A complete taaitaai baking mix is a good choice if you mainly want to cut out shapes and decorate them together. If you want to choose the ingredients and shapes yourself, you can make the dough from scratch. Looking for taaitaai to serve on a dessert platter without any baking? Ready-made biscuits are a better fit. Check the ingredients and allergens for every product, and see what extra kitchen equipment you’ll need when using a baking mix.
If cutting out shapes and decorating them are the main event, a kit with the mix and decorations you need is one option. Check which items come with the kit you choose and what kitchen equipment you’ll need to provide yourself.
Using individual ingredients lets you choose your own recipe and shapes. You’ll also need to weigh out and work the dough. For example, the PLUS recipe lets you cut out or cut the shapes yourself.
Ready-made taaitaai can be just the thing with coffee, dessert or a sharing platter. But serving biscuits doesn’t give you the activity of making, cutting out and baking the dough.
Choose this when: You want to cut out and decorate taaitaai together. Albert Heijn describes a kit containing a mix, icing, chocolate drops, a cutter and a piping bag.
The trade-off: The mix and decorations are largely fixed. And adding water doesn’t mean you can bake without a bowl, rolling pin, baking paper or oven.
Choose this when: A recipe made with individual ingredients gives you the freedom to choose your own ingredients, spices and shapes.
The trade-off: You’ll need to gather the ingredients separately and make the dough yourself. Follow the instructions for your chosen recipe, not the baking time for a ready-made mix.
Choose this when: You want to serve taaitaai alongside other snacks or desserts without taking on a baking project. Just choose a pack of biscuits.
The trade-off: You don’t get to choose the recipe or shape. A description such as ‘artisan’ doesn’t, on its own, tell you anything about the ingredients or allergens.
| What to consider | What to check before buying | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Baking and decorating together | Check whether the mix, cutter and decorations are included, and what kitchen equipment the instructions call for. | If I want to cut out and decorate biscuits together, I don’t want to source every item separately. For around 42% of consumers, baking and decorating together is the priority. |
| Your own recipe and shapes | Check the ingredients and method for your chosen recipe, including the instructions for making, rolling out and cooling the dough. | If you want to choose your own spices and shapes, you won’t mind the extra preparation. Around 33% of consumers prioritise choosing their own recipe and shapes. |
| Ready to serve | Compare the quantity in each pack and read the ingredients and allergen information on the label. | For a dessert platter, I want to be able to serve taaitaai without baking it first. Around 25% of consumers mainly want something they can serve straight away. |
According to Albert Heijn’s product information, the complete kit described contains wheat, rye, egg and milk, among other ingredients. The dry mix and decorations determine what ends up in the finished product.
Before buying, read the ingredients list and allergen information on the exact pack, even if you’ve already looked at the product page.
The Albert Heijn and Jumbo product pages described here say their taaitaai kits are no longer in the range. The details of what came in each kit may help you decide, but they don’t guarantee that those particular kits are available to buy.
Check the range at the shop where you plan to buy. If you choose an alternative, check its contents, the equipment you’ll need and the label again.
A wasted trip to the shop can cost you extra time.
Ready-made taaitaai can go on a dessert platter, but it doesn’t give you any dough to cut out or decorate.
Decide whether baking together or serving the biscuits is your priority, then choose between a mix, individual ingredients and ready-made biscuits.
PLUS uses ‘artisan’ in the name of one of its taaitaai products. That description is no substitute for comparing ingredients, allergens or pack size.
Check the nutritional information and label for the specific biscuits before choosing, as well as deciding whether you want to bake or serve them straight away.
Albert Heijn describes complete taaitaai kits suited to baking and decorating together.
Jumbo describes both ready-made taaitaai and a 475 g Home Made 1-2-3 Taai Taai Kit.
PLUS offers a recipe for homemade taaitaai shapes and also describes ready-made Artisan Taai Taai Biscuits in 250 g bags.
ALDI describes 500 g of ready-made aniseed-flavoured taaitaai in shaped biscuits.
Dirk’s search results show 500 g of 1 de Beste Mini Taai Taai as a ready-made option.
Lidl uses mini taaitaai in a recipe for a Sinterklaas treat. It’s a serving idea, not a recipe for making taaitaai dough.
Always check the label on the exact pack. According to the product information, the Albert Heijn kit described contains wheat, rye, egg and milk. PLUS lists wheat, rye and milk for its Artisan Taai Taai Biscuits, which may also contain barley, oats, egg, almonds and hazelnuts. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority explains how allergens must be listed on the labels of prepacked foods.
Only if you also have the kitchen equipment listed in the instructions. For the Albert Heijn kit described, you add water, but you’ll also need a bowl, a mixer with dough hooks, a rolling pin, baking paper and an oven, among other things. The stated baking time of 7–9 minutes applies to this kit at 220 °C in a conventional electric oven or 200 °C in a fan oven—not to every taaitaai recipe.
Let the shapes cool before judging their final texture. According to PLUS’s taaitaai shapes recipe, they’re still a little soft straight after baking and firm up as they cool.
Don’t expect a general online ingredients list for a specific Lidl item. Lidl Netherlands says it doesn’t provide an online list of ingredients, allergens or nutritional values for its food products. So check the label on the pack or ask Lidl about the item in question.
