Who can resist a trip to Home Bargains? It is the ideal way to spend a rainy afternoon, and even without a shopping list, you are almost certain to come across something you never knew you needed. My local retail park opened a brand new Home Bargains store a few months back, and I have already made several visits. I tend to gravitate towards the homeware, beauty and cleaning aisles, so I had completely overlooked the fact that there is actually an in-store bakery. Being someone who can never say no to a treat, I decided to put a few pastries to the test.
As a self-confessed baked goods enthusiast, I have sampled pastries from most of the major supermarkets. Lidl is usually my first port of call for affordable options, though I do enjoy the occasional indulgence from Waitrose and Marks and Spencer. So I was eager to see how Home Bargains stacked up on both price and taste.
The Bakery Selection
The bakery section was fairly small, with everything coming pre-packaged rather than the usual tongs and paper bags setup, which actually made things more straightforward. There was a reasonable selection of sweet treats including croissants, pain au chocolats, cookies and more, with prices ranging from 59p to around £1.50. I would have liked to see some freshly baked bread or baguettes, though maybe my store had simply sold out. I picked up six items for under £6 in total, which seemed pretty reasonable. Here is what I thought.
Maple and Pecan Plait - 59p
Kicking things off with one of these sweet and tempting pastries, which I usually pick up from Lidl, so expectations were high. These genuinely tasted identical, boasting a delightful sweet centre encased in flaky, chewy and buttery pastry. I only wish I had warmed it up beforehand, as it would have been even more amazing. My only complaint would be that it could do with more pecans on top for added crunch, but otherwise, it was lovely. This also happened to be the most affordable item in the entire haul, at just 59p.
Rating: 4/5
Biscoff Croissant - 59p
After such a promising start, I was swiftly brought crashing back down with this Biscoff-filled croissant. Upon tearing into it, I discovered it was made from cheap, bread-like dough rather than the flaky layers a proper croissant should have. The filling was minimal too. Sadly, it tasted no better than it looked. It came across as cheap, with the Biscoff filling failing to elevate the overall experience whatsoever. Far too dry, chewy and lacking in flavour, I probably would not recommend this, even for die-hard Biscoff fans.
Rating: 1/5
Pain aux Chocolats - 99p
Next came a twin pack of pain aux chocolats, costing 99p. Following the disappointment of the Biscoff offering, I approached these with caution. Thankfully, these were somewhat better. The pastry reassuringly began flaking off in my hand as I examined the chocolate filling, which looked fairly generous. As for taste, they were fairly average. Once again, they lacked that satisfying crispy bite you would expect from a quality artisan pastry, though at 99p, my expectations were not exactly sky-high. The chocolate was reasonably middle-of-the-road too, and I would have welcomed a darker variety to offset the sweetness of the pastry.
Rating: 3/5
Chocolate Chip Cookies - £1.29
Cookies are having a real moment at supermarkets right now, with retailers competing fiercely to launch the most on-trend new flavours. But sometimes the classics are the best, and these double chocolate ones from Home Bargains proved exactly that. You receive five in a pack, and while they are quite large, they are so thin. I expected a hard, biscuit-like consistency because of this, but they were wonderfully soft and chewy; you could practically fold one in half without it snapping. The chocolate chips dissolved in your mouth, which was delightful. Each cookie's centre was soft and chewy with more crunch around the edges, exactly what a cookie should deliver. I would strongly recommend these, and they genuinely rival M&S.
Rating: 5/5
Mini Doughnuts - £1
If anything takes me back to my childhood, it is mini doughnuts. I ate them so often that I am honestly not particularly keen nowadays, though I still felt they deserved testing for comparison's sake. These were forgettable, as mini doughnuts go. I expected a sugar coating but instead found more of a powdered sugar, which is not really my preference. They were also quite dry, and I felt no desire whatsoever to dip back into the bag later that evening. In my view, it is worth paying a little extra and picking them up from a different supermarket.
Rating: 2/5
Cheese Twist - 69p
I do not often reach for a savoury pastry, but cheese twists are a real weakness of mine, particularly the M&S variety. A colleague insisted I give the Home Bargains version a go, and I am so glad she did. This was without doubt the star of the lot. The pastry was gloriously buttery and the cheese filling wound generously through every layer, without tipping into anything too rich or overwhelming. It struck the perfect savoury balance, and at roughly half the price of the M&S equivalent. This would make an ideal snack as picnic season approaches, so if you are a cheese twist enthusiast who has not yet tried the Home Bargains bakery version, I cannot recommend it enough.
Rating: 5/5
