Can someone translate this British recipe into American for me?

June 29, 2018 7:40 PM

I miss chocolate digestive biscuits and I thought I’d make my own. I found this recipe but some of the terminology confuses me:

165g wholemeal flour (whole wheat I assume?)
135g fine porridge oats (is this like Quaker Oats? What does “fine” mean? Do you run them through a food processor?)
¼ tsp salt
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda, got this one I think)
130g cold butter, diced
40g soft dark brown sugar (please tell me British dark brown sugar and American dark brown sugar are the same)
2 tbsp milk
150g dark chocolate

Also the instructions say to use a “baking tray” which looks like it’s what I would call a cookie sheet. Is that right? Thanks in advance!

posted by Automocar to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Wholemeal flour is whole wheat, and a baking tray is a cookie sheet, but -- just in case you didn't know and wanted an easier way -- : they are also available on Amazon. (My own chain grocery store in the United States carries McVities milk chocolate and plain digestive biscuits in the international aisle, as well.)
posted by nantucket at 7:53 PM on June 29, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Wholemeal flour is whole wheat flour.
Fine porridge oats are rolled oats that are smaller than what you normally get in regular Quaker Oats here in the US. You can easily put them in a food processor for a bit and chop them up a little if you want a finer texture. I do that sometimes (in small batches so they get cut evenly), and sometimes I don't bother. The final texture is slightly smoother if you do, but both work.
Bicarbonate of soda is indeed baking soda.
The US version of dark brown sugar is the same.
A baking tray is indeed a baking sheet.

Source: I bake with European recipes a lot.
posted by gemmy at 8:05 PM on June 29, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: For fine oats, I'm not sure if this is common in America, but basically the recipe is asking for "quick oats", quick oatmeal, fast oatmeal, I'm not sure what you guys would call it over there, but you know how you have regular oats/porridge that takes 10 minutes or so to cook, and then you have the "2 minute oats"? Get the 2 minute type (spoilers, the oats are chopped much more finely which is why they cook faster).
posted by smoke at 3:05 AM on June 30, 2018 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Yeah, Quaker's "minute oats" will do the trick here.
posted by duffell at 4:55 AM on June 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You have some great conversions here! If it's helpful, I can vouch for this written-in-American recipe, though -- from the fabulous Stella Parks. The buttermilk is a great choice here. The chocolate recs are very helpful, as well.

Speaking of chocolate: when making your own chocolate digestives, the tempering and application steps can be really fiddly. Choose a cool day to make these, if you can, or work in an air-conditioned space.
posted by halation at 5:11 AM on June 30, 2018 [3 favorites]