Say hello to your new favorite teatime (or, um, anytime) treat. These homemade hobnob cookies are a delicious cross between oatmeal cookies and digestive biscuits. A copycat of the British classic McVitie’s Hobnob biscuits, the honeyed oat cookies are crisp with a rich flavor. And, if you like, glazed with a layer of dark chocolate to finish them off.
A few notes: Honey makes this hobnob recipe downright delicious, but if you have a stash of butterscotch-y Lyle’s golden syrup, feel free to swap it in. Make sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats, which would absorb too much liquid and make these cookies dry and crumbly.
The golden brown, crunchy plain oat biscuits are perfect for dunking in a cup of tea. But, if you’re making the chocolate hobnobs, consider turning them into an ice cream sandwich. We find semisweet chocolate the best choice for flavor, but high-quality milk chocolate or white chocolate (we recommend using a chopped-up bar instead of chocolate chips) also works.
What you’ll need
Bob's Red Mill Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
$9 $6 At Amazon
Guittard Semisweet Baking Bars, 3-Count
$15 At Amazon
Nature Nate’s Organic Raw & Unfiltered Honey, Sustainable 14 oz. Pouch
$8 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1½ hours
Yield
Makes 30 cookies
Ingredients
1
1
2
2
2
1
1½
1½
3½
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 300°. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, and 1 cup (200 g) sugar in a medium bowl, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl occasionally, until very fluffy and creamy, 6–8 minutes.
Step 2
Add 2 Tbsp. whole milk, 2 tsp. honey, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 tsp. baking soda; beat until combined, about 1 minute. Add 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour and 1½ cups (150 g) old-fashioned oats and fold in dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until combined and no dry streaks of flour remain (cookie dough will be stiff).
Step 3
Using a #40 scoop (or 2 Tbsp.) and working one at a time, scoop out dough to make 8 cookies and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing about 2" apart (cookies will spread as they bake). Repeat to make 8 more cookies and place on another parchment-lined baking sheet.
Step 4
Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until golden, 22–25 minutes. Remove baking sheets from oven. For more perfectly shaped cookies (no obligation!), working one at a time, place a glass or round cutter with a diameter larger than the cookies over or around them and scoot back and forth in a circular motion to push edges smooth, making a neat circle. Let cookies cool on baking sheets 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks and let cool completely (the warm cookies will be fragile, but they will firm up as they cool). Repeat with remaining dough to make about 14 more cookies.
Do Ahead: Cookies can be made 2 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at a cool room temperature.
Step 5
For chocolate-coated hobnobs, melt 3½ oz. (100 g) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (about ½ cup), in a medium heatproof bowl set over a medium saucepan of simmer water (do not let bowl touch water), stirring often, until just melted and smooth. (Alternatively, place chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring after each, until just melted and smooth, about 1 minute.) Remove bowl from heat. Working one at a time, dip bottoms of cookies in melted chocolate and place chocolate side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Chill until chocolate is firm, about 10 minutes.
Editor’s note: This recipe for homemade hobnobs was first printed in our December 2016 issue and has since been updated for style and to include the chocolate glaze, reduce the baking soda, and increase the salt. Head this way for more easy cookie recipes →