Wow. What a week I’ve had. Stress city over here! As I was feeling a bit sorry for myself I wanted to bake something that would comfort me, a bake that would be the equivalent of a “nice cuppa tea”. So what else could I make but the simple, humble and near perfect digestive biscuit. Sometimes you just need a bit of homely TLC to get you through and these little bakes did a bit of soothing for sure. Now, breathhhhe and let’s all feel a bit warmer from the inside.
Ingredients
150g Wholemeal Flour (+ a little extra for surface sprinkling when rolling dough out)
50g Oats
1 tsp Baking Powder
50g Light Muscovado Sugar*
90g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
2-3 tbsp Milk (any, I used semi)
2 baking sheets, greased and lined
A rolling pin (or a long, tall glass if you don’t have one?)
Cookie Cutter (shape of your choice, or again, use a cup or glass)
Makes 20-22 (Although I have an unhealthy habit of eating the dough as you go along, so if you have a bit more self restraint, this will probably make up to 25)
Pre heat oven to 170oC
1) In a large bowl combine the flour, oats, baking powder and sugar and mix until everything is combined evenly.*If you don’t have light muscovado sugar, you can use caster sugar or equally dark muscovado sugar. I just really like the stickiness of the muscavdo sugars.
2) Now plop in the butter and rub together with your fingertips. BE GENTLE, as little rubbing as you can do/need. You want to lift the flour and butter with your fingertips and squidge it together then let it fall back into the bowl. Do this until it is all combined and you have a ball of dough. If it’s a little flakey add the milk slowly until it all sticks together nicely.
3) Wrap your ball of dough in a bit of cling film and pop in the fridge for about 15/20 mins. Once chilled, roll the dough out onto a floured surface until it is quite thin, about 1/2 cm (if you prefer your digestives a little thicker, then roll less and leave in the oven for a couple of minutes longer) Cut out your biscuits with your preferred cookie cutter/makeshift glass.
4) Place biscuits on your baking sheets, they don’t spread much so they can be quite close together. Pop in the oven for about 12 mins, they will golden round the edge slightly when they are done. Leave to cool on the sheets for a few minutes then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Kettle on, feet up and sighhhhh.
