Alas, the world is cruel and does not contain enough chocolate to disguise the fact that the Sultana Pastie is 25% shrivelled grape.
Sultana Pasties – more popular than you’d predict. Photo / Dean Purcell
Last week, we invited New Zealand Herald readers to vote for their favourite classic biscuit. From the Mallowpuff and the Macaroon to the Gingernut and the Cameo Creme, we presented our First XV (with a couple of reserves) and asked which was the best.
Votes poured in. So did complaints.
Russell: “I would not vote for any biscuit as they have all shrunk and the price has gone up!”
Cheryl: “All revolting, over processed, sugar laden, poor nutritional value – homemade biscuits by far the best.”
These opinions were not shared by the approximately 13,000 readers who did nominate their favourite contenders for New Zealand’s Best Biscuit. The winner? Put the kettle on Cheryl, we’re getting there.
Sincere apologies to aficionados of the Sultana Pastie and Anzac biscuit. Email traffic suggests these were, by far, the most missed biscuits from our poll.
Other notable exceptions to hit the Herald’s inbox more than once included Swiss Cremes, Chocolate Thins, Chocolate Scotch Fingers, Golden Fruits, Belgiums, Monte Carlos, Shortbread, Chit Chats, Fruit Digestives, Afghans, Lotus Biscoff, Peanut Brownies and the original Pink Wafer.
We sifted through the impassioned and all-capped (“BRING BACK CHOCO-ADE”). We were moved by the personal (“in the 1970s there was a Shrewsbury with a smiley face. My Dad used to buy a packet for my three children and they just thought he was amazing”). And we discovered the nation’s love for one biscuit went way deeper than your average dunking.
The humble Gingernut finished mid-pack with 1073 votes, or 8% of the total, but held its own in the comments. If the biscuit tin has a Most Valuable Player, it’s this.
Annette: “If you soften Gingernuts, place them in a pattie pan, and bake them in the oven, they retain their shape. Fill them with cream, and hey presto a delicious dessert.”
MVP of the biscuit tin? Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Jane: “Ginger nuts are the ones that I bring back to Canada after I’ve been home in New Zealand. I haven’t found anything like them. Yes, you probably have to dunk them in your tea before eating, but they are so fabulously far from the soft cookies of North America. For bonus points, they are the ones my Nana used for a gingernut log. Dipped in booze then sandwiched together with whipped cream to form a log. Yum!”
TL: “Soak in pineapple juice, dollop of cream cheese with crushed pineapple – refrigerate. Bite size cheesecake. Great for kids parties and xmas platter.”
Penn: “The Gingernut all day long! We live a bit of the year in France and ginger has obviously never seduced the French palate. I bought a bottle of something called ‘ginger ale’ last week which was faintly urine-coloured, and possibly similar tasting.”
Our poll avoided brand names where possible, but loyalties run deep. A vote for the cinnamon-scented biscuits of Ikea was a surprise. An offer from Pure Delish to send us a pack of Spicy Ginger Bites was straight up bribery. A registered psychologist told us she was “addicted” to Walker’s shortbread and a man called Mike said the Pam’s Finest range won hands-down in his household for “sheer deliciousness”.
Team Chit Chat or Team Tim Tam? Arnott’s Mint Slice or Griffin’s Mint Treat? Voters had opinions and Brian was not afraid to tell us the Mallowpuff was not what it used to be “before shrinkflation in every way”.
Three layers of classic deliciousness combine to create the Toffee Pop. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Texture was important to Toffee Pop lovers. Consider this, from Rosemary: “I mean three layers! Crispy then smooth then chocolate.” And this, from Anne: “It’s a food science, just right, Goldilocks balance – the way that soft caramel on top of a biscuit is encased in dairy milk melt-in-the-mouth chocolate.”
You can tell a lot about a nation by the way it eats its biscuits.
Jacqui was only “moderately” offended the Super Wine didn’t make the list (“two biscuits smushed together with some butter and dunked in your tea or coffee”). Megan found it hard to choose between a Lemon Treat and a Krispie but went with the latter “because one of the best flavour combinations in the world is a Krispie biscuit with a slice of cold Granny Smith and a small wedge of tasty cheese on top”.
A coalition of Krispies, Scotch Fingers, Wine Biscuits and Big Dairy could stand a real chance in future elections but, in 2026, the winner, by a chocolate-coated landslide was …
Has the kettle boiled yet?
For at least two days last week, the Mint Slice ran neck-and-neck with the Hokey Pokey Squiggle. Would the biscuit that tastes like toothpaste beat the biscuit that tastes like 10 reasons you might need toothpaste?
On Thursday, a clearer picture began to emerge and, at 9am on Monday when we closed the polls, there could only be one winner: Hokey Pokey Squiggle with 1913 votes, or 15% of the total, was crowned New Zealand’s Best Biscuit.
How did your favourite rank? Full results below.
Is the Mint Slice really a cut above? Was the Strawberry Wafer robbed? Did the nation get it right? Tell us in the comments.