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What are the basic differences between scones, biscuits, tea-biscuits, muffins ? I know that cookie is the american word for the british biscuit..

Or is there any other difference?

rumtscho
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Shaima
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    Some of this covered in [Translating cooking terms between US / UK / AU / CA / NZ](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/784) – Aaronut Jun 30 '13 at 01:25
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    One basic error in the question: cookie is the American word for the British biscuit, definitely not the other way round. In the UK, I have never seen anything that is the equivalent of the American biscuit. – Phil M Jones Jul 01 '13 at 15:05
  • thanx @PhilMJones.. i haveedited my question... – Shaima Jul 03 '13 at 01:10

2 Answers2

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  • Scones (UK usage) are a quick bread, usually moderately sweet. They are baked on a sheet pan, sometimes sliced into wedges,sometimes cut into rounds or other shapes. They are similar to, but sweeter than American style biscuits.

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  • Biscuits (UK usage) or cookies (US usage) are very small, flat cake-like confections, usually rich in butter and sugar. They are also baked on sheet pans, in individual portions typically only a couple of inches across (although sizes vary widely). They come in a myriad varieties and flavors.

    enter image description here

    Typical flavorings are vanilla, chocolate, nuts, citrus. Some of the simpler varieties allow the butter flavor to come through.

  • Biscuit (US usage) or tea biscuit (UK usage, one variant) are a type of quick bread charactarized by flat, flaky layers. They are typically cut in rounds a couple of inches across, and tend to be about an inch tall. They are usually only very lightly sweetened if sweetened at all.

    enter image description here

  • Tea biscuit (UK usage, another variant) or teacake are biscuits or cookies traditionally served with tea. They tend to be fairly neutral in flavor.

    enter image description here

  • Muffins (UK usage) or English muffins (US usage) are small yeast-raised breads which are griddled in rings, rather than baked in an oven. They tend to be a couple of inches across, and about half an inch tall. They are often split and served toasted.

    enter image description here

  • Muffins (US usage) or American Muffins (UK usage) are a quick bread, usually moderately sweet, baked in single serving portions in muffin tins (the same pans used for cupcakes).

    enter image description here

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SAJ14SAJ
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    Actually Muffins in US are cakes. They're just shaped that way, but formulaically are cakes (hence no yeast). +1 for great breakdown. – MandoMando Jun 30 '13 at 01:34
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    @MandoMando Cupcakes (which were not asked about) are cakes; muffins are quick breads. Neither typically contain yeast. They are not the same thing. Cupcakes tend to be made by the creaming method; muffins are (in a huge coincidence) made via the muffin method. – SAJ14SAJ Jun 30 '13 at 01:36
  • Harvard Science dept. say they're cakes ;) – MandoMando Jun 30 '13 at 01:37
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    Well, by that argument, cookies are also very small cakes, which I can go with, but does not reflect typical usage. – SAJ14SAJ Jun 30 '13 at 01:37
  • Lol, no. Comes from Joanne Chang, Bakistry. Iirc she went out her way to say muffins were cakes just shaped that way. They (Chang, et al) are very much into the formula part of baking. – MandoMando Jun 30 '13 at 01:48
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    Then they are incorrect or addressing a different question. Muffins and cupcakes are distinct. Cupcakes are made by a cake method like the creaming method, tend to be sweeter, and are usually iced. Muffins are made by the muffin method, tend to be less sweet and are almost never iced, but may have crumb or nut topping, or no topping at all. If you use the broader definition, almost everything raised with baking powder/soda rather than yeast and baked or griddled is a quick bread, but people rarely use that definition – SAJ14SAJ Jun 30 '13 at 01:49
  • Well, perhaps one day they'll come out of the dark then. – MandoMando Jun 30 '13 at 01:55
  • @MandoMando, you should come to chat and we can argue at length... and give a reference so we can at least argue about the same presentation. – SAJ14SAJ Jun 30 '13 at 02:02
  • that's ok, i'm just passing on what I heard. I personally don't have a strong position on this and don't find the above food in my palate. I follow the science of it, and it made sense what she said. It wouldn't be proper to argue with you knowing that baking is a passion of yours. She's a reputable baker to me, but not infallible. – MandoMando Jun 30 '13 at 02:15
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    Your scone picture is not a very good representation. They are normally roughly shaped, usually a rectangular slab, sliced into smaller rectangles. They are usually served split, and topped with whipped cream and jam (real fruit preserve) – TFD Jun 30 '13 at 09:33
  • I have never heard of a tea biscuit. Certainly the biscuit you have shown isn't referred to as such. And it is definitely not a teacake. A teacake is a leavened sweet bread with fruit, not unlike challah. In Scotland they also refer to marshmallow and chocolate confections. – ElendilTheTall Jun 30 '13 at 15:13
  • As for cookie vs cake, I believe the difference is down to what happens after cooking. If it dries up when left out, it's a cake. If it absorbs moisture and goes soggy, it's a cookie. – ElendilTheTall Jun 30 '13 at 15:15
  • @ElendilTheTall I cannot agree with that; many cookies are dry and crispy. – SAJ14SAJ Jun 30 '13 at 16:36
  • On the tea biscuit / teacake thing I was going with google definitions. Do you have pictures of these items, we can update the post. – SAJ14SAJ Jun 30 '13 at 16:36
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    Cookies are dry and crispy, but when they're not stored properly they go soft and soggy. Cakes, in contrast, start soft and go dry and crispy. – ElendilTheTall Jun 30 '13 at 18:49
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    This is an English teacake, served as usual with butter: http://www.thegreatbritishdiet.co.uk/Images/TeacakeToasted.JPG . This is a Scottish teacake, almost always made by a company called Tunnock's: http://meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341d299153ef01116858bc92970c-800wi – ElendilTheTall Jun 30 '13 at 18:50
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    @TFD, I don't think I've ever seen an English scone which wasn't round or roughly hexagonal. A Google image search for "cream tea" largely supports my experience. – Peter Taylor Jul 01 '13 at 14:58
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    To back up Peter Taylor above, I have never seen wedge or rectangular scones in the UK. My wife makes them by the score, and they are always cut round (or crinkly round), prior to cooking. – Phil M Jones Jul 01 '13 at 15:02
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    Also, I believe Elendil was trying to make the point that cookies (UK biscuits) go soft when they go stale, and that cake goes hard when it goes stale. This was established as one of the key criteria for distinguishing between cake and biscuits in a UK tax tribunal, as chocolate-covered cake is not liable for VAT, but chocolate-covered biscuits are. Jaffa Cakes were therefore decreed to be cake, and thus the taxman failed to stick a 20% tax on them - hooray! – Phil M Jones Jul 01 '13 at 15:14
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    @PeterTaylor : it's quite common in the US ... so it's probably a sign that the 'scone' is an American scone, and not a British scone : http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/11/07/american_vs_british_scones_why_the_sweet_american_kind_are_a_delicious_pastry.html – Joe Jul 01 '13 at 15:15
  • And you haven't yet mentioned pikelets or drop scones... –  Jul 01 '13 at 13:33
  • @jackie so what are drop scones and pikelets? – Shaima Jul 03 '13 at 01:21
  • thanx for all the help.. I'm an Indian a total newbie to baking.. words common to u guys is jargon to me.. Scones, muffins, tea cakes etc were introduced to me by the great enid blyton when i was young.. i know no more than what she described in her books.. someday i'll make them.. – Shaima Jul 03 '13 at 01:34
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    I think you are wrong with the tea biscuit/teacake. In the UK, these are just called biscuits and would be the first thing that comes to mind for most people. True, there is a "rich tea biscuit", but I don't think there is a more general class of "tea biscuit". On your biscuits/cookies, we'd call the ones with Smarties in cookies. The sprinkles would be a borderline case, and the rest would be biscuits. – Brendon Jul 05 '13 at 15:15
  • @Shaima : they're [pancakes](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/13102/67). – Joe May 06 '14 at 14:41
  • ElendilTheTall, those Scottish teacakes look like what us Canadians call "mallow cookies". – Darren May 06 '14 at 12:10
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Why add to the nightmare by dragging in Muffins. Scones, Tea biscuits and American biscuits all had the same origin it seems.

Scones are a tad denser than tea biscuits I think, with Scones being the mother of all of them.

Tea biscuits and American biscuits (Southern style), are similar. American biscuits (Southern style), due to influence of commercialization (Fast food places), became more lighter and fluffier (and unhealthier), and are eaten at lunch and dinner, instead of breakfast.

In Canada (Ontario) we have both Scones and Tea biscuits, but no southern type biscuits, you have to go to Popeye's to get that. Sometimes the tea biscuit also looks like scones, a with raisins or baked with cheese in the batter. In Canada, scones are generally triangular, and that's how you tell the difference. New England and Canada still have/ make the original tea biscuit.

Paul
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