Biscuit
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A biscuit in most english speaking countries,is a flour-based baked and shaped food product.Biscuits are typically hard,flat,and unleavened.They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar,chocolate,icing,jam,ginger,or cinnamon.They can be also savoury,similar to crackers.Types of biscuits include sandwich biscuits,digestive biscuits,ginger biscuits,shortbread biscuits,chocolate chip cookies,chocolate-coated marshmallow treats,Anzac biscuits,"biscotti",and "speculaas".
In most of North America,nearly all hard sweet biscuits are called "cookies",while the term "biscuit",is used for a soft,leavened quick bread similar to
less sweet version of a "scone".
Variations in meaning of "biscuit"[edit]
- In most of the English-speaking word,a "biscuit" is a small,hard baked product that would be called either a "cookie" or a "cracker" in the United States and sometimes in Canada."Biscuits" in the United Kingdom,the Isle of Man,and Ireland are usually hard and may be savoury or sweet,such as chocolate biscuits,digestives,hobnobs,ginger nuts,rich tea,shortbread,bourbons,and custard creams. The term "cookie" typically refers to only one type of biscuit (the sweeter baked dough typically containing chocolate chips or raisins);however,it may also locally refer to specific types of biscuits and breads.[1]
- In the United States and some parts of Canada,a "biscuit" is a quick bread,somewhat similar to an unsweetened scone,but with a texture more 'fluffy and flaky' vs. 'sturdy and crumbly'.[2] Biscuits may be referred to as either "baking powder biscuits"[3] or "buttermilk biscuits" if buttermilk is used rather than milk as a liquid ,as buttermilk is not flavorful but acidic (allowing use of baking soda vs. baking powder wich is a mixture of baking soda with an acidifier and buffer).A Southern regional variation using the term "beaten biscuit" (or in New England "sea biscuit") is closer to hardtrack than soft dough biscuits.[4]
- In Canada the term "biscuit" can simultaneoulsy refer to what is commonly identified as a biscuit in either the United Kingdom or the United States.The "Canadian Oxford Dictionary" describes each word in reference to the other;"biscuit" can mean "Brit a. cookie",whilist "cookie" can mean "N. Amer a small sweet biscuit. "Tea biscuit" is also a standard Canadianism for the "North Amercian" biscuit.[5]
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Beaten biscuits (Southern US)
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Wheat and Cream biscuits (Northern England)
Etymology[edit]
- ↑ "cookie". Oxford English Dictionary.
In Scotland the usual name for a baker's plain bun;in U.S usually a small flat sweet cake (a biscuit in U.K),but locally a name for small cakes of various form with or without sweetening.Also S.Afr. and Canad.
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- ↑ "Baking Powder Biscuits Source: U.S Department of Defense". Theodora's Recipes[sic]. Retrieved 2013-12-20. line feed character in
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(help) - ↑ Jet McCullough (2020) "The Great Canadian Baking Show and the 'Biscuit/Cookie' Question". Retrieved 2022-04-09. "Queens University"