Is it a biscuit or a chocolate bar? FEMAIL reveals the truth about your favourite treats, including Jaffa Cakes, Wagon Wheels and Kit Kats
- We look at the Great British biscuit debate, which has caused many arguments
- READ MORE: McVities delights fans by bringing back fan favourite biscuit
As a nation of tea lovers, us Brits take our biscuits very seriously – but it appears many of our favourite tea time snacks may be up for debate.
For social media users have been left divided over whether a number of different treats really count as biscuits – or whether they should be classified as chocolates.
Twix, KitKats and even Wagon Wheels have been up for discussion, with many arguing both for and against their biscuit status.
And while many may consider Jaffa Cakes a biscuit, they were ruled by a court as a cake in 1991.
Meanwhile a poll of 2,000 adults via data released by McVitie’s found that 69 per cent of people have a biscuit argument at least once a month.
FEMAIL takes a look at the Great British biscuit debate, which has seen numerous families, friends and even work colleagues argue about chocolatey snacks.
Jaffa Cakes
This sweet treat has been at the centre of the biscuit debate for years.
The chocolate covered spongy treat has a zesty orange jelly centre and is seen as a staple in our supermarket aisles but also our cupboards.
But is it a cake or a biscuit?
Those who argue that it is a biscuit insist that it is packaged like a biscuit and it can be found in the biscuit aisle of supermarkets, rather than the bakery or cake section.
Due to their size and their shape, it looks as though they are trying to imitate biscuits.
Cakes are also traditionally eaten with a fork, but you don’t need one to tuck into a Jaffa Cake.
One Twitter user said: ‘Jaffas are cakes as they go hard when going off and biscuits go soft.
‘I’ve made biscuits and cakes for 40 years I still don’t know why Jaffa’s are on the biscuit row.’
Another wrote: ‘You buy Jaffa Cakes in the biscuit aisle, not the cake aisle. Case closed.’
Jaffa Cakes were ruled as a cake by a court in 1991, which means they don’t need to pay extra VAT on the chocolate covered biscuit tax
One undecided person said they were a ‘hybrid’ of the two.
What makes matters even more confusing is that Jaffa Cakes were recently ranked the most dunkable biscuits.
Researchers found that they could withstand 116 dunks and it took three minutes and 16 seconds to break.
They were compared with Chocolate Leibniz, Bourbons, Caramel Digestives and Walker’s Shortbread and many more biscuits.
Users took to Twitter to argue about whether Jaffa Cakes were a cake or a biscuit, despite the court ruling they were a cake
While Jaffa Cakes may be a biscuit at heart, a court decided in 1991 that Jaffa Cakes are indeed a cake.
In the UK, companies have to pay value added tax on chocolate covered biscuits, but they don’t have to pay it on chocolate covered cakes.
On the McVitie’s website, they state: ‘Despite a challenge by Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise that a Jaffa Cake is a biscuit and therefore subject to VAT, McVitie’s successfully proved to the courts that a Jaffa Cake is indeed a cake, and it is still VAT free to this day.’
Twix
Game show host and author Richard Osman opened a can of worms when he proposed that Twix is not actually a chocolate bar, but a biscuit
Twix is 35 per cent chocolate, 32 per cent caramel and 26 per cent biscuit, but many still believe that it is a chocolate bar.
But in 2017, game show host and author Richard Osman opened a can of worms when he proposed that Twix is not actually a chocolate bar, but a biscuit.
He wrote: ‘I honestly don’t think a Twix is really a chocolate bar. It should be reclassified as a biscuit.’
But interestingly, Fox’s Chocolatey Milk Chocolate Rounds would be considered as a biscuit but the chocolate content is much higher, at 71 per cent.
Many people responded to Osman’s tweet at the time and with one person saying that they fall out with their sibling all the time over the debate.
‘YES!! Me and my brother are always falling out over this!’ They wrote.
Another penned: ‘No! Biscuits are biscuits… and that’s an end to it.’
But some people were stuck in the middle, as one of them called a Twix a ‘bisclate’.
People have even put up polls on their twitter accounts to ask if the chocolate covered treat is a biscuit.
Some people thought that Twix was a chocolate bar, but others argued it was a biscuit on Twitter
One woman asked: ‘Is Twix a biscuit or a chocolate bar?’
The poll recieved 254 votes and 78.3 per cent thought that Twix was a chocolate bar, but 21.7 per cent called it a biscuit.
HMRC refers to Twix as ‘confectionery,’ neither confirming it as a biscuit or a chocolate bar.
Wagon Wheel
Another debate in Britain is whether a Wagon Wheel is considered a biscuit, a cake or a chocolate bar
Another debate in Britain is whether a Wagon Wheel is considered a biscuit, a cake or a chocolate bar.
On Tesco’s website, it says Wagon Wheels are a ‘biscuit filled with mallow and covered in chocolate flavoured coating.’
The product is also made up of 24 per cent chocolate coating and 22 per cent marshmallow.
Burton’s Biscuit Co describes Wagon Wheels describes their product as ‘the maverick of the biscuit world with an epic sense of adventure,’ clearly stating that they consider them a biscuit.
But people on Twitter think otherwise, as the snack is at the centre of a fierce debate.
One user wrote: ‘A Wagon Wheel is not a biscuit – idiot’
Another penned: ‘I’ve just found out that a “wagon wheel” is actually a biscuit… my life will never be the same.’
One Twitter user even asked her Amazon Alexa whether Wagon Wheels are a biscuit and it said they were
A third said: ‘I will not accept that a wagon wheel is a biscuit until Queen Mary says it herself.’
One person wrote that they even asked their Amazon Alexa device whether a Wagon Wheel was a biscuit.
She penned: ‘I asked Alexa is a wagon wheel a biscuit & she said yes.’
KitKat
While this may seem like a clear cut case, the public thinks otherwise, with many debating whether a KitKat is a chocolate bar or a biscuit
While this may seem like a clear cut case to some, the public thinks otherwise, with many debating whether a KitKat is a chocolate bar or a biscuit.
Although their famous tagline is ‘Have a break, have a KitKat,’ which plays on the ridges of a KitKat that you are supposed to snap to eat it, people think the bar is a chocolate.
The chocolatey snack comes in many different flavours worldwide. In Japan, they have wasabi and sake flavours.
Nestle have even introduced KitKat chunky, which is a thicker version of the original and double the amount of calories of the regular bar.
Interestingly, the regular two bar KitKat is called: ‘Kit Kat 2 Finger Milk Chocolate Biscuits,’ on the Tesco website.
However, as the number of bars increases to four it is referred to as a ‘Chocolate bar,’ which is the same case for the Chunky version.
On Twitter, people have long discussed whether KitKats are a chocolate or a biscuit.
One person wrote: ‘Classic KitKat fingers are a biscuit, KitKat Chunky is a chocolate bar.’
Many users made their own polls to ask Twitter what they thought, with chocolate winning most of them.
Users took to Twitter to debate whether KitKats are a chocolate bar or a biscuit, with one person saying she was in a ‘heated WhatsApp exchange’ over the matter
Another wrote: ‘Currently in an increasingly heated WhatsApp exchange over whether a KitKat is a biscuit or a chocolate bar. ITS A BISCUIT.’
Someone responded to the thread and agreed, writing: ‘Biscuit. 100%. Final answer.’
This is clearly a popular question, as the UK KitKat website has the question in their FAQs.
However their response was tight lipped, as they wrote: ‘Some say it’s a biscuit…
‘Others say it’s a chocolate bar but we say it’s the perfect break!’
Penguin
Penguins are crunchy, creamy and chocolatey bars of goodness, known for the cheesy jokes at the back of the packet
One TikToker came up with the theory that Penguin biscuits are just chocolate covered bourbons
Penguins are crunchy, creamy and chocolatey bars of goodness, known for the cheesy jokes at the back of the packet.
They were first introduced by McVitie’s in 1932 by William McDonald, a biscuit manufacturer in Glasgow.
But people have also debated whether the snack is a chocolate bar or a biscuit.
Penguins contain 29 per cent chocolate and are described as ‘Milk chocolate covered biscuit bars filled with chocolate cream,’ on the Sainsbury’s website.
On Twitter people argued about whether Penguin bars were a biscuit or chocolate bar.
One user said: ‘My family are all screaming at each other about about whether or not a penguin is a chocolate bar or biscuit.’
But many of the comments on the thread said that Penguins were indeed a biscuit, with one saying: ‘it’s a chocolate biscuit.’
One woman started a poll on Twitter which had 102 votes and biscuit won by 59.8 per cent.
She responded in the comments section by saying: ‘I’ve always thought it was a chocolate.’
Another person made a poll asking the question, and biscuit won again by 78.2 per cent and it got 170 votes.
She wrote: ‘Is a Penguin a biscuit or a chocolate bar? I know it is chocolatey but surely it is a staple of nans’ biscuit tins and 4 p.m. tea time?
People took to Twitter to discuss whether Penguin was a biscuit or a chocolate with many saying it was a biscuit
‘Really dealing with the big issues here.’
In 2021, a TikTok went viral when someone claimed that Penguin bars were just chocolate covered bourbon biscuits.
They wrote: ‘How old were you when you found out a penguin was a bourbon covered in chocolate!!!’
This video racked up 1.4 million views and stunned many users who ‘refused’ to believe the statement.
Club bars
McVitie’s Club bars have been around for more than 100 years and you may remember them from your youth
McVitie’s Club bars have been around for more than 100 years and you may remember them from your youth.
They come in a variety of flavours such as mint, orange, salted caramel and fruit.
But people have argued whether Clubs should be considered a chocolate or a biscuit.
McVitie’s say on their website: ‘If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit join our Club.’
But people have likened Clubs to KitKat bars, which are widely considered to be a chocolate bar.
Almost half of a Club bar is made up from entirely chocolate, as it’s stated in the ingredients that they are a whopping 49 per cent chocolate.
KitKats are slightly different as they are a wafer with chocolate coating but also have chocolate between the layers, therefore the regular packets with two bars are made up of 66 per cent chocolate.
One person wrote: ‘I mean I think a club is a biscuit not a chocolate bar…’
Someone responded and said: ‘Definitely biscuit.’
Another user wrote a Tweet which said: ‘The rule is, if you can buy them as a large individual snack amongst the rest of the chocolate bars, they’re a chocolate bar.
‘For example, Twix and KitKats, whereas you can’t buy a large club, penguin, or gold bar, hence it being a biscuit.’
People took to Twitter to discuss Club bars, as one person hilariously shared that their packet of Clubs were just solid chocolate
Commenting on another post, a person penned: ‘But is it really a biscuit or a chocolate bar?
‘I’d say Club’s are in the same realm as a KitKat, either one nor the other. Fascinating.’
Hilariously, in 2017, someone posted on Twitter and said that their pack of mint Club bars were just solid chocolate with no biscuit or flavouring.
They wrote: ‘Is there a special promotion on at the moment? Mint club with no biscuit or mint… just chocolate.’
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