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Prep time
20 minutes
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Cook time
12 minutes
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Makes
12 cookies
Author Notes
A digestive is a proper British biscuit dating back to the 19th Century. The name is due to the inclusion in the original recipes of bicarbonate of soda which was believed to help the digestion. A good digestive should be sweet enough to dunk in a cup of tea but savoury enough to serve with a good wedge of cheese. The very best kind of digestives are, in my opinion, the ones dipped in chocolate. I like to make these with whole wheat spelt flour but regular flour will work too. —londonbakes
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Ingredients
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1 cup
whole wheat flour or whole grain spelt flour
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1 1/3 cups
old-fashioned rolled oats
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1 teaspoon
baking powder
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1 pinch
salt
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1/3 cup
dark muscovado sugar, packed
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1/2 cup
unsalted butter, cold and cubed
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3 tablespoons
milk (may not use all, or may need up to 4 tablespoons)
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4 ounces
dark or milk chocolate, chopped (optional)
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C). Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
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Put all of the ingredients except for the milk (and chocolate!) into a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the milk, little by little, and pulse again until the dough starts to clump together. You may not need all of the milk.
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Gather the dough together with your hands and knead once or twice to bring it together but don't handle it too much.
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Place the dough between two pieces of non-stick baking paper and roll it out thinly (about 1/4 inch). If the dough becomes too warm and sticky pop it in the fridge to firm up. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out your biscuits and place them on the baking tray. Chill for 10 minutes, or until firm.
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Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until just golden brown at the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack.
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For chocolate digestives, wait until the biscuits have cooled completely and then melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Either dip the cookies in the chocolate or drizzle it over them.
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