Homemade English Tea Biscuits Recipe: Better Than Store-Bought

I have loved English tea biscuits ever since I was a little girl and they were handed to me in Sunday School along with a paper cup of grape juice. These days, I prefer them with a large mug of black tea sweetened with honey and whitened with a bit of milk. They are the perfect dunking cookie and are just the thing when you want a little something with your afternoon tea.

Until this week I’d only ever had the store-bought version, long rolls of perfectly round biscuits in cellophane wrappers. But after tasting this homemade English tea biscuits recipe, I can’t imagine ever going back.

Tea Biscuits: A Short History

A couple of doctors who wanted to aid the digestion of their patients first developed English tea biscuits, or digestive biscuits, in Scotland in the early 1800s. People usually paired them with strong brews like tea concentrate. This and the combination of whole wheat flour (to keep things moving) and baking soda (to keep things calm) apparently did the trick.

Nowadays, they are lovely as a not-too-sweet treat with a cup of your best chamomile tea, served as part of a cheese platter, or in place of graham crackers to form a base for creamy cheesecakes. You can also serve them with an array of sweet accompaniments, such as our mixed summer berry tea jelly, raw honey, or spiced pear jam.

English Tea Biscuits Recipe

There’s something special about a homemade biscuit. If you want a delicious, simple, comforting batch yourself, here’s the tea biscuit recipe I always use. It’s perfect for an afternoon with a good cup of tea.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar (1/2 cup if you prefer them less sweet)

• 1/4 cup cold milk

• 1 teaspoon malt extract (vanilla or maple are other good options)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Cover the baking sheets with parchment and set them aside.

• Place the flour and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the powdered sugar and pulse to mix.

• Pour the dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl, add the milk and malt extract, and stir until a dough forms.

• Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead just until the dough is smooth and holds together well.

• Roll out the dough to about ⅛-inch thick and cut it into circles. Place the biscuits on the baking sheets and prick them all over with a fork.

• Bake the biscuits until they’re nicely browned, about 15-20 minutes.

• Remove the biscuits from the oven and cool them on the pan until they’re cool and crisp.

3 Tips for Making the Best English Tea Biscuits

Making English tea biscuits is simple, but a few easy tips can help you get that perfect crisp texture and rich, buttery flavor every time. 

1. Use Butter Instead of Vegetable Oil 

Traditionally, bakers made these digestive aid biscuits with whole grain flour, vegetable oil, baking soda, sugar, and malt extract. While this recipe has certainly stood the test of time, I’m a firm believer that every baked good tastes better with butter, so I substitute it for the vegetable oil. 

If you want to be a purist, by all means, stick to vegetable oil, but I think real butter gives a British biscuit recipe a new depth of richness with beautiful layers of crispy goodness. For me, substituting butter for the vegetable oil is a much more delicious option.

2. Don’t Skip the Whole Wheat Flour

Whole wheat flour is a must for English tea biscuits. It provides the grainy texture and unique flavor that is the hallmark of a proper digestive biscuit. 

3. Make an Extract Substitution If Necessary

Malt extract is another important ingredient, but I can't find malt extract in my part of the world. Instead, I substitute with either vanilla or maple extract, and they are both perfectly scrumptious.

4. Prepare the Dough Well

If you have a food processor, this dough will be ready for shaping and baking in just a few minutes. Start with the flour and baking soda, pulsing just enough to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the powdered sugar and pulse a few times to mix. 

Turn out the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and add the milk and extract of your choosing. Stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, then press the dough into a mound and turn it out onto a floured surface. Cover the dough with a piece of parchment paper and then roll until it’s about 1/8th of an inch thick.

5. Don’t Undercook the Biscuits

Some cookies are best slightly-undercooked, but that is not the case with this English tea biscuits recipe. They are at their best nicely browned so they cool to a nice, crispy biscuit. 

The traditional shape of tea biscuits is round. You can make them with smooth edges or scalloped, whatever takes your fancy. Before baking them, place the biscuits onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and then prick the top of each one all over with the tines of a fork. This gives the biscuits their instantly recognizable look.

Once they’re cooled, store them in an airtight container or well-wrapped in the freezer until you’re ready to use. Serve them with one of our beautiful breakfast teas, such as our house blend vanilla black tea, heritage blend Scottish breakfast maple black tea, or fog cutter lemon peel black tea.