Prue Leith set a Hobnobs-focused Technical Challenge for the remaining bakers on Season 13 of The Great British Baking Show, putting a supermarket staple at the center of this year’s “Biscuit Week.” The 11 contestants were required to produce a dozen Chocolate Caramel Hobnobs, each topped with a thin layer of caramel and finished with two different feathered chocolate designs, in Season 13, Episode 2, which is now streaming on Netflix.
Hobnobs are a popular British biscuit made by McVitie’s. Composed largely of rolled oats, they are thicker and chewier than a typical digestive biscuit and are often sold with caramel or chocolate coatings. The biscuits — sometimes stylized as “HobNobs” — occupy a middle ground between the sturdy, dry British biscuit and the softer, sweeter American cookie, combining oat texture with confectionery toppings.
Biscuit Week is one of the series’ traditional early rounds, routinely following Cake Week and preceding Bread Week. Technical Challenges during Biscuit Week historically require bakers to recreate homemade versions of familiar shop-bought biscuits; past examples have included Wagon Wheels, Jammie Dodgers and Custard Creams. The Technical is designed to test precision, timing and the ability to reproduce a standard product from a limited recipe and brief.
On-screen, the Hobnobs task emphasized texture and finish. Bakers had to balance the oats’ chewy structure with a uniformly thin caramel layer and sharp, mirror-like chocolate feathers — a decorative technique that demands steady hands and quick tempering. Judges’ comments in the episode highlighted common pitfalls for biscuit-making on the show: underbaked centres, uneven caramel spreads and inconsistent chocolate work.
The choice of Hobnobs reflects the show’s recurring interest in everyday British supermarket staples. Viewers outside the U.K. have long cited Biscuit Week as a moment to encounter different approaches to biscuit construction, where British preferences for crisper, less sweet baked goods contrast with American cookie conventions. Hobnobs, with their combination of oats and chocolate or caramel, present a hybrid that echoes both traditions.
Prue Leith’s version of Chocolate Caramel Hobnobs is available on the official series website, where the show publishes recipes that mirror the Technical challenge. The brand McVitie’s continues to market Hobnobs in several varieties, and the biscuits are commonly sold in U.K. supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer.
Season 13’s Biscuit Week continued the program’s focus on foundational baking skills and on recreating recognizable domestic products under time pressure. The episode reinforced the Technical Challenge’s role in revealing which contestants can combine technique and consistency — the qualities often required of eventual winners — while offering audiences a closer look at a biscuit that has long been a British pantry mainstay.