British Recipes > Biscuits

Biscuits



In mediaeval times biscuits were made from a sweetened, spiced paste of breadcrumbs and then baked (ie gingerbread) or from cooked bread enriched with sugar and spices and then baked again. They were thus cooked twice and the name biscuit probably come from the old French bes cuit "twice cooked".

Digestive Biscuits

Made from oatmeal or wholemeal wheat flour and fat, the Digestive also contains bicarbonate of soda hence its name since bicarbonate has long been used as an aid to digestion. Recipe

Easter Biscuits

The type of biscuit often called "cake" which mimic the huge traditional feast cakes with their dried fruit and spices. There are several regional versions of Easter biscuits. See the Recipe.

Flapjacks

A type of oat and syrup biscuit similar to Parkin. See the Recipe.

Ginger Biscuits

Biscuits made from treacle and butter with the addition of ginger for flavour. They are no doubt the direct descendant of the ancient flat, hard gingerbread usually made fore fairs and festivals and often gilded. Within Britain there were regional variations, Lincoln ginger biscuits being one example. See the Recipe.

Grasmere Shortbread

A shortbread containing almonds and ginger Grassmere Shortbread is a regional confection from the Lake District and is often bought by holiday makers.

Maidstone Biscuits

An ancient recipe for a crunchy almond flavoured biscuit also containing rosewater, which was a favourite flavouring with Tudor cooks. See the Recipe.

Shortbread Biscuits

A rich crumbly biscuit containing butter, shortbread is associated with Scotland where it may have originated. See the Recipe.

Shrewsbury Biscuits

A famous lemon-flavoured biscuit sometimes containing caraway seeds, the Shrewsbury biscuit is a very old traditional biscuit native to Shrewsbury in Shropshire. See the Recipe.






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