Jacob's Treeselets Baked Snacks, 280g

Treeselets are Jacob's Christmas snack: little cheese flavour biscuits cut in the shape of Christmas trees and baked, sold in a 280g tube with a lid. The front of the tube shows a Christmas tree outline and an oven baked, not fried badge. The full product name on the pack is Cheese Flavour Snack Biscuits.

A Christmas edition

Treeselets are part of Jacob's Christmas knits, with Mini Cheddars, Mini Twiglets and Crinklys Cheese and Onion. Some retail listings also sell the tube as a Cheeselets Christmas caddy.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the biscuits are made from flour (wheat flour with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin), palm oil, dried powdered cheese (3%, milk), a cheese flavouring (milk), dried autolysed yeast, salt and a raising agent (ammonium bicarbonate).

The cheese flavouring

The cheese flavouring lists wheat flour, salt, dried cheese powder (milk), monosodium glutamate, dried yeast extract, dextrose, a flavouring containing milk, lactic, citric and malic acids, garlic powder, rapeseed oil, paprika extract for colour and cayenne extract.

Cheese, yeast and MSG

Real cheese powder is 3% of the recipe, and the savoury depth comes from yeast: dried autolysed yeast in the dough and yeast extract in the flavouring, with monosodium glutamate. Yeast extract has the savoury taste of a stock cube.

Three acids

Lactic acid, the acid of cheese, citric acid and malic acid, the acid of sharp apples, give the flavouring a tang.

A hint of cayenne

Cayenne extract sits at the very end of the flavouring. It adds warmth to the cheese rather than heat, as a pinch of cayenne does in a cheese straw.

Oven baked

The listing says the biscuits are oven baked, and the front says not fried. The palm oil is the fat in the dough, as butter is in shortbread.

Ammonium bicarbonate

Ammonium bicarbonate is the traditional raising agent of thin, crisp biscuits. It releases gas in the oven, making the dough light, and 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 listing says the oil palm products in the biscuits are certified to come from RSPO segregated sources.

Numbers for a serving

The label gives 127 kcal (532 kJ), 6.8g of fat, 3.3g of saturates, 13.7g of carbohydrate, 0.2g of sugars, 0.9g of fibre, 2.4g of protein and 0.6g of salt for a 25g serving. 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 509 kcal (2129 kJ), 27.3g of fat, 13g of saturates, 54.8g of carbohydrate, 0.7g of sugars, 3.5g of fibre, 9.5g of protein and 2.3g 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, at 0.7g, are green. A 25g serving is a small bowlful, and the tube holds about eleven.

Sugars

Sugar itself is not on the list: the only sugar is dextrose in the flavouring, and the label gives 0.7g of sugars per 100g and 0.2g in a serving.

Dried autolysed yeast

Dried autolysed yeast is yeast that has broken down in its own enzymes, which releases savoury flavours; it is a close relative of yeast extract.

Garlic and rapeseed oil

Garlic powder gives the flavouring a savoury edge, and a little rapeseed oil helps it coat the biscuits.

Protein and fibre

The label gives 9.5g of protein and 3.5g of fibre per 100g, and 2.4g of protein in a 25g serving.

Salt

The label gives 2.3g of salt per 100g, red on the front of pack scale, and 0.6g in a 25g serving.

Allergens and diet

The published ingredients highlight wheat and milk: wheat in the flour and the flavouring, milk in the cheese powder and the flavouring. The published listing gives no may contain advice. The listing says the biscuits are suitable for vegetarians; they are not vegan, because of the milk, and they are not suitable for anyone avoiding gluten. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

The tube

The recycling guidance says the foil, the lid and the tube can all be recycled. The listing notes that the contents may settle in transit, so the tube may not look full; the weight is 280g. The best before date is on the base.

At Christmas

A bowl of Treeselets on the table while the presents are opened, beside the drinks when guests arrive, or on a Christmas cheese board: the tree shapes do the decorating.

With Mini Cheddars and Twiglets

Mix Treeselets with Mini Cheddars and Twiglets in one bowl for a festive savoury mix in three shapes.

For children

The small tree shapes suit a children's Christmas party, in paper cups beside the sandwiches.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the biscuits make a cheesy crumb for a gratin or the top of a macaroni cheese.

Who it suits

A tube of Treeselets suits a family Christmas, a party, or anyone who likes a crisp, savoury cheese biscuit. It is not the tube for anyone avoiding gluten, milk or MSG.

Storage

The listing advises a cool, dry place. Press the lid back on after each serving.

The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.