Digestive Biscuits Vs Marie Biscuits

Prince Alfred (1844 - 1900), son of Queen Victoria married Grand Duchess Maria (1853 - 1920), daughter of Tsar Alexander II in 1874. The Marie Biscuit was named after the bride. Although their marriage soured over the years, they had 5 surviving children, including Queen Marie of Romania and later granddaughters who married rulers to become Queens of Greece and Yugoslavia.

When I moved to Manhattan I discovered 2 delicious tea cookies at the supermarket that are more common in Europe than here in the U.S. Both are types of shortbread cookies. They share a dry, crispy texture and are semi-sweet, but differ in types of flours used.

Sweetmeal Digestive Biscuits, developed by Scottish doctors in 1839, were my first find. Instantly hooked, they fill my cookie tin always. At $1.99 for 14 ounces, I never bake them at home ... then along comes a world pandemic. So when they are missing from the grocery shelve, literally we can take matters into our own hands with the following easy recipe:

Digestive Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup confectionary sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1) Toss the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, baking soda, and confectionary sugar into a mixing bowl and mix with a fork.

2) Dice the butter into tiny chunks with a knife, then use your fingers to mix into the dry ingredients. Add drops of milk until you get a crumbly dough.

My favorite brand of digestive biscuits.

3) Toss onto a floured flat surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll flat about 1/6 inch in thickness (eyeball it).

4) Use a round cookie cutter (or the top of a drinking glass) to cut into circles.

5) Transfer to a buttered, or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Prick holes in the biscuits.

6) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for about 20 minutes. The cookies should be light when you pull them out of the oven.💂

The 2nd cookie, Marie Biscuits, was created by London bakery Peek Freans in 1874 to celebrate the marriage of Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, the 2nd son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom to Grand Duchess Maria, the only daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. Here is how to make those:

Marie Biscuits

Ingredients:

A pack sells for 99 cents at the supermarket.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Punch of salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/8 cup milk

Directions:

1) In a bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

2) Using your hands mix in the butter (diced in tiny chunks) and milk until you get a crumbly dough.

3) Turn the dough out onto a floured flat surface and roll flat with a floured rolling pin.

4) Use a round cookie cutter, or top of a glass to cut into cookies.

5) Place on a buttered, or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Next prick holes in the dough. (Little pricked holes help distribute heat while baking.)

6) Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 8 - 10 minutes.

After dunking a few of the baked cookies into a lovely cup of tea (or coffee for Americans), store the rest in Tupperware, or a cookie tin.👑

In ordinary times, I buy these cookies at the supermarket. They are delicious and cheap. (Furthermore, I sometimes grind them instead of graham crackers to make pie crusts.) 

But these are not ordinary times, are they? Do you have any plans this weekend? Of course, you don't. None of us in the world do! If you get bored sheltering in place, go into the kitchen and bake. Cookies make everything better!🏰

You may also enjoy:
Trust Fund Beauty
My Daily Artisan Bread 
The Southern Cross (Crux)     
Save On Summer Fashion Essentials