Makansutra | New Love for Old Biscuits

New Love for Old Biscuits

By KF Seetoh - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2014

Old school biscuits and cookies that are still pleasing us today.

If you were a “latchkey kid” of the 80’s and 90’s (where you come home from school each day to an empty house where both parents are busy at work to make ends meet), then these snacks and bites may be a comforting blast from the past. It could also be a nightmare if it was all you ate each day till mum came home to cook at night. But there’s no doubt, these old school crunchies are part and parcel of our snack heritage. Love it or hate it, it’s still here and many are finding favours with these retro munchies. Some have even created environment friendly bag designs and fridge magnets out of them. There’s even a comfy café designed around these biscuits and its iconic tins.

These days, you may associate them with tea time offerings at old folk’s homes and they are still enjoying them. It is considered cheap by today’s standards, where a muffin can set you back by $2.50 a pop, at least, or where a piece of coffee biscotti hovers around the $2 mark a piece.

Go easy on them. They may be way less trans-fat used in those biscuits today, but moderation is still key for this and believe me, it is so easy to over makan these value for money local munchies. Even muffins and doughnuts contain trans-fats and more calories than you can imagine (up to 5gms of trans-fat per doughnut), so, you have been warned.

A hawker centre shop stall owner at North Bridge Road mentioned, in order of appeal, which are their best sellers:

1. Lemon puff 柠檬卜

2. Cashew Cookies 腰豆酥

3. Cheese Cracker 奶油餅 known by locals as: 咸饼(salted biscuit)

Cashew Cookies- nutty, buttery, sweet and savoury yet has a soft crunch. Best part is to slowly devour the and enjoy whole cashew sitting atop.

The “cheese” or salted biscuits- these savory and lightly salty munchies are a quick and nice pick me up if you want to skip a meal to trim a few grams off the waist.

Follow by (in no particular order…)

Butterfly Cracker / 蝴蝶餅 known by locals as 牛耳饼 (ear lobe biscuits)

Chocolate Wafer 巧克力威化

Pineapple Jam Cookies 黃梨酥

Peanut Cookies 花生酥

Chocolate wafer- not rich like Kit Kat but these are so easy to like especially if they came fresh and crunchy (unlike those that sat in the tin for longer than necessary).

Coconut biscuits- if you like kueh bangkit, then you will love these. They come with a nice crunch and turns milky in the mouth after three chomps. We vote kopi-o to pair with this.

Ear Biscuits- they are crunchy, savoury and not for the false of soft toothed folks. Best to enjoy this slowly with a cup of teow yue (or chinese tea).

Lemon Puffs- the best seller according to one vendor. The flaky and crispy biscuit is smeared in between with sweet and light sour lemon cream (more sweet actually) and is light to the bite. Teh tarek halia (pulled Indian tea with ginger) would be good with this.

Peanut cookie- this one is addictive, pop one in and it calls for the next. The nuttiness and sweet touches is like having peanut butter with kaya or sugar in the mouth. This is great with jasmine tea.

Pineapple cookies- they taste pretty much like the old school Danish cookies except they have pineapple marmalade jam centres. They jury is out on what beverage goes with this one.

If these biscuits resonate with you and ring a bell to your past (or even not-so- past), here’s a thought for the day – What beverage or drinks would you pair with each of these biscuits?

Where to get them…

Here’s a list of shops, stalls, places and cafes that sells these old school biscuits:

Markets:

– Bedok 85 Market

– North Bridge Road Market

– 448 Clementi Hawker Centre

– Woodlands Ave Blk 303

Stores and Cafes:

Biscuit King

130 Casuarina Road

Singapore 579518

Tel: +65 6454 5938