Home bakers reducing sugar
If a traybake base, topping or ice-cream sandwich needs a chocolate-biscuit element, compare the sugar information for the quantity you will use rather than assuming an ordinary bourbon meets your aim.
Who is choosing these biscuits?
Bakers avoiding gluten or milk
A bourbon-style biscuit may need a stated free-from designation for the people eating the bake. Check dietary suitability separately from sugar content.
Bakers choosing convenience
A ready-made sandwich biscuit avoids making a separate biscuit component. Its familiar format may matter more to your recipe than a lower-sugar formulation.
What should you check?
Decide whether the recipe needs a bourbon biscuit specifically, then compare sugar information and dietary suitability for the amount you plan to use.
Bake a biscuit alternative
Choose when: Controlling the recipe’s ingredients matters more than reproducing a packaged bourbon.
Trade-off: Check the recipe’s own sugar information and expect a different biscuit style; Silver Spoon’s reduced-sugar biscuit recipe, for example, is shortbread, not bourbon.
Use a standard bourbon
Choose when: The ready-made chocolate sandwich format is important and the pack’s sugar information fits your recipe.
Trade-off: A conventional bourbon is not necessarily a reduced-sugar ingredient; Tesco lists 29.6g sugars per 100g for its Bourbon Creams.
Choose a free-from bourbon
Choose when: The stated gluten or milk exclusions match a dietary requirement for the bake.
Trade-off: Free-from does not mean reduced sugar: Sainsbury’s lists 24.3g sugars per 100g for its Free From Bourbon Creams.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar content | Compare sugars per 100g on the current packs, then account for the quantity going into the recipe. Tesco lists 29.6g per 100g for its Bourbon Creams; Waitrose lists 3.9g per Essential Bourbon Cream biscuit, a different measurement basis. | I want to know what the biscuits contribute to the whole bake, not judge them by the pack description alone. |
| Biscuit format | Check whether you need intact sandwich biscuits, a crushed base or a topping. A reduced-sugar recipe for another biscuit style is not automatically a like-for-like bourbon replacement. | For an ice-cream sandwich, the shape matters; for a crumb topping, I may have more room to choose a different biscuit. |
| Dietary suitability | Read the current ingredients and contains or may-contain declarations. Check stated free-from exclusions and sugar information separately; Tesco notes that product information can change with reformulation. | If I am serving someone who must avoid an ingredient, the biscuit needs to suit them as well as the recipe. |
Common buying mistakes
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Assuming an everyday bourbon is reduced sugar
Several biscuits in a base or topping can contribute more sugar than a per-biscuit figure suggests. Tesco lists 29.6g sugars per 100g for its Bourbon Creams, while Waitrose lists 3.9g per Essential Bourbon Cream biscuit.
Compare products on a per-100g basis where available, then use the quantity in your recipe to assess the finished bake.
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Reading “free from” as a sugar claim
Ingredient exclusions answer a different question. Sainsbury’s Free From Bourbon Creams list 24.3g sugars per 100g, and Asda’s Free From bourbon listing gives 18g per 100g.
Check the stated dietary exclusions first if they are needed, then compare the nutrition panels independently.
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Using an old label to make an allergen decision
Ingredients and allergen declarations can change. Asda’s standard Bourbon Biscuits listing states that they contain wheat and may contain milk, rye, oats, barley and sesame.
Check the current pack before baking and serving, especially before substituting a conventional biscuit in a bake with a dietary restriction.
Relevant brand references
These product-line examples help separate biscuit format, dietary exclusions and sugar information; brand names alone do not establish a reduced-sugar choice.
Tesco
Tesco Bourbon Creams are a conventional ready-made option for recipes calling for sandwich biscuits.
- Tesco lists 29.6g sugars per 100g and 4.0g per 13.6g biscuit for its 592g Bourbon Creams listing.
- Those figures do not make the product reduced sugar; Tesco advises checking current food information because formulations can change.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s lists both a conventional Bourbon and Free From Bourbon Creams.
- Its Free From Bourbon Creams are described as milk and gluten free.
- Sainsbury’s lists 24.3g sugars per 100g for that free-from product, so check sugar content separately from the stated exclusions.
Asda
Asda lists standard and Free From bourbon-style biscuits with different dietary declarations.
- Asda labels its Free From bourbon biscuits as free from milk and cereals containing gluten and lists 18g sugars per 100g.
- Its standard Bourbon Biscuits listing states that the product contains wheat and may contain several other allergens; the free-from designation is not itself a reduced-sugar claim.
Waitrose
Essential Bourbon Creams offer a conventional sandwich-biscuit format with a per-biscuit nutrition figure.
- Waitrose lists 3.9g sugars per biscuit, which can help when counting biscuits for a recipe.
- A per-biscuit figure should not be compared directly with another product’s per-100g figure, and it does not establish a reduced-sugar claim.
M&S
M&S presents Giant Bourbon Biscuits as a format for chocolate ice-cream sandwiches.
- The stated use may help if the recipe needs an intact biscuit around a filling.
- That dessert suggestion does not indicate lower sugar; check the particular pack’s nutrition information.
McVitie’s
McVitie’s Tasties Bourbon Cream Biscuits are a conventional bourbon-style choice listed by Asda.
- Asda’s listing identifies the biscuit format for a recipe requiring a ready-made bourbon cream.
- The listing states that the biscuits contain wheat and may contain sesame and milk; check the current pack for dietary and sugar information.
Joybuy product options
This option is a ready-made chocolate sandwich biscuit for bakers considering an alternative to bourbon biscuits. Check whether its format, ingredients and current nutrition information suit your recipe.
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Oreo Zero Sugar Sandwich Cookies, 97g
These sandwich cookies offer a ready-made biscuit format for a base or topping, but they are not bourbon biscuits. Check the current pack’s sugar information, sweeteners and allergen declaration before using them in your bake.
Questions about baking with biscuits
Does “free from” mean a bourbon biscuit has less sugar?
No. Free-from wording describes stated ingredient exclusions, not sugar reduction. Sainsbury’s lists 24.3g sugars per 100g for its Free From Bourbon Creams, while Asda lists 18g per 100g for its Free From bourbon biscuits; compare the current nutrition panels for your recipe.
How should I compare biscuits for a lower-sugar bake?
Compare sugars per 100g where available, then work out how much biscuit the recipe uses. A per-biscuit figure can help with portion counting, but biscuits of different sizes should not be compared on that figure alone. The total-sugars figure on a pack should not automatically be treated as a free-sugars figure.
Can regular bourbon biscuits work in an ice-cream sandwich?
Yes, if the biscuit format suits the dessert, its sugar information fits your aim and its ingredients suit the people eating it. M&S specifically suggests its Giant Bourbon Biscuits for chocolate ice-cream sandwiches; that suggested use is not a lower-sugar claim.
Should I recheck allergens when buying the same biscuits again?
Yes. Tesco notes that reformulation can change ingredients and allergen information. Check the current pack before using the biscuits in a shared bake rather than relying on a previous pack or an old recipe.