This week: British biscuit/cookie recipes, cookbook previews and giveaways

Last week’s roundup focused on all things biscuits (North American biscuits, that is), and as promised it’s time to highlight British biscuits/cookies.

When I read the following sentence when researching biscuits, it gave me a slight headache. “A British biscuit is an American cookie and an American cookie is a British cookie and an American biscuit is a British scone and an American scone is something else entirely.” No wonder so many North Americans are confused me being one. Thankfully, Jane, Brit extraordinaire, set me straight on the scone situation – “A British scone is not like an American biscuit. British scones can be savoury or sweet just like American scones. but unlike American scones are generally not finished with a sweet glaze.”

The first difference between British biscuits and cookies is the way they are made. The word “cookie” originates from the Dutch word ‘Koekje’ meaning ‘little cake’. Originally, these little cakes were made to test the temperature of an oven before baking an entire cake. Much like cake, cookies are made from a soft, thick dough and are denser than a British biscuit. When they are finished, cookies are larger, softer, and chunkier than their biscuit cousins and often have add-ins such as chocolate chips, fruit, nuts, etc.

In contrast, the word “biscuit” comes from the Latin ‘bis’ (twice) and ‘coquere’ (cooked). It essentially means twice baked. More firm, thinner and fluffier than a cookie, biscuits require a harder dough to create the correct texture. (Biscotti are twice-baked Italian cookies which are also known as cantucci. Does anything have just one name?). These crumbly treats are typically made with a few ingredients, butter, flour, and sugar which makes them ideal for dipping as they absorb the rich flavors in coffee and tea.

There are over 100 biscuit recipes (online) that are designated as British/afternoon tea and over 24,000 cookie recipes (online). Then we have that tricky digestive biscuit a semi-sweet biscuit that originated in Scotland in 1839 created by two doctors to aid digestion. On my honeymoon in London, I became addicted to McVitie’s chocolate digestive biscuits. I fooled myself into believing that since they had the word “digestive” in the name they were healthy and good for me. A package or two later and I realized – I was just eating delicious chocolate cookies.

Biscuits and cookies, we can all agree are tempting treats and something most of us look forward to during afternoon tea, the holidays, or just because. What is your favorite cookie? Leave us a comment so we can be inspired.

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To introduce you to some interesting biscuit/cookie cookbooks:

• Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits by Harriet Hastings and Sarah Moore
• Bee’s Brilliant Biscuits by Bee Berrie
• The Great British Bake Off – Bake It Better: Biscuits by Annie Rigg
• The Biscuit: The History of a Very British Indulgence by Lizzie Collingham (Pub date 10/29/2020)
• Oats in the North, Wheat from the South: The History of British Baking, Savoury and Sweet by Regula Ysewijn (this book is wonderful as it digs deep into British baking and has tons of photos and recipes). It will be released in September in the US The British Baking Book: The History of British Baking, Savory and Sweet.
• The Cookie Book by Rebeccca Firth
• Cookie Love by Mindy Segal and Kate Leahy
• Cookie cookbooks by popularity

Other links of interest:

• Cookie and baking books 2020
• The complete collection of biscuits types (I bookmarked this site for future reference.)
• EYB blog posts on cookies: Holiday cookies, Cookie time, Tis’ the Season to be Baking … Flour Everywhere La la la la
• 8 cookie baking tips (Spruce Eats)
• Our 10 most helpful cookie tips (The Kitchn)

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Featured Recently Indexed Cookbooks

• The Enchilada Queen Cookbook: Enchiladas, Fajitas, Tamales, and More Classic Recipes from Texas-Mexico Border Kitchens by Sylvia Casares and Dotty Griffith
• Carpathia: Food from the Heart of Romania by Irina Georgescu (promotion coming soon)
• Leon Fast & Free: Free-From Recipes for People Who Really Like Food by Jane Baxter and John Vincent
• Salsas and Moles: Fresh and Authentic Recipes for Pico de Gallo, Mole Poblano, Chimichurri, Guacamole, and More by Deborah Schneider
• New World Sourdough: With Recipes for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads by Bryan Ford (find out more about this book and enter our giveaway US/CA/UK/AU)
• Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook by Tyler Malek and J. J. Goode
• Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest: Recipes + Stories from My Appalachian Home by Lauren McDuffie
• Venetian Republic: Recipes from the Veneto, Adriatic Croatia, and the Greek Islands by Nino Zoccali (promotion coming soon)
• Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from the Island of Sardinia by Leticia Clark (promotion coming soon)
• The Complete Summer Cookbook: Beat the Heat with 500 Recipes that Make the Most of Summer’s Bounty by America’s Test Kitchen

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This Week on our Blog

Since our last roundup, Darcie has written articles entitled:  Recipes: scripture or template?, Guild of Food Writers announces 2020 winners, Spice Support: suya (yaji) (#spicesupport brings up all the spice support articles), Cooking Light subscriptions return, Don’t overlook the back of the box, and How seasonal differences can affect your baking. Darcie’s weekly food news antipasto is shared every Sunday #foodnews brings up these information-packed posts).

Often, I receive books after the monthly cookbook review has published or come across an older title that catches my attention that I think others want to know about. My first mini-roundup featured the six cookbooks in the photograph above. These posts will be tagged Cookbook Tidbits.

This week I updated our Looking forward to 2020 cookbook preview and be sure to check out our weekly updated Kindle cookbook deals post. To those new to EYB, this post on how to make EYB work better for you may be helpful.

Jenny and the EYB team

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Member Photo of the Week

White chocolate mousse cake with red fruits from Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell submitted by member KatharineFB

Have you uploaded any of your own photos yet? Learn more! Please remember to update your profile with your Instagram name if you would like to be tagged in any photos that we share!

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Featured Online Recipe

Honey-glazed pepper chicken from Bon Appétit Magazine, Jun/Jul 2020: The Grilling Issue

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EYBDigital Previews

Recently we uploaded our 676th EYBDigital Preview where a selection of full sample pages is available for the following cookbooks.

Learn more about EYBDigital Previews.

Note: To learn why you cannot add all EYBDigital Preview recipes to your Bookshelf, please read this Help page.

• 3 recipes from Petite Pâtisserie: Bon Bons, Petits Fours, Macarons and Other Whimsical Bite-Size Treats by Cheryl Wakerhauser (pub date 8/25/2020) (Cheryl’s first book Modern French Pastry is fantastic)
• 3 recipes from Stress-Free Family Meal Planning: Easy, Healthy Recipes for Busy Homes by Kristen McCaffrey (pub date 8/25/2020)
• 3 recipes from A Table in Venice: Recipes from My Home by Skye McAlpine (Skye’s second cookbook A Table for Friends will be published on 7/9/2020).
• 3 recipes from Cosy: A Collection of Warming Winter Recipes from Food Writers New Zealand by Various NZ Food Writers (find out more about this title here)

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Cookbook Giveaways

• Enter our US giveaway to win a copy of Salt & Time: Recipes from a Modern Russian Kitchen by Alissa Timoshkina Expires June 29th, 2020.
• Enter our giveaway to win a copy of Provence: The Cookbook by Caroline Rimbert Craig in our giveaway (two copies US, one copy worldwide provided by Eat Your Books) Expires June 24th, 2020.
• Enter our US giveaway to win one of five copies of Rachael Ray 50: Memories and Meals from a Sweet and Savory Life: A Cookbook by Rachael Ray and one grand prize winner will receive a set of Racheal Ray’s Create Delicious cookware. Expires June 25th, 2020.

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*Please note due to the pandemic, promotions are extended until publishers are back in their offices, and warehouses are available to resume the shipment of books. The good news is that a few publishers have mentioned that warehouses are opening up soon but they are overwhelmed and backed up. The cookbook giveaway roundup shares all current giveaways.

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