For Brits, there’s no better gift than a biscuit accompanied by a hot cup of tea, and luckily there’s no shortage of options in the country.
From the humble Rich Tea to the crumbly Shortbread, biscuits are a necessity that can be found in millions of homes across the UK.
The average Briton is said to eat three biscuits a day, but some poor choices are always the last to be chosen and relegated to the bottom of the tin.
This week, a heated debate was sparked by British meme account @nocontextbrits, which took to X, formerly Twitter, to post an infographic featuring sixteen cookie options alongside the question: “What’s the worst cookie ever?”
Now, more than 31,800 MailOnline readers have had their say and the UK’s worst biscuit has officially been crowned.
MailOnline readers have had their say on Britain’s most hated biscuit – with the pink wafer taking top spot.
The biscuits listed included classics such as Chocolate Fingers, Jammie Dodgers, Custard Creams, Bourbon Creams, Fig Rolls, Rich Teas, Cookies and Chocolate Digestives.
Also featured were muffins, Garibaldis, Ginger Nuts, Pink Wafers, Party Rings and Shortbread, along with Jaffa Cakes and Weetabix – two entries which were ruled out of the MailOnline poll for not being biscuits.
One cookie stood out among all the others as the worst of all time, garnering no less than 2,000 more votes than its closest rival.
The pink biscuit received a whopping 22 per cent of all votes and was firmly declared the UK’s most hated biscuit by passionate readers.
The cookie was criticised on Twitter for its artificial flavour, airy texture and overly sweet profile, with one person writing: “Pink wafers, they’re like finely cut styrofoam.”
Another person described the pink cookies as “sickly” and “insubstantial.”
Among the closest contenders for worst biscuit were the Fig Roll (4,848 votes) in second place and, with 4,341 votes, the Garibaldi in third place – unsurprising as one person had described them as “like eating a fly sandwich”.
The fig rolls were criticized for their unusual texture and flavor, with many users finding the combination unappealing.
One person wrote: “Fig roll-ups are an abomination,” while another said: “Fig roll-ups taste horrible.”
A surprising contender, Party Rings (3,978), took fourth place.
Party Rings even surpassed Rich Tea in the hated cookie ranking, coming in fifth with 3,222 votes, or 10 percent of the total votes.
Rich Tea cookies were deemed bland and uninspiring on the internet, and were a front-runner for the title of worst cookie.
One Brit fumed: “Yummy tea. Very disappointing,” while another wrote: “Yummy tea. What the hell is the point?”
Another criticized the plain cookie for being “bland, boring and forgettable.”
As the comments came in, one clear result emerged: three biscuits stood out as the most hated by the British public: Fig Rolls, Pink Wafers and Rich Tea.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the luxurious chocolate fingers and chocolate digestive biscuits were by far the top vote-getters in the UK, receiving just 171 and 178 votes respectively.
Also at the top of the table were Cookie (458 votes), Shortbread finger (459 votes) and Jammie Dodger (916 votes).
Other “worse” biscuit choices included Garibaldis, which one person described as “like eating a fly sandwich”, as well as Jammie Dodgers, whose filling one Brit said had the consistency of “industrial contact adhesive”.
The MailOnline debate has caused a stir on social media, with Irish musician Garron Noone revealing he was “absolutely furious” about some of the biscuits included on the list.
Posting on your Instagram account @garron_musicHe said: “For God’s sake, Britain, you’ve let me down again. I was just getting over it all, and now you’ve come up with this monstrous list of the worst biscuits.”
As she began pointing out the different options in the MailOnline image, she first took issue with Chocolate Fingers even being listed as an option.
The MailOnline debate has caused a stir on social media, with musician Garron Noone saying he is “absolutely furious”.
In their defence, she was full of praise: “They have a fun shape, so they are a lot of fun. The chocolate and the biscuit combine perfectly in the mouth to delight the senses.”
‘You can dip them in tea and suck the chocolate off. Every moment spent in the company of chocolate fingers is a moment well spent.’
Garron praised the chocolate digestive biscuits for their “simplicity” but admitted the ginger nuts “are a bit too spicy” and the party rings are “crap”.
The perfect biscuit is a matter of personal preference, but one thing seems clear: Britain’s passion for biscuits, whether loved or hated, is as strong as ever.
Meanwhile, food scientists from London and the Netherlands have revealed that the best biscuit flavours to pair with a classic cup of English breakfast tea are earthy, oat-based biscuits, such as digestives or Hobnobs.
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