BRITISH DIGESTIVES RECIPES

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.

Steps:

• 1. Put the flour, oatmeal, bran, salt, baking powder and sugar into the bowl of a food processor. ‘Pulse’ several times until everything is thoroughly combined.

  2. Add the chunks of butter and run the machine until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. With the machine running, add enough milk through the feed tube to bring the mixture together into a firm but not dry dough. (You can also make the biscuit mixture by combining all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then rubbing in the butter and finally stirring in the milk with a round-bladed knife.)

  3. Lift the dough out of the processor bowl, flatten into a thick disc and wrap in clingfilm. Chill for 30 minutes until firm.

  4. Set the disc of dough between 2 sheets of clingfilm or baking paper and roll out 4mm thick. Stamp out rounds with the plain cutter and set slightly apart on the greased baking sheets. Gather up the trimmings and work them together, then re-roll and cut out more rounds.

  5. Prick each round several times with a fork, then chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat your oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.

  6. Bake the biscuits for 10–12 minutes until golden and slightly darker around the edges. To make sure the biscuits cook evenly, rotate the sheet or sheets after 5 minutes. Remove the
  sheet or sheets from the oven and set on a heatproof surface. Leave the biscuits to cool and firm up for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack. When cold store in an airtight container for about a week.

  Savoury digestives

  Make up the basic recipe but reduce the sugar to 50g. Add an extra 1/4 teaspoon sea salt plus 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried chilli and a pinch of cumin seeds. Roll out in the same way and cut out 5cm rounds. Chill, then bake for about 8 minutes. Makes about 35.