Byron Bay Cookies - a Review

When I heard that the people from Beyond The Bean were looking for people to review the Byron Bay Cookies that they supply to various coffee houses I was more than happy to oblige. A few days later the lovely box full of goodies you can see above arrived on my doorstep. I was expecting one little pack but instead I received a lovely selection box of cookies of various flavours.

Originating, not surprisingly, in Byron Bay in Australia these cookies are now baked in the UK using locally sourced ingredients. And I was very pleased to see that for the most part they do not contain palm oil (the exception being the fudge pieces used in the 'Dotty' Smarties cookie). For reasons why you should think twice about using products containing palm oil have a look here. The range has been fully approved by The Vegetarian Society and the Gluten-Free cookies have been approved by The Coeliac Society.

When I first opened the box and saw the individual packets I couldn't help but be reminded of those uninspiring little packets of biscuits that you so often find on hotel tea-trays. A closer inspection, however, put my mind, and stomach, at rest. These are no ordinary biscuits. As you can see from the picture at the bottom of the post these are biscuits and then some. Each one weighs in at approximately 60g and with a calorie content of around 450 per 100g this is a snack to be taken seriously.

So, the different flavours...

Strawberry & Clotted Cream Shortbread - My first thought when I tried this one was "a bit too sweet". I find things with white chocolate often are and the addition of dried strawberries only added to the sugar hit. Funnily enough though this didn't stop me guzzling the whole pack of six cookies like I was trying to break some sort of record.

Fig & Pecan Cookie - This one was really nice. Not too sweet with a wholesome chewy, crunchy texture. They reminded me of the classic Fig Roll only much more interesting.

Lemon Macadamia Nut Shortbread - Lovely crumbly shortbread with a zingy lemon flavour.

Triple Choc Fudge Cookie - Mmmm....seriously chocolatey these ones with big chunks of chocolate and fudge throughout. Lush.

Gluten-free "Dotty" Triple Chocolate Cookie - The colourful packaging for this one suggests that it is aimed at children. However I can't imagine my children getting through a whole one of these in one sitting or, should I say, I can't imagine me letting them. This one had quite a dry texture possibly, I guess, because it was gluten free. It was still very nice though and the smarties on top were a welcome addition.

White Choc Chunk & Macadamia Nut Cookie - Sweet crumbly shortbread with generous chunks of white chocolate. Very nice.

White Choc Chunk & Macadamia Nut Cookie (Gluten Free) - Apart from a slightly drier texture this tasted just the same as the non-gluten free version - sweet and chocolatey.

Sticky Date & Ginger with Walnut Cookie - I really liked this one a lot. Chewy dates, crunchy nuts and a warming hint of ginger and cinnamon in the background. I could eat these all day long.

And my favourite? Well, depending on my mood I think that would have to be either the Sticky Date & Ginger or the Triple Chocolate Fudge. Both winners in my book.

Thanks to Beyond the Bean for giving me the opportunity to try these. They were a real hit and I will definitely be looking out for them in my local coffee shops in the future.