I returned to my local supermarket, and made a dash to the most happiest aisle ever – the Christmas aisle. In my previous visit, I left the Christmas section with two tins of Tesco Finest cookies in my basket that I absolutely adored, and this time I added another tin to the haul – the banoffee pie shortbread. Along with cookies, my consumption of shortbread peaks at Christmastime. I love Aussie chocolate chip shortbread cookies, but banoffee shortbread brings the shortbread game to new heights. The collection of cookie tins from Tesco Finest have shrunk considerably on shelves since my last visit, and I figured, why not add one more to my collection?

Banoffee pie is a dessert hailing from England. The equation’s actually reflected in its name: “ban” as in “banana” and “offee” as in “toffee”. These pies possess a graham cracker-style crust and it’s filled and topped with bananas, toffee and cream. Anyone with a sweet tooth will love this pie!

Just like the mince pie and speculoos cookies, a strong whiff of banana enters the space upon opening the tin jar. Unlike them, however, these shortbread aren’t meant to be heated (I reckon it’s because of those giant dark chocolate chunks). These banoffee shortbread look stunning from the get-go. Belgian dark chocolate chunks with specks of butterscotch fill the shortbread with a sense of delight for my taste buds. Original banoffee recipes don’t call for chocolate, but I’ll never say no to chocolate (and so will other fellow chocoholics!).

From my introductory bite, I was transported into the sacred world of banana baked desserts. The shortbread itself has a prominent yet balanced banana flavor, which has been included in the batter itself prior to the addition of butterscotch and dark chocolate.

The sticky butterscotch (emulating toffee), which I was expecting to be the co-star in this cookie masterpiece, was a tad subdued and took a supporting role instead in my opinion. A surprising co-lead was the dark chocolate chunks, as dark chocolate eased the banana’s power. It didn’t make the banana mellow, however, dark chocolate (being less sugary and a bit bitter) reduced the banana’s intensity and overall sweetness in the cookie too. The shortbread is crumbly, and the texture of smooth chocolate chunks complemented it to a ‘T’.

All in all, the banoffee pie shortbread was a small nod to the original pie but Tesco’s stamp on the traditional English favorite is lovely. I enjoyed them!

As this is my last Christmas cookie post this year, it’s only fitting to share a glimpse of Christmas festivities in Singapore. The decor at Suntec (a major shopping mall/convention center/office space) in the central business district is Angry Birds-themed (and birds in general, now to come to think of it!) this Christmas. It’s the most quirkiest idea I’ve seen this year, hence being worthy of an honorable mention in this post!

Have a blessed and merry Christmas, and happy holidays dear friends!