I tried you don't have to.

[GettingStuffed]

I suspect I'm not the only one who does taste tests in the run up to Christmas.I

So far I've tried

Lidl mince pies, pastry is fantastic crisp with a good flavour , let down by the filling just tastes like a mixed fruit pie
Tesco bog standard, pastry is far too crumbly it disintegrated as I took it out of its cup. The filling was much better than Lidl's with a good boozy taste.

Lidl salt and pepper mixed nuts with olives. I've never had crispy olives before but the were a revelation.
Tesco salted caramel party mix. Loving this, it has nuts, pretzel bits, chocolate covered nuts, Malteser type things , chocolate buttons. A must have.

If you've tried anything perhaps you could say what they were and what you thought of them

Has anyone tried the Heston mince pies this year?

Yes and they are horrible in my opinion! But I don’t really like the Heston range. Waitrose No 1 brown butter mince pies this year are delicious though

Not particularly Christmassy but I saw some Lindor the other day in a blue box, salted caramel flavour. They were gross and very sickly with a large salt crystal in the middle. In true altruistic spirit before binning the box, I ate them all and regretted it.

I found the salty bits off putting too. I no salted caramel is the flavour right now but not actual pieces! And yes very sickly. White ones for the win every time.

We make our mince pies and are currently trying to remember what mince meat we liked. Some were shit and now we can’t remember which.

I must admit, I don't because I have a folder of tried and tested recipes so I know what works for Christmas food, but that's developed over years. I definitely try new recipes generally before I let them loose on people!

We make our mince pies and are currently trying to remember what mince meat we liked. Some were shit and now we can’t remember which.
I've never made mince pies! This year (I keep saying that, but I definitely must. Homemade are so much nicer).

I'm really enjoying this thread.

Ive tried sainsburys toffee nut latte. Meh. It's a no from me.

Do it.so easy and so much nicer!

May have been said already - but Lidl milk chocolate and almond florentines. Its a yes from me, but I feel the dark chocolate and hazelnut version need to be sampled to be absolutely certain.

Waitrose festive baklava. We tried a few then threw the rest. Dripping, literally, with syrup. I tried the mincemeat and pistachio one and for some reason it made my mouth feel burnt. I forced it down to give it a fair go and left the rest to my mum. She asked me if it was ok to throw away the rest. Seems awful to throw them away but they were not nice. I really wanted to like them too.

Tried both of these the other day as DM bought them for me.

The speculoos ones are amazing. Sort of like a grown up penguin bar. They've got a faint gingerbread taste to them. I'll definitely be buying more of them.

The chocolate orange ones are also nice but I personally found the flavour a bit strong. They taste exactly like a crunchy/crispy Terry's chocolate orange which may or may not be a selling point depending on your preference! DD loved them!

Has anyone tried so I don't have to any Christmas cakes with loads of cherries in?
Unfortunately I can't stand any type of fruit cake and dh loves it!

The Co-op bakery mince pies (pack of 4) are lovely. DH not too keen on Morrisons bakery ones but I enjoyed those too. My Asda Rewards app has cash back on the apple and pecan ones so I’ll try those soon hopefully. So much for waiting until December for mince pies!

Just tried new Heston pear and fig mince pies in cheese pastry. Try were nice, interesting change from the sweet ones. DH liked them better. I personally prefer the brown butter mince pies but I have sweet tooth.

@Elmrosie they are worth trying but maybe with some cheese and wine. we had them as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea and it’s probably a mistake.

Aldis pigs in blankets crisps are declared delicious by my dh, we have had to stop buying them because he can’t stop himself from eating the whole pack.

I used to love the salted caramel crumble mince pies from Aldi but they haven’t had them for the last couple of years 😞

The Irish cream topped mince pies from Asda are extremely delectable IMO, although DD found them too rich.

Baker Street stöllen bites are lovely too, although I couldn’t eat more than one.

It’s a tradition that we try ALL the mince pies - inherited from my parents.

Spar all butter are a reliable regular.
Tesco finest: not so fond of the choc orange ones but DH likes them, the crumble topped ones are divines.
Asda extra special Irish whiskey are lovely but the slow gin even better: too so far are the Tesco Cafe Viennese though.
Husband knows I much prefer a decent mince pie and a festive sandwich to any jewellery or flowers so buys those instead.

You had me at crispy olives 👌gotta nip to Lidl later anyway so may grab a bag for testing purposes

Morrisons mince pies best so far, am eyeing up the Gail's ones though! Pret Xmas sandwich by far the best, as always.

A colleague bought me a Starbucks Christmas panini yesterday. It was so lacking in flavour I couldn’t even work out what it was. I had no idea it was Christmas themed until he told me and it looked absolutely nothing like the photo on the website. Would not recommend.

Question - there's been a few mentions of the Co-Op mince pies. Which ones are the best? There's their regular box at circa £1 and the Irresistible box. I picked up both just in case (for testing purposes).

My Co op mince pies were bloody shite!! Anemic and soggy pastry that wouldn't even crisp up in the oven.

I don't like traditional Christmas puddings, but love chocolate!
My recommendation is Waitrose chocolate and hazelnut pudding. It's fab.

Can confirm the Aldi Lebkuchen are delicious still - the heart shaped Holly Lane ones