English Digestive Biscuits

I buy digestive biscuits regularly but never thought of baking them at home until I happened to notice this recipe. The simplicity of the recipe and the fact that my son likes them led me to try them. And to my surprise, this time I was the one who consumed the most as I really liked them.

The digestive biscuits / sweet meal biscuits are popular worldwide though they originated in the United Kingdom. They were developed during the latter part of the 19th century to increase the fiber in the Victorian diets. They were originally known as wheaten and the term "digestive" was coined from the belief that the use of sodium bicarbonate in the recipe had antacid properties. (Source: Wiki)

Ingredients: (yield 20 biscuits)

1.5 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup confectioners sugar (I used 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup cold milk (I used 1/2 cup)

Method:

* Combine the flours and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender / two knives or your fingertips. Add sugar and enough milk to make a stiff dough. Transfer this mixture to a floured surface and knead it until smooth. I used my food processor for the job and it was done in no time.  

 * Flour the working surface. Roll the dough into about 1/8 inch thick and cut into rounds of 2 1/2 inches diameter. Or one can choose to go with any desired shape other than the traditional rounds. I used a small stainless steel cup to cut the rounds.

* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F and grease a baking sheet.

* Place the cut rounds on the greased cookie sheets and prick evenly with a fork. 

 

* Bake until pale gold, about 15 - 20 minutes. Don't be tempted to bake longer than the mentioned time or you would end up with harder biscuits. 

* Serve them with tea or coffee.

This is my Day 2 post under "Baking with Whole Grains" theme. Check here to know what other marathoners of BM#25 are cooking.

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