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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FEATURED COMMENT:
"After searching high and low for a digestive recipe that was vegan, I found this one. I had everything on hand and threw these in the oven in under 20 minutes. The result was perfectly balanced and nearly identical to what I remember of the real thing! Absolutely Divine!" - Alex ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
It's time to bake some Vegan Digestive Biscuits, put the kettle on, make some tea and relax! Who's with me?
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'?
My roots won! The English name seems like the right choice. After all, they are English biscuits and 'digestive cookie' just doesn't sound right to me!
These vegan digestive biscuits are so yummy! They are perfectly crunchy, the wholegrain spelt flour (or wholewheat) gives them a delicious nuttiness, and the oatmeal gives them a lovely, slightly nubbly texture.
I love them with a cup of tea. They are also great for making a cheesecake crust, and because they are similar to the iconic American graham cracker, they work well for s'mores too. I must also admit to being quite partial to them spread thickly with vegan butter and topped with strong cheddar-style vegan cheese!
Mel x
P.S. When you make these, be sure to use a couple in my Emergency Strawberry Cheesecake Bowl and my Cheat's Banoffee Bowl!
What Are Digestive Biscuits?
Digestive biscuits are pretty similar in taste and texture to the iconic American graham cracker and 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 it just goes to show how great they are!
They were originally created by two doctors in 1839 as a digestive aid. Bicarbonate of soda (or baking soda, as my Canadian and American friends know it) was added to them to act as an antacid, hence the name. This doesn't make them sound too appealing, but honestly, they are extremely delicious, so please stick with me!
You'll notice that 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? 🤷♀️
No. The fat is necessary to make a good-textured, crunchy biscuit.
This recipe needs a hard fat to work. Refined coconut oil works best. Using refined coconut oil means that you don't get any coconut smell or taste. Vegan butter does not give as good a texture.
This recipe has only been tested with spelt flour and wholewheat flour, and that's because without them, the biscuits would not taste anything like digestive biscuits. I don't recommend making them with anything else.
Only if you have a blender. If so, put the oats in your blender and pulse them a few times to get a very coarse flour consistency. Then mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub/cut the fat into it with the tips of your fingers or a pastry cutter before adding the liquid. Just like making pie crust. Once it's like coarse breadcrumbs, start adding the milk and stir with a dinner knife to combine, then bring together into a ball with your hands before rolling and cutting.
Recipe
Vegan Digestive Biscuits
Author:Ingredients
- heaping ½ cup (60 grams) rolled, old fashioned or quick oats
- 2 cups (230 grams) wholegrain spelt flour or wholewheat flour (plus a little more for rolling)
- ½ cup (100 grams) sugar , cane sugar, light brown sugar, or turbinado/demerara sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt , not table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- packed ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (80 grams) refined coconut oil , hard not melted
- about 6 tablespoons dairy-free milk , unsweetened & unflavoured
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 380°F (190°C) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the oats to a food processor and process until they have a course flour like consistency.
- Then add the spelt flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder and pulse a couple of times to combine.
- Add the coconut oil. Pulse until combined and sandy looking.
- Gradually add the milk a little at a time until the dough looks like wet sand and will come together when you squeeze it in your hand. I usually use 6 tablespoons, but this will vary slightly depending on the brand of flour used and humidity.
- Dust a clean, dry work surface with some flour then transfer the dough to the floured surface. Pat into a ball with your hands then lightly sprinkle the top with a bit more flour.
- Roll out the dough to about ¼ inch thick, sprinkling with a little more flour as needed, and use cookie cutters to cut into rounds. If you don't have cookie cutters, the top of a mason jar does a great job. Keep rerolling and cutting the offcuts until it's all used up. I get 18 with a 3-inch round cookie cutter.
- Place on the lined baking tray. They don't spread much, so you don't need to leave a lot of room around each one.
- Bake for about 15 to 16 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown on the edges and bottom. They will still have a very slight give in the middle if you push with a finger. As they cool, they will crisp up.
- Trasnfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before eating. They aren't at their best when warm.
NOTES
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rocio says
Delicious recipe . Have made her a couple of times. My toddler and i love it. Can you sub the oil for avocado oil as I don’t have coconut qt hand? Also any tip for making these a bit less crunchy?
Thank you
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! A hard oil is necessary in most cookies. I have never tried these with liquid oil and I doubt they would turn out well. I would imagine the cookie dough itself would end up too wet and sticky and impossible to cut and the texture would probably end up off once they were baked.
They are supposed to be crunchy, but you could bake them for a few minutes less to make them less so.
Sandra says
Am a new subscriber to your website and am THRILLED to see the Digestives recipe - had lived in Scotland as a child and chocolate-covered Digestives were my AB.SO.LUTE favourite cooki...eh, biscuit :-) stumbling across your vegan version has made my day, I'm psyched to give them a try - may even have a go at topping them off with some dark chocolate! thanks for all your efforts - LOVE YOUR BLOG!
Sandra
A Virtual Vegan says
I really hope you enjoy them when you get a chance to try then Sandra. If you do top them with chocolate, adding a teaspoon of coconut oil when you melt it makes it much easier to dip neatly and not look too thick and clumpy. I must put a chocolate version on my website one day!
Jessie Frankz says
How can i makw these sugar free?
Melanie McDonald says
The sugar isn't just there for flavour. It's for structure and texture too. If it's removed, the cookies won't be as crunchy and might not turn out as well. I've never tried it so can't say for sure what the results would be like. It might be ok but you'd probably be better off looking for a savoury cracker recipe instead. Maybe a vegan Scottish oat cake recipe maybe?
Jessie Franklin says
Thanks for responding. My partner loves the sugar free digestives but they arnt vegan and were transition slowly. Trying to figure recipees is hard?
lillian says
There's a no-bake chocolate cake recipe that uses digestive biscuits that I can finally make, so thanks ? I've also never had a digestive biscuit before, so I am intrigued to try it.
A Virtual Vegan says
Oh that's great. I hope you enjoy them!
Ena says
Hi Mel,
Was just wondering how to store these cookies ? Any ideas ?
How long do they last?
Br
Ena
A Virtual Vegan says
Store them in an airtight container. They will last for a good few weeks.
Annalisa Steinnes says
Hi! I've yet to try making these, but am wondering what you would suggest about omitting the baking powder and using baking soda instead? Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
I think you could, but I wouldn't use 1 teaspoon as I think you might taste it. Maybe 1/2 a teaspoon instead?
David Secretain says
No offense, but I wish every single recipe website's writer would shut up and give the recipe already. Every time, three pages of talking about utter rubbish. You know no one reads it through right? We all just skip to the bottom. Save yourself some time, and ours too.
Digestives are great, well done.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased that you enjoyed the Digestive Biscuits. And while I'm here I'd like to point out that the recipe writer (me) spends days and days, sometimes months creating each recipe, pays for all of the ingredients, pays to keep the website up and running smoothly and provides the recipe to you completely FREE of charge. Having to scroll for a few seconds to reach it isn't much to have to do in exchange for a quality, well-tested recipe. And for those people who prefer not to scroll there is a "jump to recipe" button at the top of every post.
Some people are here just for the recipe and don't care to read what's before and that's fine, (most are polite enough to not complain about it though), but my loyal and dedicated readers come to read each post even if they aren't actually making the recipe. That's the nature of a blog. If you don't like their format, you could buy my cookbook instead. It's called Vegan Comfort Cooking and it is available from all good book stores ;O)
Yvette says
I read the whole thing..... All thumbs are capable of scrolling and its quicker to do that than to complain and criticise! Great biscuits, thank you for the recipe... They're amazing with a thin layer of dark chocolate too... Now off to make them again with my youngest... Who also enjoyed reading the entire blog post with me ?
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Yvette. I'm so pleased you enjoyed them. I keep meaning to make a chocolate version for the blog. I'll get around to it one day!
Sam says
I usually skip the blog portion but this writer captured my attention right away (maybe because I grew up in the U.K. and enjoyed the bit about biscuits vs cookies. :)). So kudos to the writer for an engaging post! I can’t wait to try out the recipe. I don’t have a food processor, I hope my hand held mixer works for the oats. :)
Melanie McDonald says
I'm glad you enjoyed the post Sam. If your hand held mixer struggles with the oats, you could buy ready made oat flour instead. Just be sure to weigh it rather than using cups to measure it so that you get the correct amount. Hope you like the biscuits!
lottyb says
Press command and F and type in 'ingredients' and the'll take you quickly to the recipe.
That said I thought this was a nice blog and if I had time I would have read in more depth.
And to Virtual Vegan, thanks for this recipe and for your attention to palm oil too.
A Virtual Vegan says
You're welcome Lotty. Thank you!
Aniqa says
Hey! What can i use instead of spelt flour and coconut oil?
Looking forward to making this very soon.
Thank you in advance!
Melanie McDonald says
Spelt flour or wholewheat flour are necessary for these cookies and the recipe has only been tested with coconut oil. The only other thing that will work is hard vegan butter, but the quantity would need to be increased very slightly to account for it not being 100% pure fat. Maybe another 2 tablespoons but hard to say exactly how much without testing it. Hope that helps!
Teresa Spelman says
Fantastic recipe for Digestive biscuits & they taste so much better than the bought ones. Thank you. Wonderful recipes. Keep up the good work!
Warm wishes,
The Willow Retreat
Alyssa says
Hello, the biscuits look great! Was wondering if I could use whole wheat flour in place of the spelt flour?
Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! They do technically work with wholewheat flour but the flavour and texture is better with spelt.
razieh says
Thanks a lot.
Can I use other vegetable oils, such as sunflower seed oil, instead of coconut oil?
A Virtual Vegan says
I recommend using coconut oil. A solid fat makes for crunchier cookies than a liquid one and these should be crunchy.
Lesley says
Had a real yen for a digestive today so went in search of a recipe for vegan ones - any I can get as alternatives in the shops in Scotland are too sweet and rely on palm oil.. Made them substituting about one third plain wholemeal as I only had white spelt flour. They taste very similar to tge resl thing and when I gave my partner one without telling him what it was. he identified it as 'just like a digestive'. I will definitely keep this 'recipe and can see myself making it often. My one change will be to lessen the amount of salt a bit as we use very little, and as a result I pick up the taste strongly. Thank you for making me happy today! Now going to search through your other recipes!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you enjoyed them Lesley. Such a simple biscuit, but the best with a cup of tea!
Rob C says
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve made these a number of times now and am currently experimenting with molasses sugar! Need to reduce the oven heat a little as this sugar can burn easily, but they come out with a lovely, deep and fruity sweetness! Thank you! X
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you are enjoying them Rob. I've never made them with molasses sugar. I bet it gives them a lovely flavor!
Rozina says
Hi. Simple recipe with very few ingredients. Can I make it without sugar and in fact make it savoury biscuits?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never tried them without the sugar, but it's important to bear in mind that sugar isn't just for sweetness in baked goods. Here it makes the biscuits crunchy, and adds flavour and colour.
Jessica Ashley says
I omitted the sugar and salt, as I made these for my German Shepherds that have allergies. I divided up the dough and added a bit of pumpkin to one and some fish brine oil to the other. They absolutely LOVE them! I tested preference, I put down several options and told my service dog to "pick"! Fish, then pumpkin, then the molasses dog cookies, then millkbones... Thank you for the recipe!
Catanea says
No interest in coconut anything. Used walnut oil. Can't be bothered looking for vegan "milk". Used water. Used whole wheat flour. Came out spectacular. About to make some more. Outstanding. Avoid all those "special" ingredients. (We're in walnut groves all summer, the oil is just around.) Superbly well recieved by husband as we have to give up commercial digestives owing to their palm oil content.
LINDA WEIR says
Can I use wholemeal flour instead of spelt?
I've a vegan friend and thought she might like these instead of endless bourbons!
A Virtual Vegan says
I tested them with wholemeal flour when creating the recipe and it worked, but I prefer the flavour with spelt.
Gaynor Urzi says
These digestive biscuits were absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing ! A firm family favourite from now on!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Gaynor. I'm so pleased you enjoyed them and thanks so much for coming back to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!
LEON JAMES says
Can these be made without coconut oil or oil free? also without the baking power or soda? as i usually use sparkling water to replace it .
A Virtual Vegan says
No.
Emmy says
These are delicious! Not too sweet, and a really nice flavour. Will be making these again for sure :)
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them Emily!
Emmy says
Hey. I want to make this recipe, I was just wondering with the coconut oil, is that in the liquid form?
A Virtual Vegan says
It needs to be solid. Hope you enjoy them!