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McVitie's Digestive Wheat Biscuits, 4 Boxes
$25.99
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Product Details
McVitie's Digestives The Original is the plain wheat biscuit that has sat in British cupboards since 1892, when a young Scot at the McVitie's bakery, Alexander Grant, fixed the recipe. The name is older, going back to the 1830s, when bakers believed the bicarbonate of soda in the dough settled the stomach. It is Victorian history and nothing more: a Digestive is a biscuit, not a digestive aid.
The flavor is where American shoppers are caught off guard. It sits between a cookie and a cracker, lightly sweet, faintly malty, with a clear pinch of salt and a sandy, crumbling bite from the wholemeal wheat. A graham cracker is sweeter and leans on honey and cinnamon; a Digestive is plainer, and closer to savory.
Its real job is tea. The dense crumb takes a two-second dunk and holds its shape long enough to reach your mouth. Crushed, it makes a fine cheesecake or pie base in place of graham crumbs. This is imported British stock, carrying the registered trademark of United Biscuits (UK) Limited.
Ingredients
Nutrition Information
| Serving size | 1 biscuit |
|---|---|
| Biscuits per box | About 24 |
| Energy | 71 kcal (298 kJ) per biscuit; 483 kcal (2,025 kJ) per 100 g |
| Fat | 3.1 g per biscuit; 21.3 g per 100 g |
| of which Saturates | 1.5 g per biscuit; 10.1 g per 100 g |
| Carbohydrate | 9.3 g per biscuit; 63.6 g per 100 g |
| of which Sugars | 2.2 g per biscuit; 15.1 g per 100 g |
| Fibre | 0.5 g per biscuit; 3.7 g per 100 g |
| Protein | 1.0 g per biscuit; 7.0 g per 100 g |
| Salt | 0.2 g per biscuit; 1.3 g per 100 g |
Allergen Information
Contains: wheat, gluten.
May contain cow's milk.
Manufacturers can change formulations at any time, so always read the physical label before consuming.
May contain cow's milk.
Manufacturers can change formulations at any time, so always read the physical label before consuming.
Directions & Storage
McVitie's Digestive Wheat Biscuits, 4 Boxes
$25.99
Questions About This Product
The things people actually want to know before they cook with it.
Why are they called digestive biscuits?
The name dates to the 1830s, when Scottish bakers and physicians believed the bicarbonate of soda in the dough had an antacid effect and settled the stomach. That belief is long out of date, but the name stuck and is now simply the category name for this style of biscuit in Britain. McVitie's settles the point on the box itself, printing in four languages that 'The ingredients in this biscuit do not contain any substance that assists digestion.' The word is a historical label and nothing more.
Are McVitie's Digestives the same thing as graham crackers?
They are cousins rather than twins. Both are wheat biscuits built partly on coarse brown flour, which is why recipes swap them, but a graham cracker is sweeter and usually carries honey and cinnamon notes. A Digestive is plainer, saltier and closer to savory, with a thicker, sandier crumb instead of a graham cracker's snap. Most Americans describe the first bite as less sweet than they expected.
Can I use digestive biscuits instead of graham crackers for a cheesecake or pie crust?
Yes, and in Britain they are the default choice for exactly that job. Crush them to fine crumbs and bind with melted butter as you would with graham crumbs, using roughly the same weight of biscuit that a recipe calls for in crackers. A single box holds about two dozen biscuits, which is more than enough for a standard springform base. The crust comes out a little less sweet and a little more buttery-tasting, which suits rich cheesecakes and lemon or chocolate fillings.
What do digestive biscuits taste like?
They sit between a cookie and a cracker. Expect mild sweetness, a nutty malted wheat flavor from the wholemeal portion of the flour, and a distinct edge of salt that most sweet American cookies do not have. The texture is dense and sandy, crumbling rather than snapping. People often say it tastes like a grown-up biscuit rather than a treat.
Who invented the McVitie's Digestive and how old is the recipe?
The digestive biscuit itself is usually traced to Scotland in 1839. McVitie's version arrived in 1892 and was developed by Alexander Grant, then a young baker at the company's Edinburgh works, who later ran the firm and was made a baronet. McVitie's has kept that recipe as its own ever since and it remains the reference point for the whole category.
Why do British people dunk them in tea, and do they fall apart?
Dunking is a national habit and the Digestive is one of the biscuits most often chosen for it. The biscuit is thick and densely packed, so hot tea soaks in from the edges and softens the surface before the whole thing gives way. A dip of about two seconds is the usual advice, held flat rather than dangled. Leave it in much longer and it will drop into the mug like anything else.
Is the chocolate on the top or the bottom of a Chocolate Digestive?
This is one of the longest running arguments in British snacking, and McVitie's has settled it more than once in favor of the bottom. The factory coats the underside of the biscuit, so the chocolate side is technically the base and most people have been eating them upside down for decades. Popular opinion has largely ignored the ruling. Note that this box is the plain original, without chocolate.
What is the difference between a Digestive and a Hobnob?
Both are McVitie's and both are wheat biscuits, but a Hobnob is made with rolled oats, which gives it a lumpier, chewier, more granola-like texture and a sweeter, toastier flavor. The Digestive is smoother and finer in the crumb, plainer in taste, and the older of the two by nearly a century. If you want the classic tea biscuit, the Digestive is the one people mean.
How do people actually eat digestive biscuits?
Most commonly on their own with tea or coffee, one or two at a time. Beyond that they are spread with butter, jam or a soft cheese, topped with a slice of sharp cheddar, used as the base layer in trifles and refrigerator cakes, or crushed into crumb crusts. Some people sandwich two around ice cream. They are versatile precisely because they are not very sweet.
Is this the real British McVitie's?
Yes. This is the McVitie's Digestives Original line, the British biscuit itself rather than a local imitation, and the pack carries the registered trademark of United Biscuits (UK) Limited. Imported packs are printed with several languages on the back because one pack serves a number of export markets, so the box will not look identical to a UK supermarket one. The biscuit inside is the same original.
Are digestive biscuits a cookie or a cracker?
In British English they are a biscuit, a word that covers both. Americans usually file them as a cookie, because they are lightly sweetened and eaten as a snack, but the low sugar level and salt make them behave much more like a cracker on a cheese board. The truthful answer is that they sit in the gap between the two categories that American shelves do not really have.
Is McVitie's still a British company?
The brand is British in origin, but ownership has moved. McVitie's parent United Biscuits was bought by the Turkish group Yildiz Holding in 2014, and the business now sits inside pladis, the global snacking company Yildiz formed. The trademark on the pack still reads United Biscuits (UK) Limited, which is the entity that holds the name.
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