Being a kiwi, everyone has their own stories and memories to share about what it was like growing up in New Zealand with home baking. A family staple throughout my childhood (and very similar to others no doubt) was often the smell of home baked biscuits, whether it be with parents, grandparents or even your neighbour, these stories could be endless.
Many of these nostalgic biscuit recipes come from a book that I guarantee would have been in every family home at some stage, the Edmonds Cook Book. With multiple editions, revisions and reprints throughout the years, the Edmonds Cook Book was a trusted baking and cooking reference for the everyday enthusiast. So I asked my readers on Facebook to open up their own Edmonds Cook Book and share with me their favourite 5 biscuit recipes. Immediately the response was clear, kiwis love food, fond baking memories and how Edmonds had always been there to remind them of their own childhood, even through to this day.
After reading each comment and tallying together everyone’s favourites, there were 3 clear winners, the Peanut Brownie, the Afghan and the Anzac biscuit. Following behind these favourites were Shortbread, Chocolate Chip Biscuits and of course Yoyos. If these 6 biscuit recipes don’t capture those nostalgic memories and flavours of growing up with kiwi home baking, then I don’t know what will.
I also love how these 6 recipes are all so easy to make and all use very similar tried and true ingredients and techniques to deliver the perfect biscuit each time. For ease, I’ve included these 6 biscuit recipes below to make sure all of our favourite Edmonds recipes are in one place. To see these recipes and more classics, don’t forget to visit the Edmonds Website.
Did your favourites make the top 6? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below.
1. Peanut Brownies
- 125g Butter – Softened
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 ½ Plain Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Cocoa
- 1 Cup Roasted Unsalted Peanuts
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Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
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Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well.
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Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa together and add to the creamed mixture. Add the peanuts, roughly chopped if you wish, and mix well.
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Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on the prepared trays and press down with a floured fork.
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Bake for 15 minutes or until firm and coloured on the base. Leave on the trays for 1–2 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool.
2. Afghans
Crisp, light biscuits with the added crunch of roasted peanuts.
- 200g Butter – Softened
- ½ Cup Sugar
- 1 ¼ Cup Plain Flour
- ¼ Cup Cocoa
- 2 Cups Cornflakes
- Chocolate Icing
- 24 Walnuts (Optional)
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Preheat oven to 180ºC. Grease or line a baking tray with baking paper.
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Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour and cocoa. Stir into creamed mixture. Fold in cornflakes.
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Spoon mounds of mixture onto the tray, gently pressing together.
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Bake for 15 minutes or until set. When cold ice with chocolate icing and decorate with a walnut if wished.
3. Anzac Biscuits
These are a soft chewy version of the Anzac.
- ½ Cup Plain Flour
- ⅓ Cup Sugar
- ⅔ Cup Desiccated Coconut
- ¾ Cup Rolled Oats
- 50g Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Tablespoons Boiling Water
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Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
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Mix together flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats.
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Melt butter and golden syrup. Dissolve baking soda in the boiling water and add to butter and golden syrup. Stir butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
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Place level tablespoonfuls of mixture onto cold greased trays and flatten with a fork. These don't spread as they bake so you can place them close together.
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Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden. Leave on the tray for 5 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool.
4. Shortbread
This smooth-textured, buttery shortbread is a New Zealand specialty that keeps well and makes a lovely gift.
- 250g Butter – Softened
- 1 Cup Icing Sugar
- 1 Cup Cornflour
- 2 Cups Plain Flour
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Preheat the oven to 130ºC. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
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Cream the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Sift the cornflour and flour together and add to the creamed mixture.
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Turn onto a floured surface and knead well, pushing the mixture with your hands until it forms a smooth dough.
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Divide the dough in half and roll out each half on a piece of baking paper into a circle about 1cm thick. Mark the dough into wedges and prick the surface all over with a fork. Chill for 20 minutes and then slide the baking paper onto the prepared trays. Bake for about 1 hour until a very pale gold. Cut into wedges for serving.
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Form the dough into a log, wrap in greaseproof paper and chill for 10 minutes. Then cut into 5mm thick biscuits. Place on the prepared trays and prick with a fork. Bake for about 30 minutes or until pale golden.
5. Chocolate Chip (Sante) Biscuits
Santé bars of dark chocolate have been made in England since the 1860s. Before the advent of chocolate chips, you just chopped one of these bars into your biscuit dough. These popular biscuits are also called Kiwi Crisps.
- 125g Butter – Softened
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- 3 Tablespoons Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 ½ Cups Plain Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ Cup Chocolate Chips
- Few drops of Vanilla Essence
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Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
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Cream together the butter, sugar, condensed milk and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder together and mix into the creamed mixture, followed by the chocolate chips.
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Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on the prepared tray and flatten with a floured fork.
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Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Leave on the tray for 1–2 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool.
6. Yoyos
A variation on the melting moment with a lovely sweet custard flavoured filling.
- 175g Butter – Softened
- ¼ Cup Icing Sugar
- ¼ Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
- 1 ½ Cups Plain Flour
- ¼ Cup Custard Powder
- 50g Butter – Softened
- 1 Tablespoon Hot Water
- 2 Tablespoons Custard Powder
- ½ Cup Icing Sugar
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Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
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Cream the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy and then add the vanilla.
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Sift the flour and custard powder together and combine with the creamed mixture to form a soft dough.
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Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on the prepared trays and press down with a fork.
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Bake for 15–20 minutes until golden. Leave on the trays for 1–2 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool.
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Mix all the filling ingredients together until light and fluffy.
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When cold, sandwich in pairs with the Butter Filling.
Thank you to Edmonds for always being in my kitchen and continuing to inspire like-minded kiwis nationwide.
For these recipes and more, visit www.edmondscooking.co.nz
There gingernuts are the best recipe
These are all yum. Great childhood memories but the one I love the most would have to be the good old Hokey pokey. May I ask where you got the box you displayed them in. Looks great and would be perfect for my gift giving
Hokey Pokey is a fav of mine too! Regarding the box, it’s actually a repurposed box which had toy cars in it. I thought it would be perfect to displaying biscuits in!