It can be argued that the development of biscuits, as a dry form of flour dough began with the need for travelling bread, particularly for travelling. The introduction of the baking of processed cereals, including the creation of flour, provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat, brittle loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake while the Romans had a biscuit called buccellatum. Roman cookbook Apicius describes: 'a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened, it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper'.

Hard biscuits soften as they age. To solve this problem, early bakers attempted to create the hardest biscuit possible. Because it is so hard and dry, if properly stored and transported, navies' hardtack will survive rough handling and high temperature. Baked hard, it can be kept without spoiling for years as long as it is kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two. To soften hardtack for eating, it was often dunked in brine, coffee, or some other liquid or broken into pieces and cooked into a skillet meal.

Early biscuits were hard, dry, and unsweetened. They were most often cooked after bread, in a cooling bakers' oven; they were a cheap form of sustenance for the poor.

By the 7th century AD, cooks of the Persian empire had learnt from their forebears the techniques of lightening and enriching bread-based mixtures with eggs, butter, and cream, and sweetening them with fruit and honey. One of the earliest spiced biscuits was gingerbread, in French, pain d'épices, meaning "spice bread", brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk Grégoire de Nicopolis. He left Nicopolis Pompeii, of Lesser Armenia to live in Bondaroy, France, near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years and taught French priests and Christians how to cook gingerbread. This was originally a dense, treacly (molasses-based) spice cake or bread. As it was so expensive to make, early ginger biscuits were a cheap form of using up the leftover bread mix.

With the combination of knowledge spreading from Al-Andalus, and then the Crusades and subsequent spread of the spice trade to Europe, the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe.[4] By mediaeval times, biscuits were made from a sweetened, spiced paste of breadcrumbs and then baked (e.g., gingerbread), or from cooked bread enriched with sugar and spices and then baked again.[19] King Richard I of England (aka Richard the Lionheart) left for the Third Crusade (1189–92) with "biskit of muslin", which was a mixed corn compound of barley, rye, and bean flour.

The milk chocolate coated side of a McVitie's chocolate digestive. It is routinely ranked the UK's favourite snack. As the making and quality of bread had been controlled to this point, so were the skills of biscuit-making through the craft guilds. As the supply of sugar began, and the refinement and supply of flour increased, so did the ability to sample more leisurely foodstuffs, including sweet biscuits. Early references from the Vadstena monastery show how the Swedish nuns were baking gingerbread to ease digestion in 1444. The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 16th century, where they were sold in monastery pharmacies and town square farmers markets. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution in Britain sparked the formation of businesses in various industries, and the British biscuit firms of McVitie's, Carr's, Huntley & Palmers, and Crawfords were all established by 1850.

Most modern biscuits can trace their origins back to either the hardtack ship's biscuit or the creative art of the baker:
Ship's biscuit derived: digestive, rich tea, hobnobs, Garibaldi.
Baker's art: biscuit rose de Reims.

Biscuits today can be savoury (crackers) or sweet. Most are small, at around 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, and flat. Sandwich-style biscuits consist of two biscuits sandwiching a layer of "creme" or icing, such as the custard cream, or a layer of jam (as in the biscuits that are known as "Jammie Dodgers" in the United Kingdom).

Sweet biscuits are commonly eaten as a snack food, and are, in general, made with wheat flour or oats, and sweetened with sugar or honey. Varieties may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts, ginger, or even be used to sandwich other fillings.

Savoury biscuits or crackers (such as cream crackers, water biscuits, oatcakes, or crisp breads) are usually plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal. Many savoury biscuits also contain additional ingredients for flavour or texture, such as poppy seeds, onion or onion seeds, cheese (such as cheese melts), and olives. Savoury biscuits also usually have a dedicated section in most European supermarkets, often in the same aisle as sweet biscuits. The exception to savoury biscuits is the sweetmeal digestive known as the 'Hovis biscuit', which, although slightly sweet, is still classified as a cheese biscuit.[32] Savoury biscuits sold in supermarkets are sometimes associated with a certain geographical area, such as Scottish oatcakes or Cornish wafer biscuits.

The alphabetical list of all the biscuit, cookie and cracker recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 429 recipes in total:

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Gulab Jamun Cheesecake      Origin: India	Koulourakia (Greek Easter Biscuits)      Origin: Greece	Maza (Barley Cake)      Origin: Roman
Halloween Sugar Cookies      Origin: American	Kourabiedes (Greek Almond Crescents)      Origin: Greece	Mbatata Biscuits (Sweet Potato Biscuits)      Origin: Malawi
Hard Tack Figgy-dowdy      Origin: England	Kransekage Konfekt (Almond Allsorts)      Origin: Denmark	Medvjeđe Šape (Bear Paws)      Origin: Croatia
Haselnuss Halbmonde (Hazelnut Crescent Biscuits)      Origin: Germany	Kransekage Stænger (Danish Almond Sticks)      Origin: Denmark	Melomakrona (Honey Semolina Biscuits)      Origin: Greece
Hawthorn and Nut Autumn Biscuits      Origin: Britain	Krem Sokola (Chocolate Cream)      Origin: Turkey	Melting Moments      Origin: Britain
Hazelnut Clusters      Origin: Britain	Kurambiedes (Greek Christmas Biscuits)      Origin: Greece	Microwave Mint Julep Cheesecake      Origin: American
Hazelnut Crescents      Origin: Turkmenistan	Kwarezimal (Almond Cakes)      Origin: Malta	Mincemat, Macadamia and Cranberry Biscotti      Origin: Fusion
Heather and Lavender Shortbread      Origin: Ireland	Ladyfingers      Origin: Italy	Mincemeat Blondies      Origin: Fusion
Heather Biscotti      Origin: Scotland	Lancashire Nuts      Origin: England	Mini Milk Cookies      Origin: America
Hogmanay Shortbread      Origin: Scotland	Langues de Chat (Cat's Biscuits)      Origin: France	Mini Pots of Gold      Origin: Ireland
Holiday Delight Cheesecake      Origin: American	Langues de Chat (Cat's Tongue Biscuits)      Origin: France	Mint Shortbread Biscuits      Origin: Ireland
Holiday Eggnog Cheesecake      Origin: American	Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies      Origin: Britain	Montserratian Johnny Cakes      Origin: Montserrat
Hollantide Fairings      Origin: Manx	Lavender Tea Biscuits      Origin: American	Mtedza (Peanut Puffs)      Origin: Malawi
Home-made roses de Reims Biscuits (Biscuits roses de Reims maison)      Origin: France	Le michon breton (Breton michon)      Origin: France	Mtedza Puffs      Origin: Malawi
Honey and Catkin Grain Biscuits      Origin: Britain	Lemon and Condensed Milk Biscuits      Origin: Botswana	Mulled Wine Cheesecake      Origin: Britain
Honey Snap Biscuits      Origin: England	Les Cakes (Chadian Biscuits)      Origin: Chad	Mulled Wine Cheesecake II      Origin: Britain
Iced Raspberry and Eggnog Trifle Cake      Origin: Britain	Liberian Cassava Biscuits      Origin: Liberia	Naples Biscuits      Origin: American
Intensely Chocolatey Sables      Origin: France	Liberian Shortbread      Origin: Liberia	Naples Bisket      Origin: Britain
Inverness Ginger Nuts      Origin: Scotland	Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies      Origin: American	Navettes Bretonnes aux fruits rouges (Breton Navettes with Red Fruit)      Origin: France
Irish Shortcakes      Origin: Ireland	Ma'amool B'jowz (Easter Walnut Biscuits)      Origin: Lebanon	New York Cheesecake II      Origin: America
Israeli Mamul (Israeli Date Pastries)      Origin: Israel	Macaroons      Origin: Britain	No Bake Cheesecake      Origin: Britain
Italianate Easter Cheesecake      Origin: Britain	Magrood (Libyan Date Biscuits)      Origin: Libya	No-bake Cheesecake 3      Origin: Scotland
Itrion (Sesame Biscuits)      Origin: Roman	Maidstone Biscuits      Origin: England	No-bake Cheesecake II      Origin: American
Johnny Cakes      Origin: Anguilla	Malty Oat Biscuits      Origin: Britain	No-bake Lemon Cheesecake      Origin: American
Jumbles      Origin: Britain	Mamoul      Origin: North Africa	No-bake Peanut Butter Flapjack      Origin: Britain
Ka'ak Biscuits      Origin: Lebanon	Mandelbroit (Mandel Bread)      Origin: Jewish	Oat and Barley Milk Cakes      Origin: Ancient
Kaak Malih (Yeasted Almond Biscuits)      Origin: Libya	Mandelskorpor (Almond Rusks)      Origin: Denmark	Oat and Currant Biscuits      Origin: Britain
Kammerjunker Biscuits      Origin: Denmark	Mandelspritzgebäck (German Almond Christmas Biscuits)      Origin: Germany	Oat Biscuits      Origin: Britain
Kastaneli Pasta (Chestnut Cake)      Origin: Turkey	Mango Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust      Origin: Fusion	Oatcakes      Origin: Ancient
Keres Choklet (Cherry Chocolate Biscuits)      Origin: England	Mantecadas (Spanish Cinnamon Biscuits)      Origin: Morocco	Oatmeal Cakes      Origin: Scotland
Khatai Biscuits      Origin: Afghanistan	Marie Biscuits      Origin: India	Oaty Crumbles      Origin: Scotland
King Driver (Sierra Leonean Shortbread)      Origin: Sierra Leone	Marie Biscuits      Origin: India	Obuoliniai Sausainiai (Lithuanian Apple Biscuits)      Origin: Lithuania
Kiwi Biscuits      Origin: New Zealand	Matzo Crackers      Origin: Jewish
Koeki di Pinda y Chuculati (Peanut and Chocolate Chip Cookies)      Origin: Aruba	Matzo Meal Biscuits      Origin: Jewish

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