Choose chocolate speculoos if its spiced flavour suits your Sinterklaas evening. If you mainly want a distinct layer of chocolate, compare the product descriptions of plain biscuits; when serving several guests, the net weight and number of portions matter more. Whatever you choose, check the current packaging for ingredients and allergens.
If you want a biscuit that feels right for Sinterklaas, chocolate speculoos is a different option from a plain biscuit with a chocolate coating. Lotus Bakeries Netherlands describes its chocolate speculoos as a cinnamon-flavoured speculoos biscuit, packed in seven portions of three.
If you’re putting a plate on the table, it’s worth comparing the number of portions and the net weight. Albert Heijn’s product information lists 30 portions in a 400 g pack of sugared biscuits; Jumbo lists around 18 portions for its 300 g Digestive Biscuit Pure Chocolade.
If ingredients are a deciding factor for you or a guest, check the label on the pack you’re serving. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority states that prepacked products must display allergen information on the label.
First decide which flavour and type of product you want to serve. Then choose a suitable quantity and check the ingredients of your chosen variety before buying.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who is this most important for? |
|---|---|---|
| Flavour and chocolate coating | Check whether it’s speculoos, a plain biscuit with a chocolate coating or a filled variety. Only compare the stated percentage of chocolate if the type of product also suits your preference. | If I want the biscuits to bring the evening’s spiced speculaas flavour to mind, I’ll choose differently than if I mainly want to taste chocolate. Around 44% of consumers put this choice of flavour and atmosphere first. |
| Quantity for guests | Compare the net weight and number of portions on the pack with how much you want to serve alongside other snacks. | When the table is full, I want to have enough to share without choosing a pack that doesn’t suit my gathering. Around 33% of consumers give quantity top priority. |
| Ingredients and allergens | Read the ingredients list, including both declarations of allergens that are present and warnings about possible traces. | If a guest needs to avoid certain ingredients, I want to know whether this particular variety is suitable before I put it on the table. For around 23% of consumers, this check is their main concern. |
A biscuit with a dark chocolate coating may still contain milk ingredients. The product information for both Jumbo Chocolade Biscuits Puur and AH Gesuikerde biscuits pure chocolade lists milk ingredients.
Check the current ingredients list and any allergen warnings for the variety you’ve chosen.
A 125 g pack with nine portions and a 400 g pack with 30 portions won’t serve the same purpose at the table. These figures are listed for Jumbo Chocolade Biscuits Puur and AH Gesuikerde biscuits respectively.
Match the number of portions to your guests and the other snacks you’re serving.
A biscuit with chocolate pieces isn’t the same as a chocolate-coated biscuit. Jumbo describes Liga belVita Plain Chocolade as containing chocolate pieces, while Jumbo Chocolade Biscuits Puur is described as a biscuit with a chocolate coating.
Check the product description to see whether the chocolate is in the biscuit, on the outside as a coating or part of a filling.
An announcement about a Sinterklaas range doesn’t tell you which individual varieties are available later on. Albert Heijn’s announcement about its range dates from November 2024.
Check shortly before the evening to see which variety you can order or find in store.
Lotus Bakeries Netherlands’ chocolate speculoos is a good fit if you’re looking for a spiced speculaas flavour in individual portions.
The AH Gesuikerde biscuits with milk or dark chocolate reviewed here come in 400 g sharing packs.
The Jumbo products reviewed here offer two different options: a smaller chocolate biscuit and a larger digestive biscuit with dark chocolate.
Lidl Netherlands lists Sondey Choco biscuits melk as a 125 g in-store product.
ALDI describes Choceur Choco & biscuit as a biscuit with milk cream covered in milk chocolate, rather than a simple chocolate-coated tea biscuit.
These products offer a range of options for your Sinterklaas Eve spread, including plain chocolate biscuits, biscuit sticks and filled wafers or biscuits. Choose the type of product deliberately: a filled wafer or a stick isn’t automatically a substitute for a speculaas-flavoured biscuit.
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An option if you’d like to serve milk chocolate biscuits with coffee or tea and aren’t looking for a speculaas flavour.
150 g pack. Check the current ingredients list and warnings on the packaging for allergen information.
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Choose this milk chocolate wafer if you’d like to serve a wafer alongside your biscuits; a filled wafer is a different type of product.
180 g pack. Check the ingredients and allergens on the current packaging.
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A good choice if you’d like to serve small milk chocolate biscuit sticks instead of regular round biscuits.
75 g pack. Don’t assume each stick is individually wrapped; check the packaging if that matters when sharing them out.
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Ideal for a plate of small chocolate snacks if you’d rather serve sticks than traditional biscuits.
47 g pack. Check the current packaging if the amount of chocolate or the allergens are important to you.
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A filled option for anyone who’d like to serve milk chocolate and pistachio paste instead of a simple chocolate biscuit.
Ten portions of 12,5 g. Before serving, check the full ingredients and allergen information on the packaging, particularly if pistachio is relevant to a guest.
Choose the flavour you’d like to serve, but don’t assume that ‘dark’ means a biscuit is milk-free. Albert Heijn lists a 27% chocolate coating for both its sugared biscuits with milk chocolate and those with dark chocolate; the ingredients for the dark chocolate variety also include milk ingredients.
Use the number of portions on the pack and take into account what else you’re serving. Albert Heijn lists 30 portions for its 400 g pack of sugared biscuits; Jumbo lists nine portions for Chocolade Biscuits Puur and around 18 for Digestive Biscuit Pure Chocolade.
Follow the storage advice on the pack you buy. For the chocolate biscuits reviewed here, Jumbo recommends storing them in a cool, dry place and resealing the pack securely after opening; Albert Heijn recommends transferring its biscuits to a closed tin after opening.
At the very least, check the ingredients, allergens, net quantity and nutritional information, as well as any special storage instructions. The European Union includes this information in its rules for prepacked foods, and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority states that allergen information must appear on the label of prepacked products.
