Banoffee Cheesecake Slices (M&S)

My sister and I were talking about how good the banoffee digestives are again the other day when she asked me why no-one does banoffee cheesecake. I then reminded her of the M&S banoffee cheesecakes that used to be part of the dine in meal deal. "You know, the ones that were designed for two that you used to munch by yourself." "Ah... yes, I remember." 

This jogged my memory back to a conversation I had with a lady called Zoe following the Sicilian Lemon & Ricotta cheesecake slice review. I remember Zoe asking me if I had got the M&S Banoffee cheesecakes to review, but I hadn't - thinking that they had been out for years, and that I'd had them many times before. What I hadn't realised (until Zoe informed me) was that they've been re-imagined. I put them on my mental list of items to review... and then promptly forgot all about them. The banoffee chat with my sister prompted me to pop into Marks & Spencer on my way home from the train station on Sunday afternoon, where I found a packet with a yellow reduced sticker on. It was fate!

"A baked banana and muscovado sugar cheesecake topped with a Belgian chocolate ganache and toffee mousse on a digestive biscuit base."

One of the cheesecakes looked a little worse for wear, which was unusual for M&S, who are normally very thoughtful with their packaging.

First up, I sampled the mousse, which was beautifully light, with a sweet toffee flavour to it. I still think that a mousse topping is an odd (and unnecessary) choice, but admittedly it worked better here than in Waitrose's new mocha cheesecakes.

Underneath this layer was the chocolate ganache, but I'd be hard pressed to comment on the flavour of it as it was so thin. In fact, I hadn't properly read the product description until I came to type this, and until a few moments ago I thought it was another toffee layer. This may sound like a complaint, but actually it's not. You see, I can see why M&S would want to provide a barrier between mousse and cheesecake (and it served that purpose well) yet I'm glad it didn't overpower either of the more traditional banoffee elements that the ganache was sandwiched by.  

As for that banana and muscovado mousse... well. It was a work of art. It was fluffy like their chocolate orange cheesecake, lacking the stodginess that 90%+ of supermarket cheesecakes suffer from. The banana flavour was authentic and omnipresent (as it had been with the Banoffee Semifreddos), shining through the toffee mousse layer to take centre stage. A delicious caramel undertone followed the banana; which was every bit as delightful as you can imagine. 

As for that biscuit base, it was thick, buttery and utterly scrumptious. You'd think that would be an aspect that is easy to perfect, when actually so many cheesecakes fall (and fail) on that final hurdle. 

There is very little, if anything, that I'd change about this dessert. It's the best banoffee cheesecake* I've ever had, and one of the best cheesecakes I've had in a long time. Bravo M&S, and thanks Zoe for giving me the nudge to try this new formula! They're worth every penny, full price** of not!

10/10

*I'm sure that will change when I get to try this one day.... (fingers crossed!).

**I can't remember the exact price, but it was less than £3.

NEW! Dessert Menu Banoffee Semifreddos (M&S)

Banoffee pie is absolutely up there as one of my all time favourite desserts (with tiramisu and my mum-in-law-to-be's apple crumble). The trouble is, most of the supermarket versions are pretty poor, and most of them come in large sized pies (I can't deal with that amount of temptation in the house, the same reason I don't make it very often). Cue M&S. Thank the lord. Their frozen dessert collection now contains a double pack of banoffee semifreddos. But there's a catch -they're £4 a time, yes, ouch. I struggle with spending £3 on a couple of cheesecake slices, but then I reconsidered...

1)  I'd heard resoundingly positive feedback on the semifreddos from fellow dessert fanatics Nat and Sian.
&
2) I'd pay more than that for a single dessert at a restaurant.

But then I had a brainwave anyway. The dine in for £10 meal deal. That says it includes selected ice creams. It usually contains some of M&S' dessert collection free desserts. I wonder... would the banoffee semifreddos be secretly part of the fortnightly deal? There was no offer ticket to suggest it was, but I did used to work at the Hereford branch and so I cheekily asked the lovely Maria to check it through the till...

BINGO!

It worked. I managed to buy two rump steaks, 4 potato rostis, a bottle of wine and the semifreddos for just a tenner. Bargain.

"Banana and vanilla custard cream with Dulce De Leche caramel sauce on a digestive biscuit crumb base, finished with cocoa powder and a dark chocolate plaque."

Chuffed with myself, I got them home and opened them up, to find that M&S had done a rather marvellous job of packaging them carefully in separate little brown boxes. First brownie point awarded to Marks, they were impeccable, despite my persistent clumsiness; anyone remember this doughnut pancake?

The topping was well flavoured with an authentic flavour (M&S have used real bananas - 6% of the ingredients) and it was creamy whilst remaining fairly light. I couldn't get my head around the consistency though; after the 20 minutes suggested defrosting time I had a soft moussey outer edge and a frozen inside. I get that's what its meant to be, but it made me think that I hadn't left it out of the freezer for long enough. 

The biscuit bottom was a lovely digestive affair, and although it was on the crumbly, fall-apart end of the cheesecake base spectrum, it was delicious nonetheless. 

It was the caramel centre that I was most excited about, and as I started to dig in, I thought M&S had been fairly stingy. In reality, it simply turned out that it was mostly pooled down one end, and the golden treasure was worth the wait. It was thick, gooey, and sweet with the buttery richness that I had hoped for. 

M&S Banoffee Semifreddos will never beat a fresh, homemade banoffee pie -especially as they understandably* lack the slices of fresh banana. At £4 for two, they're expensive too, but are well worth picking up as part of the Dine in Offer. As such, I'd happily have them again. 

8/10

*no-one wants slimy, black defrosted bananas gracing their dessert after all!

NEW! Banoffee Doughnut (Greggs)

Doughnut week is very much down to one of you lot. Dan, if you're reading this, I'm not sure whether to thank you or cuss you. You see, Dan brought the release of Greggs' new range to my attention last week...not long after I had realised that I would soon be in the proximity of a Krispy Kreme store (and would be making the most of the opportunity to stock up). His prompt also fell after a conversation with the talented Heather (at The Tandem Bakery) about a very exciting doughnut that she was going to make this Wednesday (just gone) and I just knew I couldn't resist that one either. That brought the running total to 5, so why not go utterly doughnut doolally and get the two new Greggs offerings too? Especially as one of them was banoffee.

The new sweet menu was released yesterday and features lemon shortbread, toffee apple cookies, as well as the duo of doughnuts. 

"Soft ball doughnut topped with caramel icing with a banana flavoured filling."

The new filled doughnuts come in at 90p each, a damn site cheaper than Krispy Kremes, but more expensive than standard jammy doughnuts. They looked as pretty, if not more attractive, than Krispy Kremes too.

Slicing mine in half revealed an abundant pocket of pale mousse. Perhaps Greggs should offer Krispy Kreme some training on how to adequately fill a doughnut. 

However, having had so many Krispy Kremes this week, it was extremely evident to me who reigns supreme when it comes to the dough. Even after freezing and defrosting the KKs they were much fluffier in texture than the Greggs doughnuts, with a sweeter flavour throughout. In contrast, Greggs dough felt heavy and breadlike, though it was still admittedly enjoyable. 

The banana mousse was entirely artificial in flavour, and although it was reminiscent of foam banana sweets, the aftertaste was slightly chemically. I wish Greggs had thought to inject a little toffee sauce into the centre too, because although the icing was caramel flavoured, the synthetic banana was the far more prominent of the two flavours and so to me it wasn't really true to the classic dessert. 

I did however enjoy the little crunchy balls on top, which reminded me of the Muller Crunch Corners. Sure it would have been nice to have some digestive crumbs (as per a banoffee pie) but I guess they'd have gone soggy and so I think Greggs might have made a wise choice. 

To be honest, I probably won't bother with this doughnut again. Hats off to Greggs thought for constantly innovating their range (as opposed to KKs barely veiled attempts to disguise their rereleases as new products). 

7/10

NEW! Banoffee Brownies (Co-Op)

I'd vowed not to by any more baked goods. My cupboards are brimming with all kinds of biscuits, and I've recently started baking again (which I'm thoroughly enjoying). I thought I was doing well with my oath, even not giving in to my doughnut cravings (largely caused by The Tandem Bakery's Instagram feed).  My self-restraint caved completely though this week when I saw a story by the lovely Emma (@EmmasFood) which featured banoffee brownies. I hope you agree this constituted a cake emergency, although I did manage to abstain from heading to the Co-Op in my pyjamas that evening, and indeed managed to wait until I was on my way home from the gym the next day. 

"Banana and toffee flavour chocolate brownies topped with salted fudge pieces."

The pack cost £1 and included 8 square brownie chunks. Despite them being sat with the fresh cakes they had a reasonably long shelf life of about a month. Upon opening the bag I was greeted with a rich cocoa aroma, followed by a lingering artificial banana scent.  Uh oh. I hope that wasn't a precursor for a chemical taste. 

Unfortunately it was. On the positive side the brownies were soft in the middle, with a decent squidge and deep cocoa flavour.  Sounds great, right? Except for that damn banana. It wasn't even a pleasant foam banana sweet or milkshake kind of flavour; it was nasty and synthetic. I can't even see banana mentioned in the ingredients list. How can some companies get it so wrong? At least McVities got it right. 

What a shame! If only the Co-Op had chosen to use real banana instead of some artificial flavourings to make these brownies. They had so much potential. I guess I'll just have to make my own....

4/10

NEW! McVities Banoffee Caramel Digestives (Waitrose)

Almost six weeks ago the best biscuit broadcast was made; McVities were set to release not just one, but two new caramel digestives. Hurrah! Apparently they weren't being subjected to any of this 'thin' nonsense either, and as a bonus McVities had opted for fabulous sounding flavours. Banoffee and coffee sounded right up my street -I'm guessing they must've read my cries for a full size cappuccino digestive 😉. 

The only trouble was... the new biscuits were playing an almighty game of hide and seek. I kept hunting for them, and even contacted McVities three weeks ago, who replied "the new coffee and banoffee caramel flavours will be in stores over the next few weeks and in major supermarkets over the coming months." Helpful. Cue the daily stalking of my local corner shops, which never prevailed. In fact it wasn't even me who found them, it was @productsinstores, who eventually discovered the banoffee variety in Waitrose yesterday. No exagerration, I was on my bike within ten minutes, I must've stunk of desperation. My local store had them in and thankfully, at £1.50, they weren't any more expensive than the standard caramels. Double win! 

"Milk chocolate digestives with a layer of banoffee flavour caramel."

I hoped that McVities had executed the banana flavour well. I mean banoffee caramel digestives sound delicious, and just the idea of dunkable banoffee pie was too good to resist. It's just that my recent experiences with banana biscuits haven't gone so well. Take the Party 'Jaffa cakes' for example, or these Julie's banana crackers that I brought back from Malaysia. Both were almost inedible due to the awful synthetic taste -although my dog seemed to enjoy the crackers. 

Thankfully McVities new biscuits didn't suffer the same fate. Yes the banana is synthetic, but it works well, reminding me a little of the flavour in Grenade's Banana Armour bar. The caramel layer is perhaps on the thin side, but there's enough of it to add texture to the wonderful wheat biscuit and to compliment the milk chocolate. 

 Despite not being a banana buff in the same way that I am, Bert adored these new biscuits too. In fact I might have to hide the rest of the pack....  I just wish Mars would be as brave and create a banana Twix. Anyone else with me on that?

10/10

Wheyhey Banoffee Protein Ice Cream Review (Tesco)

Everyone seems to be finding ice cream bargains in their local Tesco recently. Apart from me. The only thing I've discovered reduced in the freezer section (until today) is a packet of McCain Smiles for 84p. Now I appreciate I can't grumble at a bag of happy potatoes but I'd rather find a pint of B&Js for less than a squid (as per the many rightfully boastful Instagram photos I've spotted). Today however I found a healthy supply of Wheyhey Banoffee individual ice cream tubs adorning yellow stickers. Now I can only presume that they'd been reduced because they'd been sent to a store that doesn't usually stock them as Tesco have only recently started stocking Wheyhey. At £2 per 150ml tub I usually wouldn't bother buying them, but seeing as they were reduced, new, and banoffee flavoured, I bought a couple to try.

Haven't heard of Wheyhey yet? Well according to their website "Wheyhey is the world's first and best selling protein ice cream." The company was founded in 2012 by two best friends, one of which was a GB basketball coach, the other a fitness model. They created Wheyhey with the intention of creating an ice cream that does you good.* In fact their tagline is: The ice cream that loves you back. Aww. 

Anyway, I've moaned before about the lack of banana ice creams on the market (thank heavens for B&J!*) so I was happy to see Wheyhey's choice of flavour. The ice cream is made from whey isolate and contains 20.1g of protein per 150ml tub (Kcals: 149 F:4.3g C:11.8g). It contains no added sugar, artificial sweeteners (wheyhey use xylitol instead) and is gluten free. Sounds good, but is it too good to be true?

What a flipping odd consistency. I've never attempted to scoop a gluey ice cream before. It stretched and stuck to the scoop whilst melting before my eyes. I'd have to be quick with this one. 

Or just grab a bowl as it really wasn't going to hold.

Psssht. That's not ice cream. It's not even as good as the protein 'fluff' I make with Reflex's protein powder. It's just a semi-frozen shake. What the badger? I'll give it one credit: the flavour was clearly banoffee, and I could taste both the banana and toffee. This was all well and good until the nasty whey flavour hung around in the background. Not good. I can bear the taste of whey in a bar, but not in my ice cream -where it really doesn't belong.

I actually felt liked I'd wasted my calories and my money. I mean for IIFYM the macros are decent, but the Wheyhey tubs are expensive if I was out and about (and desperate for a protein fix) I'd rather have a shake -especially as they tend to be cheaper. 

I can't say I'll bother with these again. 

4/10


*...Sounds familiar... 
**Good lord, I'm utterly obsessed. Is B&J-aholics anonymous a thing yet?

NEW! Festive Menu Chocolatey Banoffee Pie (McDonalds)

I don't make a regular habit of eating at McDonalds, but as soon as their Christmas menu was announced I knew I'd have to make a trip there for my Thursday train dessert night.

There's apparently been a public outcry at the loss of their mincemeat and custard filled Festive Pie" this year but, to be honest, it didn't phase me as id never even bothered to try it. The replacement was far more exciting in my books anyway. I've spoken many a time on this blog about my love of Nutella & banana toasties (as well as my obsession with anything banoffee: peanut butter, biscuits, flapjack, muffins, whey protein, rice pudding...you name it!) so you can imagine my glee when I heard that McDonalds were going to be selling warm chocolatey banoffee pies. This week has certainly been the coldest yet this season, and so I was really looking forward to my treat after lectures last night -especially as I was going to cycle the 2 miles home when I got to the other end at 10pm!

I ordered using the new touch screen menus (since when has McDs been so fancy?) and paid the £1.19 for my chocolatey banoffee pie. Isn't almost everyone scarred from burning their tongue on their hot apple pies as a child? It was certainly something that came into mind when waiting for my order to appear at the collection point.

"A hot crispy pie filled with a thick Banoffee sauce and a delicious chocolatey sauce."

I needn't have worried though, by the time I'd left the fast food restaurant and popped across to the station, the pie was still just about warm  and nowhere near scalding temperature -a good job considering I'd got blisters on my lip thanks to my impatience with molten custard the night before. The train was late and so I got stuck in right there on the platform (hence the awful photos, sorry)! It was smaller than I remember the apple pies being -doesn't everything seem to have shrunk nowadays though?- but just as golden and crispy as ever.

The flaky pastry tasted primarily of oil, although I didn't mind it as it brought back nostalgic memories. The pie was well filled, with two different coloured fillings, which I assumed represented the separate chocolate and banoffee flavours.

Both sauces were yummy in an oddly comforting fashion. The banoffee was more like a sweet banana than actual toffee, although it actually tasted completely natural (I think I expected something reminiscent of foam sweets). As for the chocolate, it wasn't up to Nutella standards, but was thick, gooey and had a good -albeit very sweet- cocoa flavour. Both flavours worked in harmony, and some bites offered more of one sauce than the other, which made it all the more interesting to eat.

The taste, warmth and texture leans towards the perfect winter pick me up; exactly what I needed when starting to flag and in need of a sugar bomb. McDonald's Chocolatey Banoffee Pie isn't the most refined snack, but it is good old fashion junk food at its finest. If you're a chocolate and banana fan it's well worth trying a warm pie before they disappear after Christmas.

8/10

Reflex Nutrition Chocolate Diet Protein & Banoffee Instant Whey™ PRO (Online)

When Reflex first contacted me at the beginning of the summer, I had only just returned to exercise after a lengthy period away from the gym but I realised that I would need to increase my protein intake inline with my new weight training regime to support muscle growth. I started off with bars and have gradually established a range of bars that are pretty damn good. I choose between them depending on my needs for the day, normally White Chocolate & Raspberry Ripple R-Bars if I require a soft, tasty & nutritious bar away from home and Mocha Carb Killas if I need a sweet protein hit. I've also found that pre-made shakes are a simple way to get protein in (especially in the morning or if I'm in a hurry) and you can't get better than Reflex's Protein Coffee.*

I've recently got to the point now where I wanted to check out the real deal, the Whey protein powders that kind of intimidated me when I started working out again. Luckily Reflex kindly sent me a tub of both their chocolate flavoured Diet Protein and Banoffee flavoured Instant Whey™ PRO to try.

Chocolate Flavoured Diet Protein

Now I'm not on a weight loss diet, but I am trying to tone up and build muscle, so I was interested in discovering the benefits of Reflex's Diet Protein. Their proud of this product, and rightly so, considering the intensity in which they believe in delivering only the very best in sports supplements. 
The benefits of Reflex's Diet Protein include:

• It's the only diet whey shake to contain 3,200mg of patented Clarinol® CLA per daily serving
• CLA dose in line with Double Blind Placebo Controlled Studies
• No Chinese unbranded CLA which is found in nearly all competitor products
• Lifetime Guarantee
• EU Sourced Grass Fed undenatured Milk and Whey Protein
• Free From Soy Protein
• Free from GMO ingredients
• No added sugars
• 50,000,000 friendly bacteria spores per 50g
• 150mg green tea extract per 50g
• 250mg L-Carnitine L-Tartrate amino acid per 50g

If you want to discover more about why Reflex's Diet Protein is so special, please read their blog here.

But does it taste good? Surely there's no point in having a premium product that tastes revolting. One of the reasons I put off trying powders for so long is that my other half used them when we first met (almost 9 years ago) and used to have to drink his shake with a banana because the taste was so bad. I really hoped I wouldn't have to suffer the same!

Thankfully not. Whilst the chocolate shake didn't taste like a Frijj milkshake, it was pretty damn good and had a better taste than most other pre-made protein shakes I've tried. 

I have become addicted to the diet protein though, just used in a different way -or should I say whey ;) ?

Proats

I now can't start my day without a bowl of porridge made with Reflex's chocolate diet protein, and this is how I make them:

• 45g oats 
• 300ml milk
• 25g Diet Protein
• 1x portion of fruit  (frozen cherries or fresh pears are my favourite).

Microwave the oats and milk for 2-3 mins until bubbling, add the fruit & microwave for another 30 secs. Top with the powder, a little boiling water, and give a good stir. It's heaven in a bowl, NOT GRAINY, and perfect before a morning workout. 

9/10

Banoffee Instant Whey™ PRO

Unlike the diet whey, the  Instant Whey™ PRO doesn't contain Micellar Casein. The Instant Whey is Reflex's leading high protein powder, and as always the company goes above and beyond to deliver the very best. The benefits include:

·         Use of Native Whey

·         No Soy

·         EU sourced

·         Grass fed

·         Instant Whey™ PRO delivers a high level of protein at 80% where the main ingredients include whey isolate which has an unchallenged reputation.  This isolate incorporates native whey, which is made using a process that keeps far more of the important amino acids in place.

·        Every single batch is tested to guarantee its protein content with the results published on our website.

Now, I'm a HUGE banoffee fan, so I really hoped the flavour would be on point. As soon as I peeled back the lid on the tub I was met with a delicious aroma that smelt like the beautiful baby of both Butterscotch and Banana Angel Delight (the two best flavours). 

Again, the shake tasted rather good -although I prefer the thickness created by adding milk instead of water. The whey is sweet enough to avoid adding syrups too -always a bonus. Proats are also easy to make with this whey, although I slightly prefer the texture achieved when using the Diet Protein.

I've been busy dabbling with a few recipes too, and here are my absolute favourites: 1 of which must be made and eaten at home, the other I can take to uni with me for an afternoon treat.

Single Serving 'Beltsander' Peanut butter and Banoffee Blondie
This recipe is an adaption of the Beltsander Brownie.

• 25g Banoffee Instant Whey PRO
• 50g milk (I use dairy)
• 5g Banana Nesquik
• 10ml Jordan's Skinny caramel syrup
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 heaped tsp peanut butter 

Mix the first five ingredients together until it forms a smooth batter. Add the dollop of peanut butter into the middle. Microwave on high for 90 seconds(ish). Ewat whilst still warm and enjoy! The peanut butter goes all gooey, and it'sabsofreakinglutely incredible. For info, the Diet Protein doesn't work with this recipe due to the casein. 

Chocolate Banoffee Protein Cupcakes

This recipe is an adaption of Nat's white chocolate and banana protein cake -her creations are genius, so give her a follow if you love a good protein creation (and food porn in general)! 

• 150g Skyr (I use a pot of Lidl's plain Milbona)
• 40g Reflex Banoffee Instant Whey PRO 
• 60g oat flour (I just blitz oats in the blender)
• 1 large banana (approx 150g)
• 2 egg whites
• 20ml Jordan's Skinny Caramel Syrup
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 40g Dr Zak's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Peanut Butter

heat oven to 200c/ 180 fan Whisk the first six ingredients together until smooth. Half fill 8 muffin cases with the batter. Dollop 1 tsp Dr Zak's into the middle of each, top with the remaining batter. Bake for approx 25 mins until golden brown. I love these, and at approximately 111kcal per cupcake (including the peanut butter) it means I can easily eat 2-3 in one sitting! 

I've also made the mix in a loaf tin without the hidden centre and sandwiched it with Dr Zak's instead. 

Macros per cupcake/ quarter cake mix sandwiched with 10g Dr Zak's:

Kcals 221 / P19.8 / C21.5 / F5.7 

Note: This recipe does work with the chocolate whey, but the cake is slightly more dense (but equally delicious when covered in Sweet Freedom's choc shot!).

10/10

All of Reflex's protein tubs are available to purchase on their website, and they've currently got some super savings as part of their November offer. Go check them out! 

As ever, a massive thank you to Reflex for the samples!

*Before you start thinking that Reflex are paying me to praise them, I'd just like to reassure you that they're not, and I'm always honest in my reviews (I wasn't overly keen on their Apple & Blackberry R-Bar for example). Reflex have just got exceptionally high standards!

NEW! Dr Zak's Banoffee High Protein Peanut Spread (Musclefood)

I'm happily in the 'peanut butter should be enjoyed as a sweet delicacy', and I've mentioned many a time on this blog about my love of pb and banana toasties. I'm not a stranger to banana flavoured peanut butters, and I loved the last (PB Crave Coco Bananas). I often eat peanut butter at lunchtime, pre-afternoon gym session, so I've been recently delving into the world of high protein nut butters. But who is Dr Zak, and can you trust what he's selling?

"Dr Zak Pallikaros has dedicated his life to fitness and muscle-building. He studied Medicinal Chemistry, Bio Technology and Bio Chemistry at City University (London), then went on to obtain a Doctorate degree from the Royal Free Medical School."

Dr Zak's launched their range of high protein peanut spreads last year; with flavours including the delicious sounding Apple & Cinnamon, Cherry Bakewell and White Chocolate & Coconut. My bestest bud is a fellow peanut butter addict (perhaps that's why we've been friends for 17 years) and her absolute favourite is Dr Zak's Salted Caramel. Over the months her love has gradually persuaded me to buy a jar, but then I discovered that the company were releasing new flavours...

The new range comprises of: Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Smooth, Crunchy and the Sweet Banoffee Pie. Each 450g jar has an RRP of £8.49, although Musclefood is selling them for £4.95 each. 

As to be expected, there was a slight amount of separation (although nowhere near as bad as the PB Crave). A swift swirl with a butter knife enabled an even consistency throughout the jar. Even before 
tasting I could smell the artificial banana flavour. 

If you've ever had a high protein nut butter, you'll know that the partially hydrolysed whey adds a grainy texture -and Dr Zak's is no different. The banana flavour was every bit as artificial as the aroma, but to be honest I'm a fan of even the most fake bananary foods (foam sweets for example). 

As far as high protein spreads go, this Dr Zak's is the best I've tried yet. It's full of flavour, and has a consistency loose enough to spread, but firm enough to cover apple slices. It also contains no palm 
oil and offers 7g of protein with only 1.4g of sugar per 20g serving. 

7/10

NEW! Banana & Toffee Müller Rice (Morrisons)

There are a couple of retired Müller Rice's that I yearn for. I'm already missing the Maple Syrup flavour, and I hope for the return of the Apple Strudel one day, but my hands down favourite ever Müller Rice has to be the banana and toffee. I've already harped on about how much I love banoffee this month, so I am eternally grateful to Instagram (and especially to nourishingnic) for bringing this 'new' going the distance flavour to my attention.

The only problem is that the banana and toffee is only available as a six-pack, combined with the rather repulsive chocolate and caramel flavour. Don't you hate it when companies do that? Fortunately my other half can stomach the chocolatey ones, so I popped down to Morrisons to pick up a pack -where all Müller six packs are currently on a two-for-£3 deal FYI.

The banana and toffee flavoured rice pudding was every bit as good as I remember. As always I enjoyed my pot ice-cold, and saved the banoffee sauce until the very end. 

The banana flavour was on the artificial side, foam-sweet-esque, but as an avid lover of banana nesquik -and in fact anything related to the fruit- I certainly didn't mind. If you're after a thick, buttery, Dulce de Leche style sauce you'll be bitterly disappointed by this Müller Rice as it's much sweeter and runnier than that -but I thought that it was nostalgically delicious and relished every last spoonful. 

9/10

NEW! Banoffee Swirls (M&S)

Banoffee Pie: one of my absolute favourite desserts (up there with Tiramisu). There's something deliciously devilish about the combination of sweet banana, gooey toffee and buttery biscuit, topped with billowing clouds of whipped cream... Needless to say, the classic dessert has been exploited by many a manufacturer, some more successfully than others (Co-op's muffins compared to Boot's flapjack for example). This time it's M&S' turn with these new Banoffee Swirls.  

"These crunchy banoffee flavoured biscuits are inspired by the traditional British pudding."

The pack cost £1.50 and contained 8 rather attractive looking biscuits -which actually beared true likeness to the photo on the front. As soon as I tore open the wrapper, a buttery shortbread-like aroma eminated, and I could see just how short the biscuits were going to be thanks to the one that had crumbled in transit.

I wouldn't describe the swirls as being crunchy; they were much softer than that thanks to their high butter content. Instead they melted in the mouth, tasting every bit as rich and indulgent as one would expect from an M&S biscuit. The trouble was, I couldn't taste the banana. Not at all. The alarm bells should have rung when I opened the pack and could only smell butter, but I was so eager to get stuck in that I hadn't even thought about it. The toffee flavour was also lacking, and it wasn't until I checked the packet that I realised why: the biscuits don't contain any real banana or toffee/caramel sauce, just 'flavourings'. It wasn't until my last bite of my fourth biscuit that I finally got a whiff of the banana I was hoping for. 

Perhaps I could blame my tastebuds for the lack of flavour, or the fact that I paired the Banoffee Swirls with a big mug of coffee. So in the name of a fair review I asked my other half whether he could taste the banana, and he said it reminded him of Banoffee Angel Delight.... Of course, Banoffee Angel Delight doesn't even exist (although I really wish it did -petitition anyone?) Lord knows what he was on about! 

Compared to M&S' new and marvellous Dark Chocolate Mango Jaffa Cakes, these are a pitiful entry to M&S' biscuit aisle.

4/10

Banoffee Flapjack (Boots)

I'd forgotten just how much I love flapjacks until (thanks to O2 Priority) I got the chance to try any of the Graze boxes sold in Boots completely free of charge! I was in a bit of a dilemma  as I liked the sound of the chocolate dippers and strawberry & blueberry coins, but then I spotted the lemon drizzle box and my choice was made. 

The lemon drizzle Graze was exquisite, soft yet gooey with a sweet citrussy kick, and hands-down the best flapjack I'd had in years. It was so good that it made me consider signing up to Graze!

You know what its like when you've rekindled a love for an almost forgotten treat and suddenly become acutely aware of its presence? Well, I go into Boots every Monday for my £1 meal deal (thanks again O2) and for the first time, acknowledged their own-brand range of flapjacks -including a banoffee version. As a lover of anything banoffee, I couldn't resist!

'Oat flapjack with caramel and banana, topped with belgian chocolate.'

The flapjack was a sizeable slab, weighing in at 61g. There were three dried banana coins on the top, and a generous chocolatey drizzle. The gooey caramel layer had stuck to the packet in places, meaning that the slice had a slightly messy appearance. As I've said before, I don't believe that looks are a reflection of taste, so I eagerly got stuck in to my treat.

Unfortunately, the Boots flapjack tasted utterly different to its Graze cousin. It was stodgy, and overwhelmingly sweet, with the caramel layer compounding the problem. Instead of the luxuriously silky Dulce De Leche style caramel that I experienced with the Morrisons 'Millionaire's Shortbread Mash Up' ice cream, it was a gritty saccharine layer that wasn't pleasant. The banana element came solely from the three chips on top, so felt somewhat like a lazy afterthought.

I couldn't help but think the flapjack would've been improved from the caramel and banana flavours being rippled through the oats, instead of being clumsily added on top. It's such a shame, there was so much promise for the Boots Banoffee Flapjack, if only it'd been given the thought and execution it deserved.

3/10

NEW! Banoffee Muffins (Co-Op)

I was queueing up to pay for my milk in the Co-Op on Sunday morning when a cleverly situated display of bakery goods caught my eye. Optimally placed at head height were their new mocha muffins, Easter doughnuts (which as far as I could tell we're just standard rings covered in yellow icing and sugary balls), and banoffee muffins. I haven't bought any of the Co-Op's cakes before, but the idea of banana and toffee combined in fluffy muffin form was just too tempting to resist!

'Toffee flavoured muffins with banana fruit pieces'

The muffins looked like they'd either been packaged when they were warm or they'd been sat under spotlights as they'd started to sweat slightly. They were perfectly sized - not so massive that they felt like a meal in themselves, nor so small that they would be gone in little more than a mouthful.
The muffins were light to touch with a good bouncy texture to them (a much better start than I had with the dry Galaxy Treat Cakes I reviewed last week).

Onto the tasting, and the toffee flavour was mild, in fact the only nod to its existence was the sweet undertone permeating the cake. The banana element however was much more powerful (despite only accounting for 4% of the total ingredients) with a genuinely natural flavour that made the cake taste home-made. The muffin was soft, but it was quite sticky (presumably because the cakes had sweated), close-textured and almost doughy -which admittedly I quite liked!

For 89p for four, I can't help but think these are an absolute steal. These banoffee muffins are a must-buy for banana cake fans who don't have the time or the resources to bake from scratch. Hats off to you Co-Op!

7/10