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?
And if you love this recipe, please do check out my cookbook, and subscribe to my email list. Being on the list means you will be first to see my new recipes and you’ll be kept in the loop on all things new and exciting too!
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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Gosia says
Love those biscuits ❤️made them many times ?
Swetha Pattabhi Ramaiah says
I made them for my evening coffee and they turned out to be fantastic! I am going to stop buying store-bought digestives and make my own from now on. It tasted JUST like store-bought and even the texture. Ah! I am really happy with the ingredients as well. Thank you!
But I want to play around with the recipe next time by using substitutes. Can I substitute spelt flour with oat flour, and substitute brown sugar with something with a low GI sugar-sub like erithrytol? Curious to know if anyone s tried this?
A Virtual Vegan says
Glad you enjoyed them! I wouldn't recommend switching the flour for oat flour if you want them to still taste like digestives. Spelt is best for that. And the texture just won't be the same without the sugar. Sugar is what gives cookies their crispy, crunchy texture. Erithrytol does not caramelize and that is so important for both the texture and the flavour in any cookie.They would likely end up dense and chewy. Hope that helps!
Rocío says
Hi!. can i replace spelt flour for any other kind of flour? it's been difficult to find
A Virtual Vegan says
It does give the best flavour in these biscuits but wholewheat will work well too. Just be sure to weigh it rather than use cups so you get exactly the right amount.
Nonna says
Hi! Actually I can't eat gluten so I used half rice flour, half brown rice flour instead of the spelt flour and it was very good as well :) (also if you can't eat gluten, make sure that you use gluten free oat). Good luck!
Julie says
We are a family of vegans, me and my two teenage sons. I’m afraid these are horrible. We are putting them out for the birds. They look exactly like the picture but no way taste like a biscuit. Yuk yuk yuk.
Sarah-Jane Morris says
Oh my days! Although I have only been following a plant based diet for a few months, I’ve avoided Digestives due to palm oil, for a couple of years. THESE ARE DELICIOUS and have totally filled the digestive shaped void in my life. Thank you so much, your recipes have made our family transition to plant based so much easier.
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed them Sarah-Jane!
Anne O says
Mel! You're a flippin' genius!!!! These are amazing...thank you!!!! There just aren't enough exclamation marks...
We're big fans of your recipes, especially the vegan butter that my husband tells everyone about even though he isn't even properly vegetarian nevermind vegan (your recipes are helping me convert him however).
Off to make another cup of tea...
A Virtual Vegan says
Aaawww thank you so much Anne! I'm really pleased you are enjoying this recipe (and my others). I feel that I must point out that a spread of my vegan butter on a digestive biscuit is one of my favourite treats. You might want to try it! ;O)
Shairoz says
What a super recipe! Thanks!
Skully says
Hey just wondering if it's baking SODA or baking POWDER to be used in the recipe? You mention soda a few times but then in the recipe list it says powder (which actually links through to baking soda on amazon :). Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Baking powder is used in the recipe. In the post I talk about why baking soda is traditionally used in digestive biscuits and why I don't use it in my version. The link goes straight to Bob's Red Mill Baking Powder. If it doesn't for you then it's probably because they don't sell it on your version of Amazon. Amazon will try to show a similar product when that happens and doesn't always get it right.
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 tablespoon 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 is the best choice for these cookies. It gives a much better result than any other flour. At a push whole-wheat flour will do but they aren't quite as nice. 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