Crispy Digestive Biscuits

These are one of the most popular biscuits sold commercially in Britain. They are very delicate and, therefore, extremely difficult to reproduce exactly but this recipe is fairly close. The ORIGINAL recipe is posted, verbatim, below. However, please note that I used Pillsbury plain whole wheat flour (which I sifted) and I used 4 ROUNDED, not level, tablespoons of wheat germ. These minor modifications were made as a result of the (always) invaluable advice and information I received from fellow chefs in a Recipezaar discussion forum. Biscuits will be 2 1/2 inch diameter x 1/8 inch thick.

• Ready In: 1 hr 5 mins
• Serves: 18
• Yields: 36 biscuits

Ingredients

• 11  ounces  plain whole wheat flour
• 4  tablespoons wheat germ
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2  tablespoons  nonfat dry milk powder
• 4  tablespoons sugar
• 4 1⁄2 ounces butter
• 5  tablespoons  cold water
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine the dry ingredients, and then cut in the butter so that the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Combine the water and vanilla and drizzle over the dry mixture.
3. Blend until the dough can be packed together.
4. Roll out on a floured surface or between two sheets of waxed paper until the dough is about 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick.
5. Cut into circles or other shapes and bake on a greased baking sheet at 170°C/ 325°F/ Gas Mark 3 for 20 to 25 minutes; make sure the oven does not get too hot- they should not be too brown.
6. Cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature.