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Digestive biscuit

A digestive biscuit is a lightly sweet baked biscuit commonly eaten with tea or used as a dessert crust.

Digestive biscuit — illustrative ingredient image

About Digestive biscuit

A digestive biscuit is a baked, lightly sweet biscuit traditionally associated with wheat flour and a crumbly, slightly coarse texture. Modern formulations vary and may use wholemeal or refined flour, vegetable fat or butter, leavening agents, sugar, salt, and other ingredients. It is commonly eaten with tea or coffee.

It is generally round, thin to moderately thick, and golden brown, with a mild toasted grain flavour and a crisp bite. Dipping it in a drink softens the biscuit, while crushing produces a dry crumb suitable for mixing or layering.

Digestive biscuits are sold packaged, usually as whole round biscuits. They are eaten with tea or coffee and crushed or layered for dessert bases, toppings, and biscuit fillings. Crumbling, soaking, or combining them with fat or other ingredients changes the biscuit into a softer crust, topping, or filling.

Ingredient type
compound ingredient

Forms & related ingredients

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Where digestive biscuit appears

1 linked foods

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Desserts

Ingredient connections awaiting review · Coverage is still growing, including packaged snacks.

Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for digestive biscuit

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

Digestive biscuit

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Digestive biscuit nutrition & diet

Digestive biscuit nutritional value

Reference: Biscuits, digestive, plain

Per 100 g of the edible portion of the stated reference food.

Calories
463kcal
Protein
6.2g
Carbs
65.6g
Fat
21.3g

Reference example for the named food and preparation, per 100 g edible portion. This is not a universal value for every recipe or brand; packaged products should be compared with their own label. CoFID 2021 food code 11-799. Carbohydrate follows the dataset’s available-carbohydrate convention. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

Portions & preparation

Use the exact biscuit size and serving context, since a digestive biscuit may be eaten whole, crumbled into a crust, or incorporated into a dessert. Preparation details such as chocolate coating, added fruit, or filling can materially change the ingredient profile and portion composition.

Compare the right form: Match a plain or coated digestive biscuit, whole or crumbed, and identify the edible serving portion; reference the specific recipe or brand formulation.

Diet considerations

A digestive biscuit is a processed cereal-based food, commonly made with wheat or another grain, but the formulation must be checked. Compatibility changes with dairy, egg, chocolate, sweeteners, or other additions. Crumbs in a crust or dessert contribute differently by portion than an uncombined biscuit.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Depends on the version
  • Vegetarian
    Depends on the version
  • Pescatarian
    Depends on the version
  • Keto
    Not established
  • Paleo
    Typically incompatible
  • Low-carb
    Not established
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Not established
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Depends on the version
Optional or variable recorded ingredients: Butter. The ingredient profile identifies an animal-derived food or derivative. Recipes and products can differ.
Vegetarian · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Sugar. Check the refining process and processing aids for the particular producer.
Pescatarian · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Sugar. Check the refining process and processing aids for the particular producer.
Keto · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Paleo · Typically incompatible
Recorded common ingredients: Wheat flour; Sugar. This profile falls outside the conventional paleo pattern used here (grains and pseudograins, legumes, dairy or refined sugar). Recipes and products can differ.
Low-carb · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish kosher status.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: UK Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID), 2021 — Biscuits, digestive, plain ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .