Much like The Office, America’s Got Talent, Celebrity Fit Club, Coupling, Men Behaving Badly, Prime Suspect, The Weakest Link, Skins, Undercover Boss, Top Gear, The X Factor, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Supernanny, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Hell’s Kitchen, and Wife Swap, Nabisco’s Belvita…Oh wait, I mean BelVita…No, that’s not right either…belVita Breakfast Biscuits were first produced in the United Kingdom and later brought to the United States.
(Really? It’s spelled belVita with the uppercase in the middle of the word as if a 12 year old typed it? Geez.)
The bElvita Breakfast Biscuits don’t look like the biscuits we’re used to here in the United States. Instead of the small, soft biscuits that sometimes come with gravy and sausage on top, these biscuits look like a fossil of some kind of prehistoric insect. In the UK, what they call their junk food are much more formal sounding than what we in the US call them. The British call potato chips “crisps” and cookies “biscuits.” So belvIta Breakfast Biscuits are really breakfast cookies.
I wonder if the UK has breakfast crisps.
The US version of belvitA comes in three flavors: Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, and Golden Oat. Each box comes with five packs of four breakfast biscuits, each of which provides 18 grams of whole grain. A serving also has three grams of fiber and 10 percent of the major B vitamins. What belviTa Breakfast Biscuits don’t have are high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial flavors or sweeteners.
The Blueberry bElvIta is the best smelling of the three, thanks to its strong berry scent that reminded me of what my kitchen smells like when I’m toasting some blueberry Eggo waffles; the Apple Cinnamon BeLViTa smells somewhat like Apple Jacks cereal; while the Golden Oat bElvItA smells like something I would feed a horse.
However, the Golden Oat flavor doesn’t taste like something I’d feed a horse, unless it was a unicorn and I wanted to encourage it to let me ride it. It has a surprisingly sweet flavor that almost tasted like a graham cracker. The Apple Cinnamon’s flavor is weaker than it smells, but it also tastes like Apple Jacks. It’s good, but I prefer the Golden Oat over it. By far, my favorite of the three was the very tasty Blueberry one. Since there were bits of blueberry baked throughout the biscuit, every bite had a strong blueberry flavor.
While I enjoyed all the belVita flavors, I do have an issue with the crunchy breakfast cookies. The product’s packaging and the appearance of the biscuits make them look like they’re meant to be part of a healthy complete breakfast. But are they healthier than other breakfast options?
While they have more whole grain than a Pop-Tart, they have just as much sugar, calories, and fat as a Pop-Tart. Oh wait, now that I think about it, comparing bElViTa with a Pop-Tart isn’t really fair. I really should compare it with another recent British transplant — Kellogg’s Krave Cereal.
Hmm…let’s see. Kellogg’s Krave Cereal has just as much fiber as four of these breakfast biscuits, it has more than twice the amount of vitamin B, it also doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils, and it has less fat and sugar than the breakfast biscuits. The BElVIta Breakfast Biscuits do have more than twice the amount of whole grain per serving and you don’t need a bowl and milk to eat them. But a yummy cereal with a chocolatey center sure sounds healthier.
(Nutrition Facts – 1 pack/4 biscuits – 230 calories, 70-80 calories from fat, 8 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2-2.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 or 220 milligrams of sodium, 85 or 110 milligrams of potassium, 35-36 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 11-13 grams of sugar, 3-4 grams of protein, 10% iron, 10% thiamin, 10% riboflavin, 10% niacin, and 10% vitamin B6.)
Item: Nabisco belVita Breakfast Biscuits
Price: $3.59 (on sale)
Size: 8.8 ounces/5 packs
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Apple Cinnamon)
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Blueberry)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Golden Oat)
Pros: All were tasty. Blueberry has more flavor than the others. Provides 18-20 grams of whole grain per serving. No hydrogenated oil. No artificial flavors or sweeteners. Eating cookies for breakfast.
Cons: Provides less B vitamins than most sugary breakfast cereals. Silly spelling of belVita. Kellogg’s Krave Cereal has just as much fiber and has less fat and sugar. The cookies look like prehistoric fossils.
as someone who eats way too many cookies on the long drive to work, these are a welcome alternative. Glad to here the golden oat is tasty too, I’ll try them next.
I’ll have to look for these on my grocery stop today. I need convenient breakfast alternatives on my 8:30 class days, and these look much better than (ugh) Nutrigrain bars. And they look much more almond-free than most granola bars…
As a diabetic, I was severely disappointed to see the sugar content….then I took the plunge, and tried the Apple Cinnamon.
Couldn’t finish the first cookie. No apple or cinnamon taste to speak of. Almost thought that I might have mistakenly eaten some of the packaging.
Kraft hits a home run on these beauties…overpackaged, overpriced, garbage.
I tried the Golden Oat this morning, I thought they were good, crunchy and easy to eat with a cup of coffee. But it could have been a fiber overload, my stomach was not happy a few hours later. Overall though the taste and fullness factor were good.
What good is a diet food if – when you eat it – you swear you’ll never eat something that nasty ever again?
These are tasty. They’re filling. THEY ARE ONLY 230 CALORIES.
Show me something that’s filling and that’s only 230 calories and TASTES GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT. I mean, besides these tasty, tasty crackers.
You won’t find it.
I bought the apple cinnamon and I thought they were pretty good. Although reading the above comments, I wish I had bought the blueberry. But what I really want, is for Kraft to make these in LEMON. I think they would be better than the others.
great minds think alike lol
I LIKE belvita golden oats it taste good. also I bought the apple cinnamon and I thought they were pretty good. I may buy some more. These are very tasty,They also fill me up.
I really like the belVita breakfast biscuits. Yes, they are like cookies, and what I really like about them is since I started using them, I have had no urges to run to the vending machines on work breaks. I eat a package of biscuits for breakfast or as a mid-morning snack and feel very satisfied for a good 3-4 hours. Between the belVita biscuits, a container of yogurt, a piece of fruit, and a serving of oatmeal eaten over an 8-hr window, I am able to get through the day without feeling hungry. My bigger meal is supper with my husband. Thank you, Nabisco, for creating this product and introducing it here in the USA.
Quite honestly, they’re no more healthier than an oreo cookie. They’re basically laden with sugar and fat and are called healthy because they have some whole grains in them? Give me a break. It’s amazing, here in the US we have the food Nazis confiscating lunch boxes of turkey sandwiches, potato chips, apple juice, and a banana; from four year olds because they’e not considered healthy, but Kraft pushes this sugary garbage like drugs for breakfast and the FDA turns a blind eye.
I tried all 3 flavors recently (on sale! and a coupon!) and liked all of them, but the golden oat was the best to me followed by blueberry. I think Nabisco noticed the success of Newton’s Fruit Thins, which are priced similarly and likewise have a very simple list of ingredients (but also have more interesting flavor blends). The fact that they come in small packages inside the box should be a plus for people who have to travel, though, although I think you get more bang for the buck out of the Newton’s (more cookies for probably the same price). I don’t like sweet in the morning myself, but everybody else must because all the breakfast things are sugary.
I just rechecked my packaging to make sure I wasn’t missing something, and nowhere on the package I have does it say “healthy”. It says nutritious sustained energy. Let’s examine all three of those phrases. First nutritious. These only have 230 calories for the entire serving. Furthermore, they are not empty calories like so many other foods in this country. Therefore, they meet the requirements of “nutritious” and have every right to call them that. Next, sustained. These keep you full for several hours, whereas a so-called “breakfast bar” usually wears off in just a couple of hours tops. And finally Energy. These do in fact provide consistent fuel to keep you going until the next meal several hours later. So there is no reason they can’t say that as well. Furthermore, they have more B-vitamins than so many packaged foods. They are delicious (the Oat flavor is the only one I tried, and I will probably stick with it since it has just the right amount of sweetness and oaty/nutty tasting goodness), nutritious on their own as a snack or as part of a complete meal with a fruit and dairy, and filling. They are one of the best new foods I have eaten in ages and I have been telling everyone about them. The price is a little high, but hopefully that will go down a bit when they become more common. They do not claim to be a “diet” food, but just a good nutritious source of fuel for our bodies and that is exactly what they are. I absolutely love them and hope they are here to stay.
I have tried all 3 flavors. I enjoy the fact that they are more portable when going to work, and need a sustaining energy for the morning, or afternoon snack. I enjoy the golden oats supremely above the other 2 flavors. Being vegetarian and on the go almost constantly for work, I am happy for the extra choices that they provide.
I think these cookies (like the Newton Fruit Thins) compare very well with poptarts, oreos, and Krave … Except they taste a whole lot better, especially better than poptarts (apologies to all poptart fiends). They’re actually even better tasting than oreos and Krave, I have to admit (even better than golden oreos). How could that be, you say? Is it unAmerican to say something tastes better than an oreo?
Part of it is probably either the sweetener or the different level of sweetener (too much sweetener overwhelms everything else in other cookies). Even if you might think there are similarities in the total nutritional info, the ingredients are quite different. The ingredients in these are few and simple, and that makes a huge difference in the taste. Huge. They don’t overwhelm you so much with sweet, and you can actually taste the grain base as a result. Real whole grains taste good, especially oat. Blended grains especially so (as in these cookies). Regardless of what you think about various artificial flavors/artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup healthwise – the fact is that by omitting them, you get a lot more good taste. I’m old enough to remember when things were sweetened with sugar (sucrose – cane sugar or beet sugar) always and I remember when Coca Cola went from sugar to yuck yuck ptooie corn syrup, and that was indeed a big change in the taste (for the worse). So I’m glad sugar is coming back. It just plain tastes better.
I’ve never eaten a whole 4-pack of Belvita/BelVita/belVita cookies at once, just one or two cookies always seems like enough. Have you ever tried to eat just one oreo?!? So they are indeed filling and satisfying but not addictive, which also has to do with ingredients. Candy and cookie manufacturers do choose their ingredients usually with addiction in mind (to make the body cry “More! More! MORE!”, which just means we’re getting calories but not enough real food to satisfy), but I guess “health concerns” and grownup needs are starting to make them toss us an occasional bone. But as a result, they will try to price it as high as possible. 🙁 Everything I’ve said above also applies to Newton’s Fruit Thins, except they do border on addictive (maybe because of the tasty flavor blends they’ve selected, but maybe they use more sugar).
I’m also glad to find things like this that don’t try to pump up the fiber with the various fake fibers in such things as FiberOne bars. By fake I mean stuff that no human has run into before … Even if they claim it comes from “natural sources”, it’s not an edible natural source and certainly has never appeared in our food before at such levels. My body doesn’t have trouble with loads of fiber in real foods, but it rebels against the modern trend of high fake fiber (hard to get away from it, they keep putting it in everything – it all started with sawdust, er I mean cellulose added to some diet bread decades ago…).
I just tried these biscuits when I was in Orlando in Feb 2012. loved them so much I brought back 3 boxes to Toronto. I haven’t seen them on sale here.
My favorite is the apple cinnamon. I find them to be filling and satisfying. Wish I had bought more.
The blueberry is ok too. Haven’t tried any other flavor. I’m trying to find out if or when they will be available in Canada.
Love the Oat belVita cookies.Stop me feeling hungry – have them for breakfast with nothing else. Have them every morning.I have lost 14 lbs. in 6 weeks and put it down to the fact I feel like I am cheating without actually cheating – these cookies(biscuits) remind me of English Digestives.
I went to my gym last night and they were giving out BelVita samples. EVeryone turned up their noses and all said “give them to Liz- she’ll like them – she’s a Brit” v Well, sure enough I did – a lot!!! I was brought up on biscuits that are crisp and not too sweet and I can’t stand soft cookies. I’ll definitley be trying the blueberry and Oat. Keep em’ coming.
I think all 3 flavors are delicious!!!! I love they actually FILL ME UP for up to 4 hours, no joke!!!!! and it took only 230 calories to do it. I will take the sugar content in this cookie because the calories are low for the punch it packs, plus it has NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. This is REAL sugar, which is BETTER and much HEALTHIER than HFCS! plus all the whole grains and peices of oats you get. No it doesn’t have a ton of fiber, but 3g is better than none, and when your in a pinch or a hurry and don’t have time for breakfast this will certainly suffice much better than alot of breakfast choices out there and be enjoyable at the same time. (some of those healthy foods are just plain gross and I can’t even choke down if I try) I keep these on stock now 🙂
I love them! It’s now my favorite thing to have with my coffee in the morning. They fill me up till lunch time. I too have been telling my friends about them. I have one friend that would always grab a snickers candy bar at work around 10 am and now she is switched over. That is way healthier. Thank you for creating these wonderful biscuits! How can I get some coupons for these?
I am always looking for something to eat in the morning on my way to work. I, too, don’t like sweet things first thing in the morning (anymore). I bought the apple cinnamon and liked that they were thin cookie-like biscuits. What I didn’t like was the sweet taste. I ususally buy a simply flavored yogurt but I think I might buy a plain one to dip these in so “soften” the sweet blow. Might also try to oat ones unless the sugar content is the same.
There were coupons at coupons.com for belvita
i just discovered belVita and i must say i am very pleased with the product. I am not a breakfast person and these cookies are great…no fuss no muss, easy to carry with you for the morning coffee at the office and dunkable. I like the fact there are four just enough to be happy with the amount. However they taste very sweet … at least the blueberry ones did. I don’t know why every manufacturer insists that in order to sell a product it must be sweet. That fact however will not stop me from buying them…they are a keeper. thanks Nabisco.
I love all the belvita breakfast biscuits, especially the blueberry. They were hightly recommended at my Weight Wathers meeting. I have them everyday for my morning break at work with my coffee. I have one complaint. Three times now when I open the box I notice that one or two of the packaged biscuits on the inside of the box are open. I go ahead and taste them, but they are stale. I have to throw the whole package of biscutes away. Someone needs to check on the packaging process, because I don’t mind the price, but not if I have to throw one or two packages away.
I was writing about the same thing. This is the second box and this time it was 3 packages that were never sealed.
I think the belvita breakfast biscuits will be better if they did not have too much sugar. They are way too sweet. BELVITA please remove the extra sugar, salt, and soya.
“Prehistoric fossils” LOL.
That just made my day.
I leave for the gym at 6:00. I used to have a quick bowl of cereal, work out and come home wanting a second breakfast. Now I have a pack of belVita. I dunk them in coffee. They soften up like a graham cracker. I get home from the gym now and I’m fine until lunch with just a piece of fruit. My favorite is the Golden Oat. I don’t care for the chocolate.
What about the ‘sustained energy’ claim? Did anyone notice if it helped their energy level?
I have a packet every morning and boy does it energize me! the energy lasts all day without burning me out. Love the apple cinnamon so sorry their discontinued! Blueberry is my next favorite.
Haven’t tried the product. This message is to let you know my reaction to the commercial where people are kicking the instructor between the legs! I don’t pay much attention to commercials but this one is very offensive to me. I don’t get the message. I feel children will see this and think it’s funny to do this. Re: above comment – douchebag?????????????????
The douchebag comment is what is written in your instructions!!!
The belVita biscuits keeps me full for a good 4 hours, sometimes even more! Energy? I really don’t get the concept. Does it means you want to get up and run or that your stomach doesn’t rumble?
The comment I expected to see here was missing. That is, did they ever think that something that rhymes with “Velveeta” would sound good for breakfast? Initially I had hoped the “a” was a long a, but then I heard the commercial on the radio and was shocked. Never mind the spelling, I would have come up with a completely different name.
What happened to Belvita Apple Cinnamon breakfast biscuits? Can’t seem to find them anymore in my local supermarket. Apple Cinnamon are my favorite BelVita breakfast biscuit. Please don’t tell me you stopped making this product. I eat them for breakfast at least 3 times a week.
I have eaten your biscuits almost since they came out. From day one they have given me energy. Problem is I can not buy the apple cinnamon biscuits at the store that I frequent for about two months. They are always out of them. These are my favorite and would like to be able to eat them again. Eat your biscuits every morning so please help me get the apple cinnamon into our store. Thanks for making a great biscuit. Store is WEIS markets in Ephrata, PA. 17522
I MISS THE APPLE CINNAMON. THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES I DID LIKE. BRING THEM BACK!!!
Please bring back the belvita apple cinnamon! They were my favorite. Can’t find them in store in Peoria, IL….
I enjoy all the Belvita bars, but Apple Cinnamon are a favorite.
Will they be available again? I hope so!
How can I order a case of the blueberry bel its biscuits
When you came out with the Apple Cinnamon brand, I was addicted. Now for some reason, I can’t find them in stores.
Thought belVita made a lemon biscuit in 2014. Does anyone else remember this?
I have tried 2 flavors (Blueberry and Cranberry /Orange) oh wow they are so good to me!!! Not sugary!!! Full of flavor and satisfying.