The Great SDC Shortbread Review of 2022 by member Gayle
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The Great SDC Shortbread Review of 2022 by member Gayle
What could be more important than how to vote in the upcoming federal election (insert eye roll)? Why the Great SDC Shortbread review of 2022 Of Course
Folks, this fantastic review was submitted by member Gayle Dean. If you enjoyed it, please comment below and let us know what you’d like reviewed next!
No decision is more crucial than the biscuit of choice to accompany your daily dunk. Arguably the most popular tea dunking delight is the humble shortbread! With its origins rooted in 12th century Scotland and popular with Mary Queen of Scots, the shortbread biscuit was a part of Scottish wedding tradition. The groom had the unenviable task of breaking the shortbread wheel over his bride’s head. It was believed if it crumbled the marriage would be fruitful. Not sure how well that worked out for the groom on his long awaited wedding night!
As part of this experiment, I enlisted a panel of experts to determine which bikkie is best. Included was a mandatory Scotsman (my Dad), my adult children, and Poppy the resident canine taste tester. It should be noted that Poppy has a less than discerning palette and, on occasion, is known to consume socks.
Poppy, the resident canine tester.
Thus her results were excluded from the final tally. Each tester rated the shortbreads on a scale of 1 to 10 according to four selection criteria:
- Visual appeal
- Size
- Taste
- Texture
The products reviewed were:
Unibic Shortbread Fingers ($3.00 or $1.50 per 100 grams)
Butterfingers Macadamia Shortbread ($3.90 or $2.23 per 100 grams)
Arnott’s Shortbread ($3 or $1.20 per 100 grams)
Coles Shortbread Fingers ($2.00 or $0.95 per 100 grams
Visual Appeal and size
All agreed the Unibic shortbread had the most visual appeal with its light golden brown colour and glossy sprinkling of sugar. Butterfingers, whilst also quite appealing, came in second mainly because the crew preferred the appearance of the traditional holey shortbread. Apparently the holes allow for even oven heat distribution (who knew?). Lacking in colour and somewhat smaller than the rest, the Coles brand came in third place. In last place was Arnott’s as it lacked the traditional delicate shortbread shape and was almost double in size. Proof that bigger isn’t always better!
Texture
Unibic Shortbread Fingers ($3.00 or $1.50 per 100 grams)
Butterfingers Macadamia Shortbread ($3.90 or $2.23 per 100 grams)
Arnott’s Shortbread ($3 or $1.20 per 100 grams)
Coles Shortbread Fingers ($2.00 or $0.95 per 100 grams
Visual Appeal and size
All agreed the Unibic shortbread had the most visual appeal with its light golden brown colour and glossy sprinkling of sugar. Butterfingers, whilst also quite appealing, came in second mainly because the crew preferred the appearance of the traditional holey shortbread. Apparently the holes allow for even oven heat distribution (who knew?). Lacking in colour and somewhat smaller than the rest, the Coles brand came in third place. In last place was Arnott’s as it lacked the traditional delicate shortbread shape and was almost double in size. Proof that bigger isn’t always better!
Texture
Possibly the most important aspect of any shortbread is its smooth ‘melt in your mouth’ texture. Whilst Unibic narrowly beat the rest of the pack, the scores were quite low in this category in comparison to the other three criteria. The Scotsman mumbled something in Gaelic (we think) about his mother’s superior homemade shortbreads. In this instance I must begrudgingly agree with him, homemade is best. Whilst they all somewhat lacked the desired melt in your mouth feel, a swift double dunk significantly improved the smoothness of all except the Coles brand biscuit. After the obligatory tea dunk the adult son stated it showed a marginal improvement from, ‘that just sucked the saliva straight out my mouth’ to ‘it’s ‘like chewing chalk’. A triple dunk was sensibly not attempted; we all know how that ends!
Taste
Taste, this all-important category garnered mixed opinions. Unibic was once again ahead of the pack with its buttery goodness, closely followed by Butterfingers. With only one point separating the two, I called a draw in this category. Miss Fusspot (adult daughter) was not partial to the tiny macadamia pieces which gave the shortbread a mild nutty taste and an ever so slightly gritty texture. All other participants enjoyed this subtle flavour and deviation from the traditional shortbread. Everyone agreed Arnott’s Shortbread was satisfactory, although they were no match for their popular beloved Scotch Finger biscuit. In last position, Coles brand lacked the distinctive buttery flavour of a shortbread and was a little bland, although Poppy appeared impressed (just between you and me she always looks that way). Again the dunk enhanced the taste which goes to show tea and biscuits are indeed a match made in bikkie heaven.
The final tally placed Unibic as the overall winner on 123 points, closely followed by Butterfingers on 119, Arnott’s 89 and lastly Coles brand on 64 (harsh I know). As you can see there’s not always a correlation between quality and cost with Unibic significantly cheaper than the runner up. It should be noted that Miss Fusspot brought down the score average of Butterfingers because there were ‘bits in it’ (guess you’ve all heard that before).
A final note: Poppy’s usual doggy diet was compromised for this experiment, however as a senior of 12 years she can do whatever she damn well pleases! Lastly the official policy on broken biscuits is as follows. All ‘accidental biscuit breakages’ are deemed kilojoule free and therefore do not count toward your daily calorie count.
Taste
Taste, this all-important category garnered mixed opinions. Unibic was once again ahead of the pack with its buttery goodness, closely followed by Butterfingers. With only one point separating the two, I called a draw in this category. Miss Fusspot (adult daughter) was not partial to the tiny macadamia pieces which gave the shortbread a mild nutty taste and an ever so slightly gritty texture. All other participants enjoyed this subtle flavour and deviation from the traditional shortbread. Everyone agreed Arnott’s Shortbread was satisfactory, although they were no match for their popular beloved Scotch Finger biscuit. In last position, Coles brand lacked the distinctive buttery flavour of a shortbread and was a little bland, although Poppy appeared impressed (just between you and me she always looks that way). Again the dunk enhanced the taste which goes to show tea and biscuits are indeed a match made in bikkie heaven.
The final tally placed Unibic as the overall winner on 123 points, closely followed by Butterfingers on 119, Arnott’s 89 and lastly Coles brand on 64 (harsh I know). As you can see there’s not always a correlation between quality and cost with Unibic significantly cheaper than the runner up. It should be noted that Miss Fusspot brought down the score average of Butterfingers because there were ‘bits in it’ (guess you’ve all heard that before).
A final note: Poppy’s usual doggy diet was compromised for this experiment, however as a senior of 12 years she can do whatever she damn well pleases! Lastly the official policy on broken biscuits is as follows. All ‘accidental biscuit breakages’ are deemed kilojoule free and therefore do not count toward your daily calorie count.
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