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Gluten-free digestive biscuits on a wire rack with one biscuit crisply broken.
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4.95 from 18 votes

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 or cheesecake base.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time24 minutes
Resting Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 19 minutes
Course: Afternoon Tea
Cuisine: British
Servings: 18 biscuits
Calories: 179kcal

Ingredients

  • 180 g oat flour
  • 180 g defatted almond flour
  • 115 g light brown soft sugar
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 170 g unsalted butter cold, sliced thinly
  • 50-55 ml whole milk

Instructions

  • Whisk the flours, sugar, bicarbonate of soda 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.
  • Pour in the milk one tablespoon at a time until it forms a cohesive dough.
  • Shape the dough into two rounds 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 8cm 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.

Video

Notes

Defatted Almond Flour. This is a different flour to ground almonds or almond meal. You can use ground almonds if they are easier to get hold of but you will need to use less butter (140g in total), the dough will be softer and the biscuits will spread slightly more in the oven. If you don't want to use defatted almond flour then actually my preferred swap is to use chickpea flour (gram flour) - see below.
Flour Substitutions. I don't recommend swapping the flours out for an all purpose gluten-free flour - it will produce different results. However, the oat flour you can swap for sorghum flour if you need to and the almond flour is best to substitute with chickpea flour which has a similar amount of protein. Do note that the chickpea flour version has a slightly more pronounced flavour.
Food Processor. If you have a food processor then I recommend mixing your flours with the cold butter that way. You can add the milk in there too and then just quickly bring the dough together by hand before chilling.
Split the dough in half and chill two dough balls. You will probably be baking the biscuits in two batches anyway. Then whilst the first batch is baking you can roll and cut out the second dough ball.
Store. Once the biscuits have cooled to room temperature, you can store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freeze. I recommend freezing the biscuit dough prior to rolling, cutting out and baking. It will be good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Chocolate Digestive Biscuits. You need 170g of chocolate (milk or dark). For the best results you should use tempered chocolate. The biscuits will need about ½ - 1 tablespoon melted chocolate per biscuit. (Full instructions in body of the post above).

US customary measurements

These US measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups 

Nutrition information

Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification.
The nutrition serving is for 1 digestive biscuit.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 101mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 199IU | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg