Baking Biscuits to a Pale Set

Biscuits keep cooking after they leave the oven. Pull them while they are only just set and pale gold at the edges — still slightly soft in the centre — and let carry-over heat firm them as they cool. Baking until they look fully coloured in the oven is the most common route to a hard, tough biscuit. A moderate oven (160°C fan / 180°C / 350°F) and an early pull keep them tender and snappable. An oven thermometer helps, as many ovens run hotter than their dial.