Thread: Biscuit nostalgia Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I happened to be in a well-known supermarket recently idly passing through the biscuit aisle, when glancing at the shelves I was suddenly struck by biscuit nostalgia and my basket acquired one or two unnecessary items which were old favourites years ago.

Of course time moves on and it isn't always possible to get some things now, but I remember with special pleasure:

Boland's lemon puffs, Jacob's Mikados (these are marshmallow, jam and coconut), fig rolls, Cafe Noir, and Garibaldi biscuits. And little packets of Iced Gems.

Any favourite biscuits that strike a chord with you from long ago?

(Biscuits probably translates as cookies, but I'm not sure they are quite the same.)
 

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Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :
 
I almost passed a tear at the passing of Abbey Crunch. Times change, and so do bicuits.
 

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Posted by Signaller (# 17495) on :
 
Huntley & Palmers Breakfast Biscuits.

Grandma's favourite, but she died in 1969 and I haven't seen them since.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
There was deli in Dulwich (not the really Dulwichy part, but in the midst of council estates) which stocked some foreign biscuits called Cafe Choc. Think a hybrid of Cafe Noir and Choco Leibnitz. Coffee icing, thinner than McVitie's, one side, dark chocolate, also thin, on the other. Possibly made by Delacre in Belgium. I bought them every time I was in the neighbourhood, until they vanished, never to be seen again. The deli is now a Tesco. The biscuits are not even to be seen on the internet.

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, Fox's used to make a biscuit called Thick Rich Tea, which was brilliant for dunking but looked like a dog biscuit. First available to me in a shop that sold things in big tubs that one served oneself from. Then only findable by me in Cavendish House in Cheltenham. Then gone.
 

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Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :
 
My mother used to work at Fox's. So there were plenty of freshly made broken biscuits in our house, but I never knew what they were called, as they were not packaged, just mixed in a plastic bag.

So I do remember the thick rich tea, though to me they were less like a dog biscuit and more rusk like. Though I would always use either a chocolate or ginger biscuit for dunking, back in the day. I haven't dunked in years.
 

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Posted by QLib (# 43) on :
 
I remember when chocolate digestives came individually wrapped in silver paper - red for plain, blue for milk. They were a special treat, but I also liked ordinary digestives, and malted milk.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
One of the favorites of the professor and his wife who had afternoon tea (to which students often came) when I first started college, at New College in Sarasota (1985), was a sort of raisin cookie that isn't made anymore. They were very flat. (The cookies, not the prof and wife.)

Dr. Clough, Mrs. Clough, their big barky dog Tyree, and those cookies--all gone now, God bless them.
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
Store-bought cookies were almost unheard of in my home when I was a child. My mother and grandmother baked just about every day, so there were always yummy homemade cookies on hand. I do miss those, especially at Christmas.

 

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Posted by Hilda of Whitby (# 7341) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by ChastMastr:
One of the favorites of the professor and his wife who had afternoon tea (to which students often came) when I first started college, at New College in Sarasota (1985), was a sort of raisin cookie that isn't made anymore. They were very flat. (The cookies, not the prof and wife.)

Dr. Clough, Mrs. Clough, their big barky dog Tyree, and those cookies--all gone now, God bless them.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
Store-bought cookies were almost unheard of in my home when I was a child. My mother and grandmother baked just about every day, so there were always yummy homemade cookies on hand. I do miss those, especially at Christmas.

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My mother nearly always had home-made cookies on hand when we were growing up, and she still makes cookies when the family converges at her home. I visited her recently, and she is already planning the Christmas cookies. I will never stop thinking that homemade chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies, which were our everyday cookies when I was a kid, surpass anything sold in stores.
 

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Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :
 
Lemon Snaps. Thin, light, crisp, very lemon-y. Don't know the brand, but haven't seen them in ages.
 

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
Ginger Nut biscuits are probably the best for dunking. Has anyone seen Ginger Thins recently?
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
A cookie company called "Mother's" " used to make these lovely iced raisin shortbread cookies. They recently discontinued them locally.

But their iced animal crackers live on!
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Garibaldis are a real favourite, but not available over here

There are lots of peculiarly Indian biscuits about and the bakery down the road makes some amazing things they call cookies, but really they are an artisanal biscuit - and lovely!

Today I am writing to a UK friend who flies out in just over a week asking if she can get me some Cornish Wafers - my favourite biscuit for cheese.
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Hilda of Whitby:
Dutch windmill cookies.

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Yes! I must see if I can find some. I remember the ones here were quite spicy.

Huia
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
As well as nostalgia (Gypsy Creams, Penguins), I suffer from cross-Pond deprivation, so I miss things like custard creams (Oreo cookies and Girl Guide cookies just Aren't The Same).

My dad used to have a weakness for wrapped chocolate biscuits of the Club Wafer/Caramel Wafer ilk, and there was a particular brand which I'm racking my brains to remember the name of - the biscuits were long, narrow, chocolate-coated wafer sandwiches with a lovely rich chocolate ganache in the middle. Wrapped in blue-and-gold foil IIRC.

Savoury biscuits I miss: Bath Olivers (which I can't get here) and Proper Digestives (which I can but they're rather expensive).

Oooh, I've just remembered I've got a packet of Stockan's oatcakes that I brought back from home in the larder ...
 

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Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 

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Hilda of Whitby: Dutch windmill cookies.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Hilda of Whitby:
Might these be what you had in mind?

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Good heavens! They are not the same brand but they are definitely the same concept!! Thank you!!!
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
OM NOM NOM ,

Chast, I think Keebler makes a version of those. We used to have them a lot when I was a kid, too, and I think they are still out there.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
We have Dutch Windmill Cookies year round, though I have not tried these.
 

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Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:

(Biscuits probably translates as cookies, but I'm not sure they are quite the same.)

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quote:

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A British biscuit is an American cookie and an American cookie is a British cookie and an American biscuit is a British scone and an American scone is something else entirely

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quote:

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Originally posted by balaam:
My mother used to work at Fox's. So there were plen Though I would always use either a chocolate or ginger biscuit for dunking, back in the day. I haven't dunked in years.

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Oh, ginger biscuits with a drinking chocolate. Heaven!
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Middle school/junior high was a pretty difficult time in my life as it was for many. But one one thing that made up for the psychic pain of that passage was the quality of cookies baked in the school cafeteria. They made big, scrumptious chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, and sugar cookies, a different kind every day. But very much my favorites were the chewy molasses ginger cookies. Oh. My. God. I never tasted their like again.
 

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Posted by Rowen (# 1194) on :
 
When my American sister and her family stay with me, here in Oz, they frequently cook. We fight over the biscuits. They want them out of the oven, soft... So soft that they seem raw and crumbly! But I am an Australian. My biscuits are crisp.
We find ourselves in front of tne oven, putting back and pulling out various trays of biscuits.
Plus, of course, they call the finished product COOKIES!
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Piglet:
I've just remembered I've got a packet of Stockan's oatcakes that I brought back from home in the larder ...

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However did you get the larder onto the plane?

My wife (Scottish but not Orcadian) loves the Stockan's ... much better than Nairn's. But these are even better!

[ 02. November 2014, 07:18: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 

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Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by lilBuddha:

quote:

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Originally posted by balaam:
My mother used to work at Fox's. So there were plen Though I would always use either a chocolate or ginger biscuit for dunking, back in the day. I haven't dunked in years.

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Oh, ginger biscuits with a drinking chocolate. Heaven!

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Another vote here for ginger biscuits being the best ever for dunking - just the right consistency and minimal danger of a drop-off.

I also very much enjoy a Bourbon, two biscuits for the price of one and chocolate cream in between; but I only eat custard creams, their vanilla-flavoured counterpart, when there's nothing else available.

Garibaldi and fig rolls are excellent: the fruit content makes them worth at least one of the five-a-day.

And to pay homage to the biscuit that prompted this thread - I love digestives and can consume a large number at a sitting.

Nen - who currently has only shortbreads in the biscuit tin.
 

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Posted by Athrawes (# 9594) on :
 
Garibaldis were known in our family as ' squashed flies'. I have a recipe, if anyone wants it.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
My grandmother, who lived with us, used to bake the most wonderful oatmeal cookies. When I came home from school, there would be a plate of warm oatmeal cookies on the sideboard.

Most American oatmeal cookies are made with brown sugar, but these were made with white sugar and cinnamon.

I found the recipe a few years ago and made some to take to a family reunion.

Moo
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
The ones I remember are the Nameless Biscuits - well, they probably did have a name, with 'chocolate' and 'assorted' in it somewhere. But you bought them loose. They were various shapes and textures, and chocolate coated on one side. My favourites were round, with a hole, and had coconut in.

Individually wrapped biscuits - Teacakes and Penguins and Wagon Wheels - were great favourites. All of which you can still get of course, except they are tiny, miniaturised versions of the ones in My Day.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I think I have, somewhere, the recipe the school used for a golden syrup-involved-somewhere cookie. Must look it out. I don't think I have ever made it as the recipe made enough for a horde with one egg. And it won't be around any more since the outsourcing. I know it isn't with the gypsy tart, but might be with the butterscotch tart recipe. Wherever that is.
 

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Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :
 
We had a Home & Colonial (later International) store and they delivered the order every week. 'Packet' biscuits were a luxury - generally one ordered by the ounce from the selection kept in tins with clear lids along the front of the counter. They had wonderful cookies and things called Harvest Biscuits which had a relief picture of a farmer standing by a stook of wheat, resting on his scythe and with horse and cart in the background. The nearest modern equivalent if Malted Milk biscuits but they're nowhere near as tasty.

For Santa Lucia (13th December) we used to make traditional Swedish Pepparkakor which are delicious. I make them now for Christmas, decorate with white icing and then thread with red ribbon for the tree.

ChastMastr I think the fruited biscuit you remember was a Fruit Shortcake - they're still made in the UK by McVities.
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I'm wondering if we ought to have a one-off Ship's Biscuit Exchange thread in All Saints whereby people in different countries could sign up to post each other packets of their favourite biscuits that they can't get locally. Postal regulations permitting, of course.
 

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Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
It would be a nice social exercise, but one can get almost anything from almost everywhere. There is this little known secret enterprise which facilitates the exchange. Called the "Internet" IIRC.
 

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Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
One of the joys of biscuits (and cookies) is that they can be made at home. The home-made biscuit at this home is the Grantham Gingerbread, with is lighter, in colour and texture, than the usual gingerbread.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
The cookie gene is strong in my family.

We couldn't really afford store-bought cookies when I was young, but my mom made an amazing variety of home made ones. Daughter-Unit is famous for her cookies, too.

One of the family favorites was a raisin filled cookie. It had two slightly sweet soft cookies on the outside and a spiced raisin filling. My dad complained because the four-inch diameter treats were too small. Mom got him really good. She put a special offering in Dad's lunchbox, which he didn't see until he pulled it out in front of his co-workers...a raisin filled cookie almost twelve inches in diameter.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by L'organist:

ChastMastr I think the fruited biscuit you remember was a Fruit Shortcake - they're still made in the UK by McVities.

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quote:

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Originally posted by lilBuddha:

quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:

(Biscuits probably translates as cookies, but I'm not sure they are quite the same.)

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quote:

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A British biscuit is an American cookie and an American cookie is a British cookie and an American biscuit is a British scone and an American scone is something else entirely

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From the Oxford Dictionaries blog.

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quote:

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Originally posted by jedijudy:
... My dad complained because the four-inch diameter treats were too small ...

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Too small???

There's a lady in our congregation who bakes raisin squares which sound similar to those, but these are only about an inch-and-a-half square. The outsides are a sort of slightly soft pastry, with a raisin filling not unlike mincemeat; they're the sort of thing I shouldn't really like, but I do.
 

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Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :
 
I remember the Nabisco and Keebler Raisin biscuits. I'm a bigger fan of Fig Newton cookies which were invented in Cambridge. I had a friend who lived in a condo that was converted from the factory.

Nabisco stands for National Biscuit Company. They were a national conglomeration of major bakeries in a number of cities and a number of them contributed popular cookies (or recipes) to the other branches. In addition to the Boston fig Newtons, Manhattan contributed the Oreo ( a copy of the Hydrox chocolate sandwich cookie), Animal crackers and Lorna Doone shortbread cookies.

I still see the Danish butter cookies which come in a blue tin which are sweet and very buttery. They can be found cheaply in some import stores. I had a theory that they were invented to export the European butter surplus mountain by cutting it into round shapes and dusting lightly with flour and sugar.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Palimpsest:
I'm a bigger fan of Fig Newton cookies which were invented in Cambridge.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Piglet:


.......My dad used to have a weakness for wrapped chocolate biscuits of the Club Wafer/Caramel Wafer ilk, and there was a particular brand which I'm racking my brains to remember the name of - the biscuits were long, narrow, chocolate-coated wafer sandwiches with a lovely rich chocolate ganache in the middle. Wrapped in blue-and-gold foil IIRC........

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quote:

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jedijudy: She put a special offering in Dad's lunchbox, which he didn't see until he pulled it out in front of his co-workers...a raisin filled cookie almost twelve inches in diameter.

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That's some lunchbox
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Moo:
I don't like Fig Newtons, but when I was living in Belfast I bought a similar cookie with a date filling. I like dates much better than figs.

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quote:

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My dad used to have a weakness for wrapped chocolate biscuits of the Club Wafer/Caramel Wafer ilk, and there was a particular brand which I'm racking my brains to remember the name of - the biscuits were long, narrow, chocolate-coated wafer sandwiches with a lovely rich chocolate ganache in the middle. Wrapped in blue-and-gold foil IIRC.......

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quote:

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Originally posted by Athrawes:
Garibaldis were known in our family as ' squashed flies'. I have a recipe, if anyone wants it.

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quote:

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Originally posted by LeRoc:

quote:

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jedijudy: She put a special offering in Dad's lunchbox, which he didn't see until he pulled it out in front of his co-workers...a raisin filled cookie almost twelve inches in diameter.

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That's some lunchbox

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He was a carpenter, with the appetite to match, so a very large lunch box!
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Piglet:

quote:

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Originally posted by jedijudy:
... My dad complained because the four-inch diameter treats were too small ...

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Too small???

There's a lady in our congregation who bakes raisin squares which sound similar to those, but these are only about an inch-and-a-half square. The outsides are a sort of slightly soft pastry, with a raisin filling not unlike mincemeat; they're the sort of thing I shouldn't really like, but I do.

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Well, I often wondered if it would have been easier to put a dozen of the small cookies in his lunch rather than the feat it must have been to bake that larger sized cookie! We children thought the smaller cookies were just fine, they were big enough that we used two hands to eat them!
 

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Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
Not one special cookie, but I do remember a store that kept their cookies in bins and sold them by the pound, which you could mix and match all of the different kinds. Windmill spice were a family favorite, so there were always more of those in our bag.
 

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Posted by ChastMastr (# 716) on :
 
I must seek out these Garibaldis. Happily our local groceries have a "British" section often.
 

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Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Pier One imports has a grocery section!
 

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Posted by bib (# 13074) on :
 
My favourite biscuits are Anzacs which are well known to Aussies and Kiwis. However, the store bought ones are always disappointing whereas homemade are yummy. Anzacs date back to the first world war when women made them at home to send to the soldiers away at the war. The main ingredients are oatmeal, butter, coconut, sugar and golden syrup. You can make them soft or very crispy depending on personal preference. They keep well in a tin as long as the family doesn't open the tin and eat them in one go which is a common occurence in my house.
 

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Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
A favourite New Zealand biscuit disappeared some years ago – I don't know how long ago as it wasn't one I used to buy. But public demand brought it back about a year go: Chocoade, with a biscuit base, lemony filling and a thin very hard topping of dark chocolate. It sells like mad and of course they've followed it with half a dozen variations: double chocolate, strawberry etc. I like them.

GG
 

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Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :
 
Homemade Anzac biscuits are also great because no too bakers' biscuits are alike. My Mum's are quite compact and solid but her best friends' Anzac biscuits spread so they are flat and chewy. We made them at school from the school recipe book, but I think there was something wrong with the measurements as it ended up like an Anzac slice.

My local supermarket has recently added a British section. The other week I found Jammy Dodgers, which I used to eat when I lived for a few months in London. Unfortunately I now remember that I only ate them because there weren't any other sorts of jam biscuits, and Australian jam biscuits are actually much nicer (for my taste buds).

However tonight I checked again and my long time dream has come true - they were selling Jaffa Cakes! They used to make them in Australia but discontinued them years ago. In London I ate them all the time, but here I could only find German and Serbian brands that are not as nice. The ones I got tonight are Jacobs brand rather than my favourite McVities, but they're really good
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Jacobs and McVities are both part of United Biscuits, so they are probably the same.
 

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Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :
 
That it explains it then.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
There's a piece in today's Guardian. UB has now been bought by a Turkish Company, Yildiz.

My family have had some odd connections with the company. I bought my last home from a couple called Crawford, a biscuit related name, though not shown as a UB company. They did have some connection though, as they kept getting letters from the company which I dutifully sent on, and which became increasingly formal looking. Eventually I gave up and breached what I had been taught about privacy and gave the new address. The compounding event was a huge UB lorry turning up one morning with a delivery of a gross of large boxes of snacks - crisps (US chips) and similar. I explained that they had moved some time previously, the driver agreed that he had not been able to see where I was going to keep the boxes, and went away.

My sister moved into a house which had been occupied by some young scions of one of the owning families. It took a huge number of coats of one coat covering paint to obliterate the wallpaintings they had applied throughout the house for a Halloween party. One hopes that it was a Halloween party. I gathered that there were also some other things which arose on the lines of unfinished business, but don't know the details.

I was quite glad to find no connection with my current home.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by bib:
The main ingredients are oatmeal, butter, coconut, sugar and golden syrup.

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You just gave some ammunition to a few of my friends! They were in Australia a few years ago, and loved eating Anzacs. Two friends were amazed that friend number three loved them, since he hates coconut. He has insisted that there is no coconut in Anzacs!

I can't wait to pass on your information!

 

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Posted by bib (# 13074) on :
 
Wow, an Anzac biscuit fight! You can make them without coconut if you wish, but most of us prefer the addition of coconut. I had thought of putting the recipe here, but it is easily found by googling.Enjoy!
 

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Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
I quit a twenty year cigarette habit while living in England. I promptly replaced two packs of smokes a day with two packets a day of Bourbon Creams or Hob Nobs. It wasn't all biscuits though. There were also Dime Bars, many, many Dime Bars.

My homemade cookies are also pretty good, thanks to my mother's recipes. Oatmeal cookies made with molasses for extra chewiness. Peanut butter cookies made with brown sugar, lots of butter and a Hershey kiss melting in the middle.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
My school's oat cookies. You will see why I haven't made them yet.
Equal quantities plain flour, rolled oats, caster sugar and margarine.
A quarter of whatever that quantity is of golden syrup.
One sixteenth of that quantity of baking powder.
A pinch of bicarbonate of soda to 4 oz. (Of mixture? Of flour?)
A smidgen of egg if liked - at the ratio of one egg to 200 biscuits.

Cream the fat and sugar, add the sieved dry ingredients (obviously the oats aren't sieved) and mix with the syrup. Put little balls of mixture well spaced on the tray and bake in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

They are lovely biscuits, but I haven't made any!
 

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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Bit short in the egg department, but otherwise I see no problem with the recipe. I tend to assume most quantities when given as specific amounts are really only approximate anyway.
 

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Posted by Huntress (# 2595) on :
 
I recently bought a packet of Café Noir due to nostalgia. They're not the cheapest and being half coated in (delicious, delicious) coffee icing, quite sugary so I ration them.

Whenever I see Tuc savoury biscuits I'm transported back to my great-auntie's cottage in rural Lancashire in the 1980s, with the open fire, rag rug and border collie. My great auntie would serve a plate of Tuc biscuits spread with margarine. They were quite salty, but so tasty!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Ariel:
Bit short in the egg department, but otherwise I see no problem with the recipe. I tend to assume most quantities when given as specific amounts are really only approximate anyway.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
Store-bought cookies were almost unheard of in my home when I was a child. My mother and grandmother baked just about every day, so there were always yummy homemade cookies on hand. I do miss those, especially at Christmas.

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