C'mon...I'm English...It was only a matter of time before I came up with a recipe for vegan digestive biscuits! With their distinctive crunchy, crumbly texture & not too sweet almost nutty flavour, these British favourites make the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea......I'm totally conforming to the typical English stereotype here, aren't I?
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It's time to go bake some Vegan Digestive Biscuits, put the kettle on, make some tea and relax! Who's with me?
Cookies or Biscuits?
I thought long and hard about what to call this recipe. Should I stick to my roots and call them 'Digestive Biscuits' or, as I now live in Canada and most of you are from the USA and Canada, should I call them 'Digestive Cookies'?
Generally in England cookies are known as biscuits, whereas in Canada and the USA, biscuits are what we in England would call savoury scones. There are so many other foods and general cooking terms that are totally different too. I get so confused! A few I can think of off the top of my head are pancakes/flapjacks, chips/fries, aubergine/eggplant, cornflour/cornstarch, grilling/broiling and double boiler. What's that all about? I had to google it when I first moved here as I didn't have a clue what it was. In England we call it a bain-marie!
It's no wonder I'm confused!
I really struggle when writing my recipes as I never know what to call these things. I often spend ages deliberating but usually end up choosing the Canadian/American versions as I know that is where the majority of you, my lovely readers are. This time though the English name seems like the right choice. After all, they are English biscuits and 'digestive cookie' just doesn't sound right to me!
What are Digestive Biscuits?
Digestive biscuits are pretty similar in taste and texture to the iconic American graham cracker. They were originally created by two doctors in 1839 as a digestive aid. The bicarbonate of soda (or baking soda as my Canadian and American friends know it as) was added to them to act as an antacid. This doesn't make them sound too appealing, but honestly, they are extremely delicious so please stick with me!
Digestive biscuits are one of the most popular biscuits sold in the UK. According to Wikipedia more than 80 million packs are sold annually. That's a whole lot of biscuits and just goes to show how great they are. They aren't however vegan and they contain refined sugar and palm oil which are ingredients I try to avoid.
If you find yourself wanting to bake a cheesecake, crushed Digestive Biscuits make the perfect base. You can see them in action in my Vegan New York Cheesecake.
Digestives made vegan
My Vegan Digestive Biscuits are dairy, refined sugar and refined flour-free and they contain a relatively low quantity of oil and sugar. The wholegrain spelt flour gives them a delicious nuttiness and the oatmeal adds to the slightly nubbly texture. My recipe does not include the traditional bicarbonate of soda/baking soda so I am afraid they won't act as an antacid! I tried them with and without and to be honest it didn't make any difference to their appearance or taste so why bother?
Digestives are not a really sweet biscuit and so my biscuits do have sugar in them but not a lot. Just enough to give them a slightly sweet edge. Because they aren't too sweet they can also be eaten like crackers with savoury foods. Try them with some good quality vegan cheese, or spread with my Easy Vegan Butter.
Personally though, I love them just as they are with a cup of tea. That is where the inspiration for this recipe came from.
Hungry for more vegan cookies?
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Recipe
Vegan Digestive Biscuits
Author:Ingredients
- 1½ cups (220 grams) spelt flour , or wholewheat flour (plus more for rolling)
- ½ cup (60 grams) rolled oats or quick oats
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- heaping ¼ cup (60 grams) light brown sugar , or turbinado/demarara
- packed 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (80 grams) hard refined coconut oil , or vegan butter
- 5 - 8 tablespoons non-dairy milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 380°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Add the oats to a food processor and process until they have a course flour like consistency.
- Add the spelt flour, salt, baking powder and sugar and pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the coconut oil/vegan butter and process until well combined.
- Gradually add the milk one tablespoon at a time until a smooth dough forms. It will start balling up and if you touch it, it will feel slightly tacky. I used 7 tablespoons but this will vary depending on the flour you use and the time of year.
- Dust a clean, dry work surface with some flour then transfer the dough to the floured surface and lightly sprinkle it with a bit more flour.
- Roll out the dough to about 3mm thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut into rounds. If you don't have cookie cutters then the top of a mason jar does a great job.
- Place on the baking tray. They don't spread much so you don't need to leave a lot of room around each one.
- Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown on the edges and bottom. They will still feel very slightly soft in the middle if you push with a finger but that is fine. As they cool they will firm up and go crisp.
- Place on a cooling rack and leave to cool completely before eating. They aren't at their best when warm.
- Store in an airtight container once completely cool.
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Barbara Manning Finnical says
My vegan son just made these and I am eating ine as I write this, so yummy! (Dog is begging too.) This recipe is a keeper! Pinning it on my vegan board too. Thamks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Barbara. I'm so glad you are both enjoying them! If you want to make your dog a treat too you could try these dog cookies https://avirtualvegan.com/sweet-potato-dog-cookies/ They get great feedback and have been tried and tested on my dog and all the dogs at the local dog park!
Thank you so much for stopping by to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!
Partha says
Made these with home milled oat groats and whole wheat a couple of times. The crackers turned out good, but 1 tsp of salt is way too much for this recipe. Baking powder also has a ton of sodium. Certainly makes it questionable for someone watching their salt intake, as is. For the next batch, I cut the salt and baking powder in half and still landed a great texture and crispness!
A Virtual Vegan says
Digestive biscuits do have a slightly salty edge to them which is why there is 1 teaspoon of salt. Without it they don't taste like the store bought ones which is what I am trying to replicate. I'm glad you managed to adapt them to suit your needs though!
Sheila says
i am trying to get the last few diary ingredients out my diet and make my own food so will trying these later as i have everything i need. i'm gonna drizzle some dark chocolate on them as that's my go-to biscuit. has anyone tried freezing them or can say how long they last in an airtight box. there's just me so don't want to make loads that won't last.
A Virtual Vegan says
I don't think they would freeze very well. They do keep for ages in an air tight box though. Probably up to a month I would say.
Sheila says
fabulous thanks
Andrei Nicoara says
I am a big fan of biscuits. I wanted some without butter so I tried yours with some tweaks because I had slightly different ingredients. So I just used 150g of white flower (our inlaws grow wheat so we get free flower) and 70g of buckwheat flower. I also replaced the vegetal milk with soaked millet, linum and chia seeds. Also, I used only 50g sugar and 6 dates instead of the rest. I was expecting good biscuits as you really seemed to know what you are doing, but got amazing biscuits. Some of the best I ever had!
Cheers!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great, thank you! I'm so glad you were able to adapt them to suit what you had on hand!
Elizabeth Levy says
Absolutely fabulous!!!
I rolled them out and cut them with a fish shaped cookie cutter and made an eye hole with a toothpick. They were on our holiday (Rosh HaShana) table. Everyone loved them. The hubby ate all the leftovers.
I will be making these again and again.
Thanks
A Virtual Vegan says
Love that idea! I'm so glad the recipe worked for you and that everyone enjoyed them. Thanks so much for letting me know!
Anto says
They sound delish and I am glad you used coconu oil. Just out of curiosity but digestive biscuits are called digestive cause they use baking soda and not baking powder. Have you tried making it with baking soda?
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! When testing the recipe I found results were better with baking powder so that's what I went for. I figure these days people aren't going to be eating them for digestive issues anyway.
Anto says
Ok, so I made twice already. Since we make our own nut milk, I used the nut pulp (dried) instead of the rolled oats and I added 1/2 tsp of baking soda. They taste very similar to the original digestive. I really love them! Thanks.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome. I'm so glad you are enjoying them and what a great way to use your oat pulp!
Anto says
Not the oat pulp but the almond and/or hazelnut pulp!. They are really good! Thanks again.
Sue says
Great cookies. We've made them a few times now!
Gary says
I've been really craving digestives since moving from England, and these look amazing. My flatmate can't have wheat though (gluten in most other grains is ok), do you think I sub the spelt for something like barley or buckwheat? Also, how much bicarbonate of soda would you recommend if I wanted to add it? Thanks in advance x
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Gary. I haven't personally tried this recipe with anything other than wholewheat and spelt so I can't guarantee the results. I think buckwheat could work. Oat flour probably would too, or just a gluten-free flour blend. I'm not sure about barley as I've never baked with it.
As for bicarbonate of soda, I think add 1/2 a level teaspoon and you could probably leave out the baking powder completely.
I hope they work out for you and what a lucky flatmate you have!
Mel says
These are amazing, thank you for such a good recipe! Im in love and they'll be gone in a few hours!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thanks so much Mel! It sounds like you are like me when cookies are around ;O)
Keoma says
These are delicious! Recipe is easy, with simple unexpensive ingredients. Taste better than the store bought version! Thanks so much for posting and sharing this! X from the Netherlands.
Kirk says
... just wanted to add that it was such a nice dough to work with that I adapted it to a savory cracker, that turned out pretty great. Omitted the sugar, added 1.5T savory yeast flakes and some diced olives
A Virtual Vegan says
What a great idea! I'm going to try that next time I make a batch. Thanks Kirk :O)
Kirk says
I made these a couple of nights ago and they were perfect, so delicious! The prep time is listed as 5 mins which is a bit optimistic but the bake time was spot on. Thanks for a great recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
I am thrilled you loved these so much Kirk. I think I made a mistake when inputting the prep time. I agree that 5 minutes is a little optimistic. I have corrected it. I think 15 is a little more realistic! Thank you so much for stopping by to leave your feedback. I appreciate it :O)
Sharon says
How many biscuits to a serving?
A Virtual Vegan says
Each biscuit counts as one serving and they are 100 calories each. That assumes you get 18 biscuits out of the mixture. My cutter was pretty big so if yours is smaller and you end up with more biscuits they will have less calories each. Hope that helps :O)
Sheryl says
I made these yesterday and ate more than I should. Brought some to work for a friend and she loved them, too. I met digestive biscuits during a trip to Edinburgh in 1999. I was a vegetarian then and missed them on my last trip to the UK in 2012 as I've been vegan for 15 years. They're perfect. I used white whole wheat flour and they tasted great. They go very well with good single malt Scottish whisky, BTW.
A Virtual Vegan says
Oh no....don't go telling me they go great with whisky....now I'll have to try it! ;O) It should keep my husband happy though. He'll never say no to sampling some whiskey! I am so glad you enjoyed the biscuits and it's good to know they turn out well with white whole wheat flour.I will add a little note to the recipe so others know.
Thanks so much for stopping by to comment Sheryl. I really appreciate it :O)
Hedi Hearts says
These are just perfect. The only thing missing is some gorgeous vegan chocolate to make them chocolate digestive!
Leon says
Do you have a Hobnob recipe?