Supermarket Sleuths: Cult $25 Christmas item that sold out in 2023 returns

It was one of the hottest Christmas buys in 2023, selling out across the country. And now it is back.

The KitKat Christmas Cabin Kit is in stores near you, and you'd better get in quick because this delicious festive treat is proving just as popular in 2024.

My kids and I have already bought one, built it and eaten most of it. It was delicious. And we have some ideas on how to customise it next time.

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A chocolate take on the traditional gingerbread house, the KitKit Christmas Cabin Kit is much easier to build the gingerbread version, which many an Aussie family has tried and failed to produce

This kit is easier because melted chocolate wants to join and connect. It wants to hold on firmly and fast.

And with a different design to the traditional gingerbread house, the KitKat Christmas Cabin Kit is of much sturdier design.

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Nestlé Australia, which manufactures KitKats, tells 9Honey many customers and their children choose to follow the instructions exactly but others customise it, using their creativity to decide how it will be built.

Nestlé Confectionery Head of Marketing, Melanie Chen, says the product was developed to "enhance traditional activities like building a gingerbread house by incorporating popular confectionery options like melted white chocolate, Allen's Raspberries and Smarties."

Chen says they were an "instant hit", becoming a cult product thanks to social media posts using the hashtag #KitKatCabin, via which customers would share their creations.

The only thing is, they seem a little pricey – but not so much if you add up the cost of purchasing the items individually.

The starting price for a KitKat Christmas Cabin Kit is $25 at Kmart. Woolworths and Coles have since price matched at $25.

When I visited Myer on Sunday they were selling theirs for $29.99 and Big W had them at full price at $30.

There is also an extra large version on sale at Costco for $44.99.

My son Giovanni, 16, who is the KitKat lover in our family, helped me build this and he started off a bit cranky, I'm not gonna lie.

As we unpacked it, he wondered how much all the items in the kit would cost if purchased individually. What can I say? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

So, I figured it out. Each kit contains 12 KitKats, a KitKat Santa, white chocolate melts, Smarties and Allen's Ripe Raspberries.

If purchased at Coles these items cost $43.50. Woolies does better, as their KitKats are currently half price and their white chocolate melts are also discounted, with the items totaling $25.55.

Do with that information what you will!

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There is certainly a lot of excitement in choosing the box and unpacking it with your kids, as well as following the instructions – although you could keep the box and instructions and head to Woolies to refill it if you wish.

We had a lot of fun putting ours together.

As first attempts for the year go, ours was pretty decent. We refrigerated the melted chocolate designs to speed up the process, but we didn't need to do this. The chocolate provided solidifies quickly anyway.

We made a mess of it but managed to get it together, but we'd eaten too much of the melted white chocolate so only had enough to make four crosses instead of six and two windows instead of four.

A piping bag would have made it all easier, but we didn't have one, so made do by dribbling melted chocolate from a spoon.

Once complete, Giovanni asked for a hammer, and that's when I realised he thought this was a perfect smash house situation, which it really was.

Then I remembered last year my daughter and niece had constructed it and filled it with lollies.

I didn't have any additional lollies to fill it up with, but I will next time.

Still, Giovanni happily smashed it up and I packed it into zip lock bags and we are working our way through it all, although he called dibs on the KitKat Christmas Santa, which he ate straight away.

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