Oh, these are just perfect. Imagine a breakfast cookie that tastes like shortbread, is crumbly like shortbread, but has the wonderful nutty flavor and crunch of whole wheat. I’m not saying it makes a breakfast, but I’m a very early riser, and like something with my first or second cup of coffee. Not only that, but as a long-time reader of old English novels, I’ve always wondered what a digestive biscuit might be! No wonder they love them so! A simple and pleasing treat when one wants something just a little sweet and yet wishes to believe one is not consuming complete junk. People in Merchant/Ivory films and Virginia Woolf novels eat these, and now, so do I! Soon I expect an actual Time Lord to stop in for a 3:30 a.m. cup of coffee. I know I’m being silly. What else are cookies - excuse me, biscuits - for?
I recently got interested in the British obsession with tea. Are we coffee drinkers missing something? I spent some time at Google reading up on it, and learned that the British custom is to have "biscuits" with their tea, or sweet pastry. I thought it might be interesting to give it a try and invested in a decent electric tea kettle and supplies. It turns out that these particular biscuits are very traditional and widely used in the U.K. In fact, I read that these very biscuits are Prince Charles’s favorites.
So what are they like? Well, first of all they are not what we would call a biscuit. In reality, they are a kind of cookie. My sister calls them
"shortbread cookies", if that tells you something. They have a fairly bland taste and remind me of the old American favorite . Animal Crackers.
I gather that the British dunk their biscuits in the tea. This is an art form. I too am an accomplished dunker when using Oreo cookies in milk.
Timing is everything here.
The package is surprisingly large, with three packs forming an overall size of about 9 by 11 inches. Picture a sheet of typing paper in area. The package is fairly hefty, too. Mine arrived unbroken. I plan to buy more since they make a nice change from excessively sugary cookies.
I should mention that there are a lot of different kinds of tea, but the traditional British black breakfast tea, both tastes and smells like the kind in the familiar Lipton brand tea bags.