Homemade Digestive Biscuits
Semi-sweet and oaty, Homemade Digestive Biscuits are miles better than the packet versions. Easy to make and perfect to dunk in tea or even eat with cheese.
See Recipe Notes for Homemade Chocolate Digestives.
Before starting, please read the accompanying blog post for extra tips and images to guide you.
Ingredients
- 100 g fine or medium oatmeal (see Recipe Notes for making your own)
- 50 g plain wholemeal flour (plus extra for rolling out, or extra oatmeal)
- 50 g plain white flour (can be replaced with more wholemeal flour)
- 50 g caster sugar (can be increased to 75 g for a sweeter biscuit)
- 0.5 tsp salt (can be reduced if using salty butter)
- 0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda (optional: traditional but not essential)
- 75 g cold butter (plus extra for greasing if necessary)
- 1 medium egg, beaten (you may not need it all)
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 190°C /170°C fan /Gas 5 /375°F.
Lightly grease one large or two standard baking trays or line with baking paper.
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Take a mixing bowl and add all the ingredients EXCEPT the butter and egg. Stir together.
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Grate the butter into the dry ingredients, dipping it into the mix now and then if it sticks to the grater. Rub in until you have a mixture that looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
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Gradually stir in enough of the beaten egg to start bringing the mixture together: you may not need it all. Finally, use your hands to form a soft dough.
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Sprinkle your work surface, ideally covered with a silicone mat to reduce sticking, with wholemeal flour (or oatmeal, but flour is less sticky). Put the dough on top and sprinkle with more flour or oatmeal.
Roll out 3 - 5 mm thick, depending on whether you'd like thinner or chunkier biscuits.
Use a round cutter, 6 - 8 cm in diameter, to stamp out biscuits and transfer to the prepared baking tray/s, leaving space between them for a little expansion.
Gather up the scraps, re-roll and cut out more biscuits until all the dough is used up.
Tip: rolling the dough 5 mm thick and using a 6 cm cutter should give you approximately 14 biscuits.
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Prick a series of holes into each biscuit using the blunt end of a bamboo skewer, cocktail stick, fork or similar.
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Put the tray/s in the preheated oven and bake until cooked through and golden brown (approximately 12 - 18 min).
Tip: if your oven cooks unevenly, turn the tray/s around halfway through.
Transfer biscuits to a wire rack until completely cold before storing in an airtight container.
Best eaten within 2 weeks but may keep up to a month.
Recipe Notes
Note 1. OATMEAL
If you don't have oatmeal, you can make your own by whizzing up rolled or porridge oats in a blender, food processor, or coffee mill.
Note 2. HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE DIGESTIVES
Make the Digestive Biscuits as per the recipe and leave until completely cold.
- Break into pieces 100 grams of chocolate (dark, milk, or a combination).
- Microwave. Put in a microwave-safe container. Melt on full power in 10 - 20 second bursts, stirring between each one, until just a few small pieces of un-melted chocolate remain. Stir vigorously until completely smooth.
- On a stove. Put in a heatproof bowl above a pan of gently simmering water. Stir constantly until just melted, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.
- Take one of the cold digestives and hold in your fingertips, flat side downwards.
- Dip the flat side into the melted chocolate then lift out, letting excess drip off and/or smoothing it off back into the bowl using a palette knife, silicone spatula or similar.
- Place the biscuit on a wire rack chocolate side up.
- Repeat with the rest of the biscuits and chocolate.
- Leave until the chocolate is completely set before storing the biscuits in an airtight container.