10 Brilliant Biscuits That Deserve A Good Dunking

6. Rich Tea

From the name you assume this was a biscuit designed for dunking, yet the structure of the Rich Tea does support this idea. Plain, to absorb the flavour of the tea more readily, yet crisp and solid, so that it can withstand the dunking without collapsing too easily. The rich tea is a startlingly plain biscuit, rivalled only by milk biscuits, and this quality makes it a very versatile dunker, fit for hot chocolate and lattes as well as tea. In the biscuit world, the rich tea is the dependable one. They are the person in the office with not much personality or creative zing, yet you can hand over any task and have the confidence that it will be completed accurately and on time. It is a reliable biscuit, and as such should not be dismissed too readily. There's always a scenario for the Rich Tea.

5. Hobnobs

Hobnobs are definitely a contender for the best pretending-to-be-a-healthy-snack-practically-on-the-same-level-as-fruit award - it's all those oats! However it's when you dunk it, that you realise just how much sugar is in there. Regardless of this, it's still a good quality dunker, solid yet crunchy, and with a decent thickness. Many are on the fence about hob nobs, classing it as a plain biscuit with pretensions. Perhaps due to its incredible oaty-ness. If you're in the mood for a plain biscuit, hobnobs just seem too fancy, but if you want a fancy biscuit, they are too plain. It's that classic Apprentice error of trying to appeal to all tastes. Hobnob fail.

4. Custard Creams

Unlike their chocolatey sister (bourbons) the quality of the custard cream doesn't matter a great deal. You know about it if you are presented with a substandard bourbon; the biscuit has a touch of the sweetmeal about it and it crumbles far too easily. Custard cream biscuits are fairly standard whether you get a savers or a McVities Finest, and that makes it a far more reliable dunker than bourbon. Plus, in the custard cream, you expect fake custard. Somehow, the chocolate filling in the bourbon is always a grave disappointment. The custard cream dunking method is very similar to the jammy dodger in so far as it is a tale of two dips. Maybe even three. Of course, you can chuck the whole thing into the tea, but that is dull and uninspired. Instead I prefer to separate the two halves like the annoying girl in the Oreo ad. Once that is done, you have two options: You can either dunk both halves SEPARATELY - the boring non-custardy one first - or you can dunk just the plain half and leave your custard unsullied. The biscuit for every mood!

3. Chocolate Chip Cookies

Definitely just chocolate chip. Nowadays there are a lot of foodie options, White Chocolate and Raspberry, Walnut and Carrot, Pecan and Pumpkin, and while these flavours may have their place, they are not for dunking. Fruit and dunking is a no-no. Tea does nothing for fruit flavours, and often the fruit will leach into the tea which is definitely not what you want. Not what you want at all. As far as nuts are concerned, it is a pointless exercise. They give nothing and receive nothing from the tea. Don't bother. Chocolate chip on the other hand is a wonderful gift. The little bits of chocolate melt where they have been in contact with the tea, but stay cold on the inside, creating a taste sensation. Combined with the soft cookie surrounding, it's like an almost certainly healthier version of just warm cookie dough from the oven. It also involves a lot less effort.

2. Party Rings

Party Rings do themselves no favours at all with that name. It's like they don't even want to graduate to a grown up audience. Well, some grown ups like their biscuits to be heroes in a colourful sugary half-shell. And they are brilliant dunkers, rivalling the shortbread for longevity. Note - rivalling, but not beating. If you get carried away, the sugar will crack and the biscuit will plummet. Learn from my errors. When dunked, the Party Ring is a biscuit of contrasts. The icing stays solid but the biscuit goes mushy. Surprisingly moreish.