Plain Tea Biscuits That Melt in Your Mouth
Biscuits come out hard for two reasons: over-mixing after the flour goes in, which develops gluten, and over-baking. Take them out while the centres are still pale and only the edges are golden — residual heat from the tray finishes them.
- Prep
- 50 min
- Cook
- 14 min
- Total
- 64 min
- Calories
- 95
Photo: User:Dave souza — CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Tea biscuits are the cheapest and easiest thing you can bake at home, with just four core ingredients. The difference between a biscuit that melts and one that cracks a tooth is two minutes in the oven.
Method
-
1
Cream butter and sugar
Beat the softened butter with the icing sugar for 5 minutes until pale and creamy. This is where air gets in, and air is the first source of tenderness.
⏱ 6 min -
2
Egg and vanilla
Add the egg and vanilla and beat for one minute only, just to combine. A cold egg will split the mixture — it must be at room temperature.
⏱ 3 min -
3
Sift the dry mix
Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt together. The cornflour is the secret — it lowers the gluten proportion so the biscuit melts rather than chews.
⏱ 4 min -
4
Fold lightly
Add the dry mix in three additions and fold only until the flour disappears. Any extra mixing develops gluten and turns the biscuit hard.
⏱ 4 min -
5
Chill the dough
Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. Cold butter stops the biscuits spreading in the oven.
⏱ 32 min -
6
Shape
Roll to 6 mm thick and cut with cutters, or pipe with a star nozzle. Even thickness means even baking.
⏱ 15 min -
7
Short bake
Bake at 175°C for 12 minutes only, until the edges are golden and the centres still pale. They finish cooking on their own heat after they come out.
⏱ 14 min -
8
Cool on the tray
Leave them on the tray for 5 minutes before moving them to a rack. Hot biscuits are extremely fragile and break if you move them straight away.
⏱ 8 min
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Tips that actually matter
- Take them out while the centres are pale — the tray finishes the job.
- Swapping part of the flour for cornflour is what makes them melt.
- Fold only until the flour disappears; extra mixing hardens them.
- They keep two weeks in an airtight tin; a little rice in the tin keeps moisture out.
People also ask
Why are my biscuits hard?
Either you over-mixed after adding the flour and developed gluten, or you over-baked. Pull them out with golden edges and pale centres — they will finish on the tray.
Why do they spread in the oven?
The butter was too soft or you skipped chilling. Chill the dough 30 minutes, and if your kitchen is warm chill the shaped tray another 10 minutes before baking.
What does the cornflour do?
Cornflour contains no gluten, so it lowers the total protein in the mix. The result is a shorter texture that dissolves in the mouth instead of chewing.
Cook mode
Plain Tea Biscuits That Melt in Your Mouth
-
1
Cream butter and sugar
Beat the softened butter with the icing sugar for 5 minutes until pale and creamy. This is where air gets in, and air is the first source of tenderness.
-
2
Egg and vanilla
Add the egg and vanilla and beat for one minute only, just to combine. A cold egg will split the mixture — it must be at room temperature.
-
3
Sift the dry mix
Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt together. The cornflour is the secret — it lowers the gluten proportion so the biscuit melts rather than chews.
-
4
Fold lightly
Add the dry mix in three additions and fold only until the flour disappears. Any extra mixing develops gluten and turns the biscuit hard.
-
5
Chill the dough
Wrap the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. Cold butter stops the biscuits spreading in the oven.
-
6
Shape
Roll to 6 mm thick and cut with cutters, or pipe with a star nozzle. Even thickness means even baking.
-
7
Short bake
Bake at 175°C for 12 minutes only, until the edges are golden and the centres still pale. They finish cooking on their own heat after they come out.
-
8
Cool on the tray
Leave them on the tray for 5 minutes before moving them to a rack. Hot biscuits are extremely fragile and break if you move them straight away.
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