An absolute British classic, these Chocolate Digestive Biscuits are crisp, buttery, and topped with smooth milk chocolate. Easy to make and even better than the shop-bought version!
Have you been watching Inside The Factory on BBC? It’s right up my little boy’s street, seeing as they want to know how everything in the world is made! The most recent one we watched was on Chocolate Digestive biscuits, and of course, we had to try them for ourselves.
If you have seen Inside the Factory you’ll know that the process behind the famous McVities Chocolate Digestives is quite a complex and hi-tech one, not something you’d be able to mimic at home! That being said, if you don’t have a chocolate river or a precise measuring system for your biscuits, fear not! Baking my Chocolate Digestives at home couldn’t be easier.
This was one of those recipes I was more than happy to bake with the kids. It’s a simple bung everything in the bowl, give it a mix, roll it, bake it and eat them! What more could you ask from a biscuit (or “cookie” for my friends across the pond!)?
Tips for Biscuit Success:
• Use Wholemeal Flour: It’s what gives digestives their signature nutty taste and crumbly texture. Don’t be tempted to swap it out for plain flour; it makes all the difference.
• Use Cold Butter: Rub the butter into the dry ingredients while it’s still cold. This helps create a proper biscuit texture that holds up under the chocolate.
• Roll the Dough Evenly: Aim for a thickness of about 5mm and keep your pressure even. This makes sure they all bake at the same rate and avoids burnt edges or soft middles.
• Add the Wavy Finish: A fork dragged across the chocolate while it’s still soft creates a nostalgic, patterned top. Optional, but oh-so satisfying!
More British Biscuits You'll Love:
Chocolate Digestive Biscuits
EQUIPMENT
INGREDIENTS
- 225 g Wholemeal Flour (Whole Wheat Flour)
- 30 g Caster Sugar (Superfine Sugar)
- 140 g Butter or Block Margarine cold
- 1 Free-range Egg beaten
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 100 g Milk Chocolate
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 170°c (150°c for fan-assisted ovens, Gas Mark 3 or 350°F) and grease a couple of baking sheets with a little excess butter/margarine.
- Rub together the flour, sugar and butter/margarine in a large bowl until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the beaten egg and vanilla and mix together to form a dough.
- On a floured surface, roll your dough to a few millimetres thick and cut with a cookie cutter to your desired biscuit size - around 7cm (3-inch) is ideal.
- Transfer your biscuits to your pre-greased baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes until slightly golden and dry in appearance.
- Allow to cool on the tray for a short while before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Melt the milk chocolate in a small bowl (over a bain-marie or in short bursts in a microwave) and gently dip the bottom side of your biscuits into the chocolate - allowing the excess to drip away - before finishing with a squiggle decoration with a fork.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won't always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
RECIPE NOTES:
- See my Tips for Biscuit Success above for more tips for the perfect Chocolate Digestive biscuits.
- Chocolate Digestive biscuits are best enjoyed the day they are baked, but they can be stored in an airtight container for a few days. The texture may change over a few days - this is normal for home-baked biscuits.
- If you want to freeze your Chocolate Digestives, I recommend freezing the dough before baking. You can freeze the entire dough or divide it into batches. Remove the dough from the freezer and defrost it at room temperature before baking. Then bake and finish with chocolate as normal.
- See the Free-from & Vegan box below for tips on how to make your Chocolate Digestive cookies vegan or free-from.
Frequently Asked Questions for Chocolate Digestive Biscuits:
What are Chocolate Digestive biscuits?
Chocolate digestive biscuits are a classic British treat made with a crumbly, slightly sweet wholemeal biscuit base, topped with a layer of smooth milk chocolate. They’re the chocolate-covered version of traditional, plain Digestive biscuit.
Think of them as a cross between a wholemeal shortbread and a graham cracker, topped with a layer of chocolate. They’re less sweet than American cookies, with a crisp, crumbly, texture and a subtle, slightly-nutty flavour.Can I use plain flour instead of wholemeal?
What kind of chocolate goes on Digestive?
Can I use these Digestive biscuits in other recipes?
Free-from & Vegan:
Gluten-free: To make gluten-free Chocolate Digestive biscuits, you can swap out the wholemeal flour for a gluten-free wholemeal flour. A straight swap should be fine, but you may need to add a little extra butter if the dough is too dry.
Use a gluten-free chocolate for the topping as well.
Dairy-free: To make these dairy-free Chocolate Digestive biscuits, simply use a dairy-free margarine for the biscuits and top with a dairy-free chocolate.
Nut-free: There are no nuts used in this Chocolate Digestives recipe, but as always, be sure to double-check your individual ingredients allergens list.
N.B. Any advice or suggestions to make recipes “free-from” or vegan are purely that – suggestions. Please be careful to double check all ingredients individually, taking extra caution when serving to those with allergies & intolerances.
13 responses
Oh my gosh these look incredible! x
I just love those ‘how to programmes’ too – they’re absolutely fascinating! I seem to have missed the one about digestives – and yet I think they’re one of my favourite biscuits even though there’s nothing particularly fancy about a plain digestive. Just loving the way you’ve finished the chocolate with the squiggles Amy! :-)
Angela
What a great idea! This is the first time I’ve ever seen a recipe for these. Thanks!
They look fantastic and so neat!
These look better than shop bought ones! So tasty looking x
Just made these for the first time, left them plain because we’re not overly chocolatey and they are just a perfect biscuit. Will be making these again, for sure.
I absolutely love digestive cookies but they are so hard to find! Now I can make them myself!
Can’t wait to try these after Christmas with the wholemeal flour leaving the chocolate off as my hubby is diabetic.. And l like the fact there’s not a lot of sugar in recipe ..Thank you ..
Thank you for your recipe’s look fantastic can’t wait to try them.
Made these today. They are so easy to make and really delicious. I like that the dough has a small amount of sugar and is not too sweet if eaten as a plain digestive (I had to try one before coating them in chocolate). I have weakness for chocolate digestives and will be making my own from now on.
Amy
Hubby just loves choccy digestives and I will surely be making these this afternoon for him and so easy to put together.
Thank you and a MerryChristmas
Homemade Digestive Biscuits!
You’ve made my day.
These actually got mixed response from my crew. Too healthy was one comment…not sure about that. I really like them the only thing I had to do was add a little more flour as the mixture was a little wet based on the quantities.