British people tend to call what Americans call cookies biscuits, while Americans tend to call what British people call scones biscuits.
The American cookie vs. the British biscuit
In the US, a cookie is a round, flat dessert that can be either soft or crunchy.
In the UK, people call the firmer variants biscuits, although some may call the bigger and softer ones cookies. People in the UK enjoy their crispy British biscuits with tea, while Americans may have their sweet cookies with milk.
Below is a photo of what Americans call cookies and what the British call biscuits.
However, British people may also call these larger fluffy variants cookies as in the photo below.
The British biscuit tends to be firmer and crisp as seen in the image below. Although this type of snack is typically called a cookie in the US, some Americans may also call it a biscuit if it is firm, less sweet, and shaped more like a cracker than a fluffy cookie.
In the US, a biscuit can also refer to a round bread that is accompanied by gravy, butter, or jam as seen in the image below.
In the UK, this would be called a scone and would be eaten on its own or with sweet jam and cream.
Example sentences
- US: I like to dip my chocolate chip cookies in milk.
- UK: My mother provided biscuits and tea for our guests.
- US: On Thanksgiving, we had turkey, mashed potatoes, biscuits with gravy, and pumpkin pie.
- UK: My father loves his scones with jam and cream.
- US: It took 12 minutes for the soft cookies to bake in the oven.
- UK: My sister had some digestive biscuits as a snack while watching the football game.
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