An English digestive biscuit is a semi-sweet biscuit that originated in Scotland, and is popular worldwide. The term “digestive” is derived from the belief that they had antacid properties due to the use of sodium bicarbonate when they were first developed. These cookies are a very popular addition to tea and hence are also called tea biscuits.
For the final week of the Blogging marathon, we are doing a special theme which happens to be one of my favorites and that is BM Pair. I am paired with Mireille who blogs at East West Realm. She also happens to be a fellow New Yorker and I had a wonderful time with her along with a few other BM friends.
She has a very vibrant personality and is very easy to talk with and make friends with. I love her passion for researching different cuisines; her recipes have so much information. I still cannot get over the fact that she cooks great Indian recipes and she participated with us in the regional Indian state mega marathon.
I being an Indian had to put in so much effort to come up with recipes from different states, but Mireille made it all seem so simple. The first recipe I cooked from her space is something I had bookmarked a while back. These English Digestive Biscuits are incredibly easy to make and my kids and their friends absolutely loved them.
They are made with whole wheat flour and are mildly sweet. These crunchy cookies are perfect to dip in coffee or tea. When reading through the internet, I read that these biscuits were first developed in the latter part of the 19th century to increase the fiber intake in Victorian diets.
Preparation time - 10 minutes Cooking time - 15-18 minutes/batch Difficulty level - easy Recipe adapted from - Mireille
Ingredients to make English Digestive Biscuits - Yields 2 dozen cookies about 2 ½ inch in diameter
- Whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour) - 1 ½ cups
- All-purpose flour - ½ cup
- Baking powder - 1 tsp
- Salt - ¼ tsp
- Butter - ½ cup (1 stick, softened)
- Powdered sugar - ¾ cup
- Milk - 4 tbsp
Procedure
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them with nonstick spray.
In a wide bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the cubed softened butter to it and use a pastry blender (my hands were the pastry blender); combine the butter with the flour until it resembles coarse sand.
Now add the powdered sugar and mix well.
Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and knead the flour to form a stiff dough. Do not be tempted to add more milk.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ⅛ inch thickness.
Using a round cookie cutter (about 2 ½ inches in diameter), cut out the dough and lay them on the prepared baking sheets.
Using a fork, prick evenly on the surface of the cookies.
- Bake these tea biscuits in a preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes. Mine took about 16 minutes to become pale brown. Remove them when they are light brown and then cool them entirely on cooling racks.
- Store the English Digestive Biscuits in an airtight container once completely cooled.
Other Cookie Recipes
- Double Chocolate Cookies Recipe
- Jam Thumbprint Cookies - Egg-Less Jam Cookies
- Christmas Fruit Cookies | Tutti Frutti Biscuit
- Butter Biscuits | Tea Kadai Style Plain Butter Cookies
Recipe
Equipment
- ▢ Oven
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 ½ cups Whole wheat flour I used whole wheat pastry flour
- ▢ ½ cup All purpose flour
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ▢ ½ cup Butter 1 stick, softened
- ▢ ¾ cup Powdered sugar
- ▢ 4 tablespoon Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them with non stick spray.
- In a wide bowl sift together the flours, baking powder and salt.
- Add the cubed softened butter to it and using a pastry blender (my hands were the pastry blender); combine the butter with the flour until it resembles coarse sand.
- Now add the powdered sugar and mix well.
- Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and knead the flour to form stiff dough. Do not be tempted to add more milk.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into ⅛ inch thickness.
- Using a round cookies cutter (about 2 ½ inch in diameter), cut out the dough and lay them on the prepared baking sheets.
- Using a fork, prick evenly on the surface of the cookies.
- Bake them in a preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes. Mine took about 16 minutes to become pale brown. Remove them when they are light brown and then cool them entirely on cooling racks.
- Store the English Digestive Biscuits in an airtight container once completely cooled.
Nutrition
More Cookies
- Crunchy Coconut Sesame Cookies
- Cream Cheese Spirals | Cinnamon Nut Filled Cookies
- Sweet Maida Biscuit | Baked Shakarpara
- Easy Eggless Coconut Macaroons
These jam thumbprint cookies are made with very few basic ingredients and are a great way to try out different flavors with different preserves. These are mildly sweet with a very flaky texture.
It is always a pleasure to step into the new year and cherish the old ones. I am really excited to begin my New Year blogging with these very simple Jam thumbprint cookies that I pinned from here .
This Jam cookie (as my kids called it) is made with very few basic ingredients and is a great way to try out different flavors with different preserves.
Strawberry jam is always everyone’s favorite in my house and hence that is one jam/preserve that gets used up really quickly. Next to that, is the apple jam that is a favorite.
I did not have any homemade spiced apple jam and hence was not able to try it out, but it will be a great one to try in the fall when I will have an abundance of apple jam.
I had a jar of the apricot preserve that was begging to be used. My boys did not care for it in the sandwiches and hence it was left untouched. I was planning on making the entire batch with the apricot preserve hoping to use quite a bit of it, but then decided to use it only in half as I was worried the boys might not like it.
I used strawberry jam for the remaining half. Like I thought, my boys were not too keen on the apricot flavor and fought for the strawberry ones. My husband on the other hand loved the cookies with the apricot jam and enjoyed the whole batch without any competition.
These jam thumbprint cookies are mildly sweet with a very flaky texture. The cookies just melt in the mouth and are perfect with a glass of milk or for a sneaky after-dinner snack.
If you love lemon flavor, then you have to try these delicious lemon puff cookies. They are very similar to these jam thumbprint cookies except we make a fresh lemon filling to add to the cookies.
Preparation time - 10 minutes Baking time - 12 to 14 minutes per batch Difficulty level - easy
Ingredients to make Jam Thumbprint Cookies - (makes about 15 cookies)
- Butter (Unsalted, room temperature) - 1 stick (½ cup)
- Sugar - 7 tbsps
- Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
- All-purpose flour - 1 cup + 1 tbsp
- Jam (any flavor) - as needed (I used strawberry and apricot jams)
Procedure -
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Make sure that the butter is at room temperature. I used by hand mixer to cream the butter as this was a small batch. If I was doubling the recipe, I would have used my stand mixer.
Add the vanilla extract and mix again.
Add the flour in batches and mix until it forms a stiff dough.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or baking paper.
Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out the dough and form a ball. Place them on the lined baking sheet.
Using the back of a ½ teaspoon measure or using your thumb, make a small indentation in the middle of each cookie ball.
- Fill the indentations with jam.
Bake them for about 12 to 14 minutes, keeping an eye on them for about 12 minutes. Mine needed 14 minutes, but depending on individual ovens the baking time may vary. Don’t let the cookies become too dark. Remove them when they are pale golden.
Let the Jam thumbprint cookies cool on the sheet for about 5 minutes and then cool entirely on a wire rack.
Similar Recipes
- Basic Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Japanese Melon Pans - Cookie Covered Bread Rolls
- Orange-Scented Cranberry Walnut Cookies
- Kiffles | Kiflis | Traditional Hungarian Pastries
Recipe
Equipment
- ▢ Oven
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 stick Butter Unsalted, room temperature (½ cup)
- ▢ 7 tbsps Sugar
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ▢ 1 cup All purpose flour Plus 1 tbsp
- ▢ Jam Any Flavor - as needed (I used strawberry and apricot jams)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Make sure that the butter is at room temperature. I used by hand mixer to cream the butter as this was a small batch. If I was doubling the recipe, I would have used my stand mixer.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix again.
- Add the flour in batches and mix until it forms a stiff dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or baking paper.
- Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out the dough and form a ball. Place them on the lined baking sheet.
- Using the back of a ½ teaspoon measure or using your thumb, make a small indentation in the middle of each cookie ball.
- Fill the indentations with jam.
- Bake them for about 12 to 14 minutes, keeping an eye on them from about 12 minutes. Mine needed 14 minutes, but depending on individual ovens the baking time may vary. Don’t let the cookies become too dark. Remove them when they are pale golden.
- Let the Jam thumbprint cookies cool in the sheet for about 5 minutes and then cool entirely on a wire rack.
Nutrition
More Cookies
- Crunchy Coconut Sesame Cookies
- Cream Cheese Spirals | Cinnamon Nut Filled Cookies
- Sweet Maida Biscuit | Baked Shakarpara
- Easy Eggless Coconut Macaroons
English Digestive Biscuits | American Tea Biscuits
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Whole wheat flour I used whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup All purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Butter 1 stick, softened
- ¾ cup Powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoon Milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them with non stick spray.
- In a wide bowl sift together the flours, baking powder and salt.
- Add the cubed softened butter to it and using a pastry blender (my hands were the pastry blender); combine the butter with the flour until it resembles coarse sand.
- Now add the powdered sugar and mix well.
- Add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time and knead the flour to form stiff dough. Do not be tempted to add more milk.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into ⅛ inch thickness.
- Using a round cookies cutter (about 2 ½ inch in diameter), cut out the dough and lay them on the prepared baking sheets.
- Using a fork, prick evenly on the surface of the cookies.
- Bake them in a preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes. Mine took about 16 minutes to become pale brown. Remove them when they are light brown and then cool them entirely on cooling racks.
- Store the English Digestive Biscuits in an airtight container once completely cooled.
