Gluten-Free Digestive Biscuits

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Gluten-Free Digestive Biscuits are simple yet strong and flavourful biscuits, ideal for tea-dunking or making into your favourite pie crust.

Digestive Biscuits don’t look like much. They are brown, a little bland looking and seem to sit on the plate quite uneventfully. As such they weren’t easy to photograph. Despite my cajoling and tender words of encouragement I could not get them to look that exciting. Maybe you will be surprised then to learn that Digestive Biscuits are my most favourite biscuit or cookie of all time. (Yes, including chocolate chip cookies).

Digestive Biscuits are definitely one of my desert island foods. I’ll set them by my bedside to meekly nibble on when I’m poorly or I’ll devour them whilst slumped on the sofa watching When Harry Met Sally when I’m feeling blue. An open packet in the cupboard is my kryptonite on the Whole30 and they were the only food I included in my hospital bag to give me sustenance during the birth of my children.

Do digestive biscuits really aid digestion?

Digestive Biscuits have been around for a very long time. The first biscuits were produced in 1839 by Scottish doctors to aid digestion. That’s where the inclusion of bicarbonate of soda in the ingredients comes into play. I have to admit that a glass of fizzy bicarb was never far from my side when pregnant. It did wonders for keeping my acid reflux at bay as the alkali in bicarb really helps neutralise stomach acids. However, unfortunately the baking process of the digestive biscuit alters the chemical structure of the bicarbonate of soda, thus neutralising its digestive effects.

Which digestive biscuits are best?

Did you know that the McVitie’s digestive is the best selling biscuit in the UK? Their version in my eyes is without fault, although they do contain that pesky gluten which means I can’t eat them since they are made primarily of wholemeal flour alongside the oatmeal.

Gluten-free digestive biscuits which can pass muster against McVitie’s are not that easy to get hold of. I’m not a huge fan of the supermarket’s own brand versions as they have a plethora of odd ingredients and a bit of a funny taste. However it really is little bother to make your own and these will definitely hold their own in comparison to their wheat filled cousins.

How to make gluten-free digestive biscuits

This digestive biscuit recipe has no need for wheat. These biscuits are made from oat flour (do substitute for sorghum flour if you can’t eat oats, they are quite different in flavour but still produce a very lovely biscuit) and the almond flour and tapioca flour helps to hold the biscuits together and stops them being too hard.

Gluten-Free Digestive Biscuits are also staggeringly easy to make:

1. Rub the fat into the flour mix
2. Add enough milk to form a coherent dough
3. Chill for a few minutes then roll, cut out and bake for 12 minutes.

You will have your biscuits in under an hour. In my house they would be hard pressed to last the following hour but I’m sure you are a lot more restrained than I.

Digestive biscuits do not stand on ceremony and they definitely do not need chocolate. Only on high days and holidays might I consent to a small brush of salted milk chocolate to glaze the surface. Feel free to embellish yours though if you like things a bit more flashy.

How can you use Digestive Biscuits in baking?

Digestive Biscuits are also an essential ingredient for the enthusiastic home baker since they are the perfect biscuit to produce the ideal pie or cheesecake crust. They are absolutely wonderful as the base in this Strawberry Pink Peppercorn Cheesecake. Just add melted butter to crushed Digestive Biscuits and press into a pan and you have the most delicious base for a whole range of desserts.

Chopped Digestive Biscuits can also be added to chocolate to make a Rocky Road or a Chocolate Fridge Cake. Or you can just bake yourselves up a batch of these delightful biscuits and just dunk pleasurably into your cup of tea, they withhold the moisture surprisingly well.

If you make these Gluten-Free Digestive Biscuits then please leave a comment below and/or give the recipe a rating. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own baking creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.

If you like this digestive biscuit recipe then why not try these gluten-free tea time treats:

Gluten-Free Eccles Cakes

Gluten-Free Scones

Gluten-Free Victoria Sponge

Gluten-Free Digestive Biscuits

Gluten-Free Digestive Biscuits are simple yet strong and flavourful biscuits, ideal for tea-dunking or making into your favourite pie crust.

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Course: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: British

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 57 minutes

Servings: 18 biscuits

Calories: 179

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

• 140 g oat flour
• 140 g almond flour
• 80 g tapioca flour
• 115 g light brown muscovado sugar
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 160 g unsalted butter
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 3-4 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions

• Whisk the flours, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
• Add the butter and rub into the flour using the tips of your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
• Pour in the milk one tablespoon at a time until it forms a smooth dough.
• Shape the dough into a round and then flatten slightly and wrap in cling film. Chill for 30 minutes
• Pre-heat the oven to 190°C/ 170°C fan/gas mark 5.
• Roll the dough out to 8mm thickness then cut the biscuits into 7cm rounds. Prick the biscuits with the tines of a fork a couple of times.
• Place the biscuits on a baking sheet an inch or so apart and bake the biscuits for 12 minutes. The biscuits can be baked in two batches.
• Remove from the oven, leave on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

*substitute the oat flour for sorghum flour if you are intolerant to oats.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 42mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 225IU | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 0.7mg

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Oat flour can be expensive so I find the most economical way is to buy it online. I go through bags of the stuff as it’s the flour I use most regularly so I like to buy in bulk. My favourite brand is Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain Oat Flour 400 g (Pack of 4) at a reasonable price. Even better if you go the subscribe and save option.

Perfectly milled almond flour is not easy to find but I buy RealFoodSource Certified Organic Extra Fine High Protein Almond Flour (1KG) from Amazon and I love it. It panics me when my bag is starting to look empty as I use it all the time, in sauces, in cakes, energy balls and savoury dishes. I find my bag of almond flour absolutely essential to my kitchen.

It’s not difficult to get hold of tapioca flour in the UK. My preferred brand is Bob’s Red Mill GF Tapioca Flour 500 g (Pack of 2) as it’s certifiably gluten-free and I order it through Amazon.

Although the metal cookie cutters may look a bit more stylish I always use these KitchenCraft Double-Edged Plastic Biscuit/Pastry Cutters with Storage Box (Set of 7) – White. They are the perfect range of sizes, they are plastic so don’t rust and can go in the dishwasher. Anything that can go in the dishwasher makes my life so much easier.

I use this KitchenCraft MasterClass Non-Stick Baking Tray, 35 x 25 cm (14″ x 10″) for all my cookies, biscuits, scones. It’s a great size and is non-stick so the biscuits lift off easily from the tray and doesn’t require any baking parchment or greasing.

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