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

Mini Cheddars Red Leicester is the richer, redder cousin of the Original: the same small, round biscuits, baked with real cheese, with a Cheddar and Red Leicester flavouring that gives a deeper, tangier cheese taste. This is the multipack of twelve 23g bags, 276g in all. The full product name on the pack is Cheese Snack Biscuits with Red Leicester Cheese Flavour.

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 powdered cheese (6%, milk), a Cheddar and Red Leicester cheese flavouring (milk), glucose syrup, sugar, dried whey (milk), barley malt extract, raising agents (ammonium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate), salt, lactic acid and natural flavourings.

The flavouring

The Cheddar and Red Leicester flavouring is a blend of salt, wheat flour, natural flavourings, dried buttermilk, maltodextrin, sugar, citric acid and gum arabic, an emulsifier from the acacia tree. Buttermilk and citric acid give it a sharper, tangier edge than the Original.

Red Leicester

Red Leicester is a firm English cheese coloured orange with annatto, with a mellow, nutty flavour. In these biscuits the name describes the flavour of the seasoning rather than a separate cheese on the list.

Real cheese in the dough

Dried powdered cheese makes up 6% of the recipe and sits in the dough, and the listing says the biscuits are baked with real cheese.

Baked, never fried

The pack says the biscuits are never fried: the dough is rolled, cut and baked, which gives the short, crumbly bite of a biscuit.

Malt and whey

Barley malt extract helps the biscuits brown and adds a malty depth; dried whey adds milky richness, and lactic acid a cheese tang.

Light layers

Ammonium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate raise the dough in the oven for light, flaky layers.

Fortified flour

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

Numbers for one bag

The pack gives 121 kcal (506 kJ), 7.1g of fat, 3.5g of saturates, 11.8g of carbohydrate, 0.9g of sugars, 0.6g of fibre, 2g of protein and 0.6g of salt for each 23g bag. That is about 6% of an average adult's daily energy reference intake, 10% of the fat and 10% of the salt.

Numbers per 100g

Per 100g the label gives 527 kcal (2200 kJ), 31g of fat, 15.2g of saturates, 51.2g of carbohydrate, 4.1g of sugars, 2.6g of fibre, 8.9g of protein and 2.5g 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.

Against the Original

Per 100g, Red Leicester has a little more fat (31g against 28.6g), saturates (15.2g against 14.4g), energy (527 kcal against 511) and salt (2.5g against 2.4g) than the Original Mini Cheddars, and a little less protein (8.9g against 10.3g). Per bag the difference is 4 kcal.

Glucose syrup and sugar

Glucose syrup and sugar sit just after the flavouring. They help the dough brown in the oven; the label gives 4.1g of sugars per 100g and 0.9g in a bag.

Maltodextrin

Maltodextrin, a carbohydrate made from starch, carries the Cheddar and Red Leicester flavouring so it spreads evenly through the dough.

Protein and fibre

The label gives 8.9g of protein and 2.6g of fibre per 100g, and 2g of protein and 0.6g of fibre in each 23g bag.

Salt

At 2.5g of salt per 100g, red on the front of pack scale, each 23g bag holds 0.6g, about a tenth of an adult's daily reference intake.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat, barley and milk: wheat in the flour and the flavouring, barley in the malt extract, and milk in the cheese, buttermilk and whey. The allergy advice says the biscuits may also contain 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.

Twelve bags

Twelve 23g bags cover two school weeks of lunchboxes with two to spare, or a bag each at a party.

In a lunchbox

A bag of Red Leicester Mini Cheddars goes beside a ham sandwich and an apple, and swapping between Red Leicester and Original keeps a lunchbox week varied.

On a snack board

Mix them with Original Mini Cheddars, grapes and cheese cubes for a two colour cheese board.

With soup

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

In the kitchen

Crushed, the biscuits make a tangy cheese crumb for a macaroni cheese or a cauliflower cheese.

Storage and packaging

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

Other sizes

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

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.