The HobNob test: can we bake better biscuits than McVitie's?

Everyone loves HobNobs. But do they taste better when you bake your own? We took to the kitchen to find out.

This month we added a recipe for homemade HobNob biscuits to our ever-growing collection. Chef Peter Sidwell, who wrote the recipe, says in his introduction that “my biscuits blow the shop-bought ones out of the water. Once you’ve tried them you won’t go back.”

Making my own HobNobs

Team lovefood was sceptical about Peter’s statement. How can any homemade attempt taste better than the oaty goodness of an original HobNob? In an effort to find out the truth, I took to the lovefood kitchen to conduct a HobNob taste test.

Following Peter’s method, I made a big bath of homemade HobNobs using equal amounts of flour, oats, sugar and butter, plus a squeeze of golden syrup and some bicarb. It was a simple recipe to follow: just melt all the bad-for-you stuff in a big saucepan, then combine it with the dry ingredients. Roll the oozing ball out onto a floured surface to 1cm thick, then cut out circular rounds. Pop them onto a greased baking tray, then into an 180C oven, and 15 minutes later you’ve got golden HobNobs.

Crunch time

In terms of ingredients, the only thing McVitie’s added that I didn’t was vegetable oil. And don’t be put off by the ‘partially inverted sugar syrup’ listed on the back of a HobNobs packet – it says exactly the same thing on a golden syrup tin.

In terms of appearance, the two biscuits looked almost identical on their plates (in this image the homemade HobNob is on the right), except mine were more textured and didn’t have the smooth finish obtained in a McVitie’s factory.

To make the taste test as objective as possible, we blindfolded two colleagues (Managing Editor Simon and lovemoney Editor John) and asked them to try one of each biscuit. Both guessed which one was homemade – and both preferred the homemade biscuit overall.

“For me, the shop-bought HobNob tastes powdery and there’s nothing to it. It’s far more satisfactory to eat a homemade biscuit,” said John. “The homemade biscuit definitely tastes more substantial – I can actually feel the texture of the oats in my mouth,” added Simon.

The taste of mass-production

After John and Simon had had their fill, we opened the taste test up to the whole office, and asked everyone to simply state their favourite biscuit. This part of the test was not done blind. At the end of the day, the genuine HobNobs (biscuit A) had scored four votes, and my homemade HobNobs (biscuit B) had scored eight votes.

Here are some of the comments: “They’re both excellent but I’d much rather serve a plate of biscuit B”; “Biscuit A is cloggy, where biscuit B is fresh and light”; “Biscuit B definitely tastes homemade – it’s always worth baking your own”.

So there we have it. Peter was right – homemade HobNobs do “blow the shop-bought ones out of the water”. And speaking of his success, Peter said: "I'm so glad my biscuits won! They're one of my best sellers in my cafe because they strike a chord with customers and their memories. Nostalgia really comes into its own when baking."

Have you ever baked your own HobNob biscuit? Or any other McVitie’s classic, for that matter? Is it worth making your own? Share your thoughts in the Comments box below.

You can see more of Peter's recipe's here

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