Abbey Crunch was a British biscuit brand produced by McVitie's. The tag line was "the original oat biscuit".[1] [2]
According to historian Don Quinn, organiser of the Colchester Food and Drink Festival, the Colchester Priory Biscuit created in the 1800s by two unknown local bakers, and this later morphed into Abbey Crunch, and in turn morphed into the Hobnob, both of which are sweeter due to the addition of golden syrup.[1] [3] [4]
The biscuits were packed into a PET tray created by blow moulding and protected from moisture with a Rayophane MXXT film wrapping.
Since McVities have stopped manufacturing the biscuits, cooks such as Mary Berry have created their own recipes for home baking.[5] [6]
In a 2013 BBC documentary about the Great British Biscuit, Nigel Slater and Stuart Payne discussed the Abbey Crunch and agreed that it was the "finest of all biscuits". Payne still had an unopened packet of Abbey Crunch in his collection.[7]
Stephen Fry in his autobiography Moab Is My Washpot mentions "Abbey Crunch biscuits" as the first in a long list of pleasurable items.[8]