English Digestive Biscuits are a staple in the UK. If you’ve ever been to the UK, you’ve probably sampled McVitie’s Digestive Biscuits (a.k.a. cookies in the US). I know that the name isn’t very appealing, but the taste definitely is!
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Ingredients: Here’s What You’ll Need
I used the following ingredients for the English Digestive Biscuits: Old-fashioned oats, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, Kosher salt, unsalted butter, and milk.
Steps: Making the Digestives
- As a first step, I processed the oats in my food processor for about 20 seconds until they were finely ground.
- Then I added the whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt to the oats and pulse-processed the ingredients about ten times to ensure that they were well mixed.
- Next, I added the unsalted butter, which had been cut into small cubes, and further pulsed the mixture until the butter was well incorporated. This took about ten pulses.
- Finally, I added the milk and continued pulsing until the dough somewhat came together. Then, I dumped the shaggy dough onto a piece of plastic wrap.
At about that time, the Master Taste Tester came into the kitchen and remarked that the dough looked like the contents of a cat’s litter box. Charming, I said!
- I kneaded the dough just a bit to bring it into a disk, which I wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for about 15 minutes.
- When I was ready actually to make the biscuits, I took half the dough, placed it on a piece of parchment paper, covered it with plastic wrap, and rolled it to ⅛-inch. Then I cut out 2-inch cookies and placed them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
I baked the digestive biscuits in a preheated 350°F oven for about 12 minutes until the edges began to brown.
I ended up with 30 absolutely delicious English Digestive Biscuits that the Master Taste Tester enthusiastically approved of with his afternoon tea. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
These digestive biscuits are crisp and crumbly with a lightly sweet, nutty flavor.
The biscuits are done when they are lightly golden brown around the edges. They will firm up as they cool.
You can make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate for a couple of days or freeze it for longer storage.
They are called “digestive” biscuits because they were originally created in the 19th century with the belief that they aided digestion due to their high baking soda content.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- The best way that I know of to achieve a certain uniform thickness of dough when rolled out is to use rolling pin bands on the rolling pin.
- Maybe it’s my oven, but I found that I needed to watch the cookies very carefully to make sure that they didn’t brown too much.
- I consistently weigh my ingredients to ensure consistent results time after time. Traditional ways of measuring ingredients can yield different quantities that impact the finished product.
- When making the dough for these digestive biscuits, it’s important not to overwork it. Overworking can develop gluten in the flour, leading to tougher biscuits.
Other Classic English Recipes
Check out these delicious treats if you’re a fan of classic English recipes.
For a Scottish treat, try my delicious Scottish Oatcakes.
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Recipe
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English Digestive Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup (3.55 ounces, 100 grams) old fashioned oats
- ¾ cup (3.55 ounces, 100 grams) whole wheat flour
- 3 Tablespoons (1.32 ounces, 38 grams) light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup (1 stick, 100 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 2 Tablespoons (1 ounce) milk
Instructions
- Process oats in food processor fitted with steel blade for 20 seconds, or until finely ground. Add whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt to the oats; pulse 10 times or until well combined. Add the butter; pulse 10 times or until about the size of corn meal. Add the milk, and pulse until the dough begins to come together, 10 to 15 times.
- Empty the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap; knead several times to form into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C).
- Place half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper that has been lightly dusted with flour. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and roll to a thickness of ⅛-inch (3mm). Cut into 2-inch disks, re-rolling any trimmings. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Remove from oven; cool completely on wire rack. Yield 24 to 30 biscuits.
