British Digestive Biscuits Hobnobs Copycat Recipes

DIGESTIVE BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a large bowl, mix together the flours, bran, baking powder, baking soda, and cream of tartar with a pastry blender. Mix in sugar with the pastry blender. Mix in fats with the pastry blender. The mix at this point should be crumbly and uniform. Mix the vanilla in the half-n-half and add to the mix. Mix with pastry blender until it is uniform and resembles really soft playdoh.
• You can at this point refrigerate for 20 minutes to make the dough easier to handle, but it is not necessary. Be sure to roll out dough between two pieces of waxed paper! Roll to approximately 1/8" thickness. Cut into rounds with cookie cutter about 2 1/2 inches in diameter (I used the ring off one of my canning jars).
• Transfer to cookie sheets or baking stone and prick with a fork. Bake 15 to 18 minutes (adjust the baking time up to dry them out more if the biscuits are too soft and fluffy), or until golden. Let cool on wire rack.
• Optional: spread the backs of the cooled biscuits with melted semi-sweet chocolate (as in chips - almost everyone has these for chocolate chip cookies). Set the biscuits chocolate side up on the rack until chocolate hardens.
• Store in an airtight tin -if storage is even necessary! They will go fast.

DIGESTIVE BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add just enough milk to make a firm dough.
• Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead until smooth.
• Roll out to a thickness of 1 1/8". Using a fork, prick all over.
• Using a 1 1/2" round cookie cutter, cut rounds and place 1" apart on prepared pans.
• Bake for 12-15 min, until the crust is golden brown.
• transfer to wire racks to cool.

CRISPY DIGESTIVE BISCUITS

Steps:

• Combine the dry ingredients, and then cut in the butter so that the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Combine the water and vanilla and drizzle over the dry mixture.
• Blend until the dough can be packed together.
• Roll out on a floured surface or between two sheets of waxed paper until the dough is about 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick.
• Cut into circles or other shapes and bake on a greased baking sheet at 170°C/ 325°F/ Gas Mark 3 for 20 to 25 minutes; make sure the oven does not get too hot- they should not be too brown.
• Cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

ENGLISH DIGESTIVE BISCUITS

Steps:

• Place dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
• Cut or rub in the butter with a pastry blender, two knives or your fingertips.
• Add the sugar and enough milk to make a stiff dough.
• Knead this mixture on a flour surface until smooth. All this can be done almost instantly in a food processor.
• If you have time, return the dough to your bowl, cover and chill for an hour. This resting time will make the biscuits more tender and crisp.
• After the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out the dough until it is a bit more than 1/8 inch thick, and cut into any desired shape. Traditional digestives are about 2 1/2 inches round.
• Place on greased cookie sheets, prick evenly with a fork and bake until pale gold, about 15 to 20 minutes.