Presenting India’s Best Cashew Cookies – We Tested Five Brands

What makes a delectable cookie? One that is crisp but not crumbly, has that rich buttery flavor, that is baked well and sweetened just right, and added nut bits just make it better. 

Our cashew cookies biscuits review is a result of our quest to find the perfect partner for our breaks that involve sipping and spilling tea. The five contenders were Cremica, Britannia, Sunfeast, Parle, and Unibic. 

We crowned Cremica our Top Pick, can you guess why?

Quick details on all contenders are explained in the table below. 

What were we looking for in these cashew cookies?

The taste and texture of these cookies were the prime deciding factors in which brand would be titled our Top Pick.

The price, packaging, and ingredients were taken into account too. 

1. Taste

We were looking for fresh cookies with that rich buttery flavor. We gauged the freshness of nuts and whether or not the cookies had the adequate sweetness. 

We also gauged the intensity of flavors, that addictive mix of butter + sugar, and if it tasted synthetic. 

This should be something that would pair well with a cup of tea or even when nibbled on without a beverage.

2. Texture

A well-baked cookie/biscuit has a golden brown surface and a slightly darker brown base. We were looking for cookies that had a firm, crisp bite, some crunchy bits of nuts, and was not too crumbly. 

3. Other Parameters

We gauged the price, packaging, shelf life, appearance, and other non-tasting parameters here. 

Not all cashew cookies are made the same, is what we learnt during our cashew cookies review. Some are made with cashews and butter, others boast of cashews and other nuts in their ingredient list. 

Primarily, we chose brands that are available across major stores, online and offline. 

Whatever the brand offered as their version of a cashew cookie – we chose that variant to test. The sample could have just cashews, or a mix of cashew and almonds as well.

Our detailed experience with all contenders are explained in this section. 

Why did Cremica Win? Our Experience.

We kept going back for seconds and thirds of Cremica Cashew biscuits. This was the clear indication that it was our Top Pick.

These cashew biscuits were well-baked, super crisp, and fresh. The cookies were neither too hard nor too crumbly. The nut bits added a crunch to the bite. The sweetness was well-rounded, they had the characteristic flavor of butter, with a delicate sweet, vanilla-like aroma. Thumbs up for absolutely no rancid/sythentic aromas or flavors.

Despite being packed without a tray, none of the biscuits were broken or cracked. There were a few crumbs, but nothing worth deducting points over.

Product Details

• There are five 100 grams packs priced at Rs 140/-.
• These biscuits have a shelf life of seven months.
• The ingredients are Refined wheat flour (maida), Sugar, Edible vegetable oil (palm), Cashew nuts (3.2%), Invert syrup, Milk solids, Butter (1%), Raising agents (503ii, 500ii), Iodised salt, Emulsifiers (INS471, 472e, 322), Nature identical flavoring substances (milk, butter) and artificial flavoring substances (vanilla, cashew nuts)

Our Experience

Right of the bat, these were some pretty good cashew cookies with slightly lesser cashew bits than our Top Pick.

There are five individual packs, and the biscuits are stacked without any tray. These cookies had wave patterns on the surface, and a rich milky-vanilla aroma. Crispy but these melt in your mouth, the texture was impeccable. We quite liked the taste- these were sweet enough to be nibbled on as is, but would also pair well with a cup of masala chai. The cashews lent their nutty flavor and overall, these cookies had a buttery flavor.

Why Cremica trumped Britannia? Our Top Pick had a better, nuttier cookie with a more balanced flavor profile.

Product Details

• These cookies are packed in units of 120 grams, there are five such units priced at Rs 130/-.
• They have a nine-month shelf life.
• The key ingredients are Refined wheat flour (maida), Refined palm oil, Sugar, Cashew nuts (1.8%), Invest sugar syrup, Milk solid, Butter (0.6%). Raising agent (503 (ii), 500 (ii)), Iodised salt, Emulsifier (322 (i), 471 and 472e], and flavors [ Nature Identical and artificial (milk and vanilla), flavoring substances].

Our Experience

Sunfeast Cashew Almond cookies were mediocre. They looked well baked, as the surface was an appealing shade of brown. 

Sunfeast cashew almond cookies were crisp, which spoke of their freshness. Nut bits were sparsely added and they did not enhance the texture or bite of the cookie. 

However, when it comes to taste, the cookies were not really ‘cashew’ cookies. They had more of a butter cookie flavor. Infact, these smelled more buttery than they tasted. The sweetness was not overpowering, sugar has been added proportionately. 

Product Details

• Five packs, each holding 116.8 grams of content, are priced at Rs 130/-.
• These have a shelf life of 10 months.
• The main ingredients are Refined wheat flour (maida),sugar, refined palm oil, invert syrup, cashew kernels (0.9%), raising agents (INS 450 (i), INS 503 (ii), INS 500 (ii)], iodized salt, milk solids, butter (o.3%), nature identical flavoring substances, emulsifier (Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Ester Of Mono-And Diglycerides (From sunflower & palm oil), lecithin (from soyabean), mono-and-diglycerides of fatty acids (from palm oil)], almond kernels (0.1%), artificial flavoring substances (butter, vanilla), flour treatment agent (INS 223) and colour (INS 102).

Our Experience

What we liked? This was the only contender with AMPLE nut bits on top and are crisp.

What could have been better? These cookies had a super crumbly texture. Sadly, in terms of taste too, these were disappointing. We could not really taste cashew nuts, this was dominant on the flavors of milk and vanilla. What demoted the experience further was the robust presence of artificial flavors. 

Product Details

• 604.8 grams of Parle 20-20 Cashew Almond biscuits are priced at Rs 190/-.
• These have a shelf life of nine months.
• The main ingredients are – Refined wheat flour (maida), sugar, refined palm oil, nuts (4.5%) (cashew & almond bits), invert sugar syrup, iodised salt, raising agents [500 (ii), 503 (ii)], milk solids and emulsifier of vegetable origin (472e).

These also contain added flavors (artificial flavoring substances- butter, milk, lemon)

Our Experience

These emitted a dessert-like aroma, somewhat similar to marzipan. These had a crisp bite, perfect for dipping into warm beverages but did not taste good. Unibic cookies were TOO sweet and the flavor of nuts was not fresh. 

We also noticed a stale aftertaste like that of nut oils. 

Product Details

• Priced at Rs 150/-, there are five 100 gram packs.
• These have a six-month shelf life.
• The ingredients used to make these biscuits are Refined wheat flour (maida), Sugar, Edible vegetable oil (palm), Milk solids, Dry nuts (1% – almond and cashew), Golden syrup, leaving agents (INS 503 ii, INS 500 ii), Emulsifiers (INS322 from soy, INS 472e), Iodised salt, Artificial flavoring agent (Saffron, Cashew, Almond and milk)

Why did Cremica win? Of the five brands we reviewed, Cremica was definitely one of the better ones. Crisp and fresh, the brand nailed the sweetness and nuttiness. The mild saltiness in the cookies, gave it an edge over every other contender. 

We also liked Britannia Good Day for how well they were baked and balanced the flavors are. 

Here are some interesting FAQs on cashew cookies.

Dunk, nom-nom!

Your tea-sipping experience is about to get a ‘buttery’ update with these nutty cookies. After having tried and tasted five brands, we crowned Cremica as the Top Pick. The flavors, texture, abundance of nuts- we were impressed. 

Have you tried either of these before? How did you like them?

Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.