclable, and the whole pack can be recycled with carrier bags at larger supermarkets rather than at home.

Other sizes

We stock the same Original Mini Cheddars in a six bag multipack, a 45g grab bag and a 260g tube, and Mini Cheddars Red Leicester in six and twelve bag multipacks.

Sizes of Jacob's Mini Cheddars Original Baked Snacks we stock

Figures as published on each pack's label.

The published listing gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.