Difference between biscuits, cookies, biscottis, rusks, and cake rusks
They are all delicious in their own different ways. Biscuits, cookies, biscottis, rusks, and cake rusks although share a common purpose, i.e. to be the perfect accompaniments to tea or coffee, they differ from one another on many levels. Today, let's explore the basic differences between these crunchy and crumbly food items that we savor almost daily. Check them out!
Biscuits
The term "biscuit" has been derived from the Latin words "bis" which means "twice" and "coquere" that means "cooked." It is more firm, fluffy, and thin than cookies but a hard dough is required to create it. Generally, it is made using basic ingredients like flour, butter, sugar, and salt, but is available in many flavorful fillings. Although lighter, it's less crunchy than cookies.
Cookies
The name "cookie" has been derived from the Dutch word "Koekje" which means "little cake." Interestingly, it was originally created to test the oven's temperature before baking an actual cake! It is bigger, softer, and crunchier than biscuits, and is also available with add-ons like choco chips. Its dough is softer, thicker, and denser than that of biscuits.
Biscottis
A biscotti is basically a long, dry, and hard biscuit that is baked twice. It's first baked in a log, post which it is sliced into individual pieces and then baked again to get the right texture and moisture. It is crunchy, long, and rectangular in shape and dates back to the 15th century. What's more, it's usually made with almonds or pine nuts.
Rusks
Rusk is a dry version of biscuit, which is immensely crunchy and hard to chew when consumed raw. Owing to this, it's common to use it as a teether for small children. It is a twice-baked bread that is rectangular in shape and is commonly savored by dipping it in tea. It is a Greek snack that has been around since the 7th century.
Cake rusks
Cake rusk is similar to Italian biscotti, but the two have a few differences. Like most other treats on our list, cake rusk is also baked twice. However, instead of biscuit dough, a sponge cake is used. Moreover, it is sweeter in flavor and contains more calories than rusk. While the latter usually has an essence of cardamom in it, the former is vanilla-based.
