Cookie or Biscuit?

[H.C. Heartland]

The British often use the word Biscuit for what a North American would term 'cookie'. However, I am wondering if technically there is a difference. What is the difference between a biscuit and a cookie according to your own definition?

 

[Tina Nord]

I think a biscuit is a little more dense than a cookie, umm shortbread comes to mind. Really though I am not sure there are any other traits that set the apart.

 

[sweetkymom]

I've never eaten anything outside the US so I'm not able to compare accurately. What comes to mind, though, is that a biscuit is not as soft and is dense. Cookies are moist, soft and sometimes gooey.

 

[JGPangi]

I think in the Philippines, biscuits would refer to plain baked discs- crispy, dense, and you can have them with either savory or sweet spreads. Cookies would be thicker, traditionally sweeter than the biscuits, with chocolate chips or nuts added to them.

 

[H.C. Heartland]

Yes, that is what I was thinking, that traditionally a British biscuit would have been more like a Scottish shortbread. In Scotland, 'cookie' is sometimes used to refer to a round bun. So I'm thinking as the settlers moved to North America and began making their breads, which evolved into sweet round breads as well, the term cookie stuck. But I haven't done a lot of research on it to know for sure.

 

[LivetoErr]

Biscuits, to me, is the bread you get at Red Lobster. Anything like that is a biscuit. There are many different types of cookies though, stuff like Chips Ahoy to Oreos. They can be soft and chewy, crispy, crispy with filling inside, wafers, and so on.

Are crumpets a biscuit? I can remember my grandma always wanting tea and crumpets.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Yes, I immediately thought of shortbread cookies when it comes to what UK biscuits are..but it also makes me think of the buttermilk biscuits and gravy, too. Yum....

 

[JGPangi]

I long for Popeye's buttermilk biscuits. I remember eschewing my regular tradition in Singapore and going straight for Popeye's just because I had to have those biscuits in my life once more. But wouldn't they qualify as more of a shortbread in people's minds?

 

[H.C. Heartland]

I long for Popeye's buttermilk biscuits. I remember eschewing my regular tradition in Singapore and going straight for Popeye's just because I had to have those biscuits in my life once more. But wouldn't they qualify as more of a shortbread in people's minds?

To North Americans, that would be considered a biscuit. That's interesting that in Singapore they would too. To most North Americans, as far as I know, a cookie is sweet and a biscuit is savory. That's why I didn't know why it was different in certain parts of the world. I love investigating the origins of cooking terms and where they came from.

 

[NThomas]

Here in The US we call them cookies but there are a few exception. Somtimes cookies that you dunk are called biscute and the teething cookies we give to toddler are also called biscutes Biscutes are normaly soft fluffy and savory.