to vote for their favourite classic biscuit<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\nVotes poured in. So did complaints.<\/p>\n
Russell: \u201cI would not vote for any biscuit as they have all shrunk and the price has gone up!\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheryl: \u201cAll revolting, over processed, sugar laden, poor nutritional value \u2013 homemade biscuits by far the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
These opinions were not shared by the approximately 13,000 readers who did nominate their favourite contenders for New Zealand\u2019s Best Biscuit. The winner? Put the kettle on Cheryl, we\u2019re getting there.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Other notable exceptions to hit the Herald\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
We sifted through the impassioned and all-capped (\u201cBRING BACK CHOCO-ADE\u201d). We were moved by the personal (\u201cin 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\u201d). And we discovered the nation\u2019s love for one biscuit went way deeper than your average dunking.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s this.<\/p>\n
Annette: \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"MVP]()
MVP of the biscuit tin? Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray <\/p>\n
Jane: \u201cGinger nuts are the ones that I bring back to Canada after I\u2019ve been home in New Zealand. I haven\u2019t 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
TL: \u201cSoak in pineapple juice, dollop of cream cheese with crushed pineapple \u2013 refrigerate. Bite size cheesecake. Great for kids parties and xmas platter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Penn: \u201cThe 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 \u2018ginger ale\u2019 last week which was faintly urine-coloured, and possibly similar tasting.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201caddicted\u201d to Walker\u2019s shortbread and a man called Mike said the Pam\u2019s Finest range won hands-down in his household for \u201csheer deliciousness\u201d.<\/p>\n
Team Chit Chat or Team Tim Tam? Arnott\u2019s Mint Slice or Griffin\u2019s Mint Treat? Voters had opinions and Brian was not afraid to tell us the Mallowpuff was not what it used to be \u201cbefore shrinkflation in every way\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Three]()
Three layers of classic deliciousness combine to create the Toffee Pop. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray <\/p>\n
Texture was important to Toffee Pop lovers. Consider this, from Rosemary: \u201cI mean three layers! Crispy then smooth then chocolate.\u201d And this, from Anne: \u201cIt\u2019s a food science, just right, Goldilocks balance \u2013 the way that soft caramel on top of a biscuit is encased in dairy milk melt-in-the-mouth chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can tell a lot about a nation by the way it eats its biscuits.<\/p>\n
Jacqui was only \u201cmoderately\u201d offended the Super Wine didn\u2019t make the list (\u201ctwo biscuits smushed together with some butter and dunked in your tea or coffee\u201d). Megan found it hard to choose between a Lemon Treat and a Krispie but went with the latter \u201cbecause 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\u201d.<\/p>\n
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 …<\/p>\n
Has the kettle boiled yet?<\/p>\n
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?<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Best Biscuit.<\/p>\n
How did your favourite rank? Full results below.<\/p>\n
Is the Mint Slice really a cut above? Was the Strawberry Wafer robbed? Did the nation get it right? Tell us in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alas, the world is cruel and does not contain enough chocolate to disguise the fact that the Sultana…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3225,3390,76913,138,22397,5978,5971,111,139,69,3272,5270,278645,12860,42469,1961,61,102,197,1959,80],"class_list":["post-566086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-according","tag-best","tag-biscuit","tag-business","tag-favourite","tag-might","tag-need","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nzs","tag-one","tag-pastie","tag-revealed","tag-sultana","tag-this","tag-to","tag-with","tag-you","tag-your","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}