I have always been partial to a biscuit with my cup of hot tea but have my 'favourites' within the major brands and tend to stick to them. For this reason, it had been a long time since I had tried the "Jammie Dodgers" biscuits, from the well known "Burtons" range of biscuits and foodstuffs. I had the opportunity to try them out recently when my other half came home from shopping with a 150g packet of the biscuits, a trial which I was more than happy to undertake.

Packaged in a brightly-coloured red wrapper, the Burtons Jammie Dodgers are certainly an eye-catching product and I have noticed them on the shop shelf many times when shopping for groceries. Opening the outer wrapper, I could clearly see the circular biscuits which were sitting neatly on a sort of cardboard 'shelf' within the wrapper. I wouldn't normally describe a biscuit wrapper any more than what I have normally stated, but in the case of the Jammie Dodgers I feel it necessary to point out that I find the packaging is both tricky and quite cumbersome to use, although I liked the fact that the biscuits had a little 'protection padding' offered to them by way of the cardboard insert. This device does, however, seem to make it more difficult to remove each individual biscuit at a time. The alternative is to hold the package upside down until a biscuit falls down the 'shelf' towards the opening of the packet, but this usually results in a crumby mess falling out which is rather annoying. After eating a couple of the biscuits I gave in and removed the remainder from the package altogether, finding a small tin to store them in until we next wanted to eat them.

The biscuits themselves look very attractive, consisting of two circular biscuits that have a sort of 'sandwiched' design, thanks to a generous helping of bright red jam in the centre. On the top biscuit there is a sort of 'textured' design embossed onto the biscuit, with a heart-shaped 'hole' cut out of the centre, through which the red jam can be seen clearly. The cute appearance of the biscuits makes them seem ideal to be served at a child's birthday party and I do remember my own mum serving the biscuits to me as a youngster.

The outer biscuits are very sweet as you would expect, and I find their sweet 'shortcake' aroma is very easy to detect even before I have taken a bite. With a sort of 'buttery' undertone in their flavouring, I find the biscuits are deliciously sweet without being overpowering, and have a lovely 'crunch' to them that is not overly crumbly. In actual fact I quite enjoy 'dunking' my Jammie Dodger into my hot cup of tea and find that they can withstand this practice to a reasonable degree. I find that their taste compliments my hot cuppa perfectly.

The jam in the centre of the Jammie Dodgers is one that I think is of a high quality. Described on the packaging as being "Stretchy Raspberry Flavour Jam" I find that the centre of the biscuits is not at all sickly, nor does it have that sort of bitter 'false' aftertaste to it that many cheaply-priced jams contain. I think that the texture of the jam centre, and it's wonderful chewy consistency, compliment the crunchy outer biscuits perfectly. The combination of the two make a really pleasant change from my usual 'biscuit routine' and I think I may be somewhat converted to them as a result.

The nutritional information on the reverse of the packaging informs me that each Jammie Dodger biscuit will provide 83 kcal and 2.8g fat which I think is on a par with most other brands of biscuit that I buy regularly. I can also see that they have no artificial colours, no artificial flavours and no hydrogenated fats. Jammie Dodgers contain wheat and gluten, and may contain milk and soya. The biscuits are entirely suitable for a vegetarian diet.

Overall, I was quite impressed with the Jammie Dodgers and will definitely buy them again. I thought they offered something a bit different from my usual 'dunker' choices, and I particularly enjoyed the jammy centre in the middle of the biscuits.... Definitely recommended from me!

As at March 2012, there are several variations of the biscuits available in good stockists such as Tesco and Asda. These include the 'original' version that I am reviewing here, as well as a "Sticky Toffee" version and a "Jam 'n Custard" variety. There are also "Mini" and "Snack Bite" versions of the Jammie Dodger biscuits available too.

The current price for the 150g packet that I had is £1.15 from branches of Asda, or you can buy online at www.asda.com.