It can be argued that the development of biscuits, as a dry form of flour dough began with the need for travelling bread, particularly for travelling. The introduction of the baking of processed cereals, including the creation of flour, provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat, brittle loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake while the Romans had a biscuit called buccellatum. Roman cookbook Apicius describes: 'a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened, it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper'.

Hard biscuits soften as they age. To solve this problem, early bakers attempted to create the hardest biscuit possible. Because it is so hard and dry, if properly stored and transported, navies' hardtack will survive rough handling and high temperature. Baked hard, it can be kept without spoiling for years as long as it is kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two. To soften hardtack for eating, it was often dunked in brine, coffee, or some other liquid or broken into pieces and cooked into a skillet meal.

Early biscuits were hard, dry, and unsweetened. They were most often cooked after bread, in a cooling bakers' oven; they were a cheap form of sustenance for the poor.

By the 7th century AD, cooks of the Persian empire had learnt from their forebears the techniques of lightening and enriching bread-based mixtures with eggs, butter, and cream, and sweetening them with fruit and honey. One of the earliest spiced biscuits was gingerbread, in French, pain d'épices, meaning "spice bread", brought to Europe in 992 by the Armenian monk Grégoire de Nicopolis. He left Nicopolis Pompeii, of Lesser Armenia to live in Bondaroy, France, near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years and taught French priests and Christians how to cook gingerbread. This was originally a dense, treacly (molasses-based) spice cake or bread. As it was so expensive to make, early ginger biscuits were a cheap form of using up the leftover bread mix.

With the combination of knowledge spreading from Al-Andalus, and then the Crusades and subsequent spread of the spice trade to Europe, the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe.[4] By mediaeval times, biscuits were made from a sweetened, spiced paste of breadcrumbs and then baked (e.g., gingerbread), or from cooked bread enriched with sugar and spices and then baked again.[19] King Richard I of England (aka Richard the Lionheart) left for the Third Crusade (1189–92) with "biskit of muslin", which was a mixed corn compound of barley, rye, and bean flour.

The milk chocolate coated side of a McVitie's chocolate digestive. It is routinely ranked the UK's favourite snack. As the making and quality of bread had been controlled to this point, so were the skills of biscuit-making through the craft guilds. As the supply of sugar began, and the refinement and supply of flour increased, so did the ability to sample more leisurely foodstuffs, including sweet biscuits. Early references from the Vadstena monastery show how the Swedish nuns were baking gingerbread to ease digestion in 1444. The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 16th century, where they were sold in monastery pharmacies and town square farmers markets. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution in Britain sparked the formation of businesses in various industries, and the British biscuit firms of McVitie's, Carr's, Huntley & Palmers, and Crawfords were all established by 1850.

Most modern biscuits can trace their origins back to either the hardtack ship's biscuit or the creative art of the baker:
Ship's biscuit derived: digestive, rich tea, hobnobs, Garibaldi.
Baker's art: biscuit rose de Reims.

Biscuits today can be savoury (crackers) or sweet. Most are small, at around 5 cm (2.0 in) in diameter, and flat. Sandwich-style biscuits consist of two biscuits sandwiching a layer of "creme" or icing, such as the custard cream, or a layer of jam (as in the biscuits that are known as "Jammie Dodgers" in the United Kingdom).

Sweet biscuits are commonly eaten as a snack food, and are, in general, made with wheat flour or oats, and sweetened with sugar or honey. Varieties may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts, ginger, or even be used to sandwich other fillings.

Savoury biscuits or crackers (such as cream crackers, water biscuits, oatcakes, or crisp breads) are usually plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal. Many savoury biscuits also contain additional ingredients for flavour or texture, such as poppy seeds, onion or onion seeds, cheese (such as cheese melts), and olives. Savoury biscuits also usually have a dedicated section in most European supermarkets, often in the same aisle as sweet biscuits. The exception to savoury biscuits is the sweetmeal digestive known as the 'Hovis biscuit', which, although slightly sweet, is still classified as a cheese biscuit.[32] Savoury biscuits sold in supermarkets are sometimes associated with a certain geographical area, such as Scottish oatcakes or Cornish wafer biscuits.

The alphabetical list of all the biscuit, cookie and cracker recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 381 recipes in total:

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Jumbles      Origin: British	Mandelspritzgebäck (German Almond Christmas Biscuits)      Origin: Germany	Oatmeal Cakes      Origin: Scotland
Ka'ak Biscuits      Origin: Lebanon	Mango Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust      Origin: Fusion	Obuoliniai Sausainiai (Lithuanian Apple Biscuits)      Origin: Lithuania
Kaak Malih (Yeasted Almond Biscuits)      Origin: Libya	Mantecadas (Spanish Cinnamon Biscuits)      Origin: Morocco	Oliebollen (Dutch New Year Doughnuts)      Origin: Netherlands
Kammerjunker Biscuits      Origin: Denmark	Marie Biscuits      Origin: India	Omled Sloj (Onion Greens Omelette)      Origin: Welsh
Kastaneli Pasta (Chestnut Cake)      Origin: Turkey	Marie Biscuits      Origin: India	Orange Cheesecake 2      Origin: Britain
Keres Choklet (Cherry Chocolate Biscuits)      Origin: England	Matzo Crackers      Origin: Jewish	Orange Chesecake      Origin: Britain
Khatai Biscuits      Origin: Afghanistan	Matzo Meal Biscuits      Origin: Jewish	Ostkaka (Swedish Cheesecake)      Origin: Sweden
King Driver (Sierra Leonean Shortbread)      Origin: Sierra Leone	Maza (Barley Cake)      Origin: Roman	Palets Breton (Breton Pucks)      Origin: France
Kiwi Biscuits      Origin: New Zealand	Mbatata Biscuits (Sweet Potato Biscuits)      Origin: Malawi	Palets bretons au caramel salé (Breton Pucks with Salted Caramel)      Origin: France
Koeki di Pinda y Chuculati (Peanut and Chocolate Chip Cookies)      Origin: Aruba	Medvjeđe Šape (Bear Paws)      Origin: Croatia	Panlevi (Sponge Biscuits)      Origin: Aruba
Koulourakia (Greek Easter Biscuits)      Origin: Greece	Melomakrona (Honey Semolina Biscuits)      Origin: Greece	Party crispies      Origin: Andorra
Kourabiedes (Greek Almond Crescents)      Origin: Greece	Microwave Mint Julep Cheesecake      Origin: American	Peanut Butter Cheesecake      Origin: Britain
Kransekage Konfekt (Almond Allsorts)      Origin: Denmark	Mincemat, Macadamia and Cranberry Biscotti      Origin: Fusion	Peanut Clusters      Origin: Britain
Kransekage Stænger (Danish Almond Sticks)      Origin: Denmark	Mincemeat Blondies      Origin: Fusion	Peanut Cookies      Origin: Britain
Krem Sokola (Chocolate Cream)      Origin: Turkey	Mini Milk Cookies      Origin: America	Peanut Macaroons      Origin: Sudan-a
Kurambiedes (Greek Christmas Biscuits)      Origin: Greece	Mini Pots of Gold      Origin: Ireland	Pesto Pastry Stars      Origin: British
Kwarezimal (Almond Cakes)      Origin: Malta	Mint Shortbread Biscuits      Origin: Ireland	Petits Beurres      Origin: France
Ladyfingers      Origin: Italy	Montserratian Johnny Cakes      Origin: Montserrat	Peynirli Bisküvi (Cheese Biscuits)      Origin: Turkey
Lancashire Nuts      Origin: England	Mtedza (Peanut Puffs)      Origin: Malawi	Pineapple Pudding      Origin: India
Langues de Chat (Cat's Biscuits)      Origin: France	Mtedza Puffs      Origin: Malawi	Pineappleweed Biscuits      Origin: Britain
Langues de Chat (Cat's Tongue Biscuits)      Origin: France	Mulled Wine Cheesecake      Origin: Britain	Pineappleweed Posset Pots      Origin: Britain
Lavender Chocolate Chip Cookies      Origin: Britain	Mulled Wine Cheesecake II      Origin: Britain	Pineappleweed Skolebrød      Origin: Scotland
Lavender Tea Biscuits      Origin: American	Naples Biscuits      Origin: American	Piparkökur (Icelandic Pepper Biscuits)      Origin: Iceland
Le michon breton (Breton michon)      Origin: France	Naples Bisket      Origin: Britain	Pitcaithly Bannocks      Origin: Scotland
Lemon and Condensed Milk Biscuits      Origin: Botswana	Navettes Bretonnes aux fruits rouges (Breton Navettes with Red Fruit)      Origin: France	Polvorones de Canela (Cinnamon Shortbread)      Origin: Spain
Les Cakes (Chadian Biscuits)      Origin: Chad	New York Cheesecake II      Origin: America	Polvorones puertorriqueños (Guava Thumbprint Biscuits)      Origin: Puerto Rico
Liberian Cassava Biscuits      Origin: Liberia	No Bake Cheesecake      Origin: Britain	Prince Bisket      Origin: Britain
Liberian Shortbread      Origin: Liberia	No-bake Cheesecake 3      Origin: Scotland	Puerto Rican Dulce de Leche      Origin: Puerto Rico
Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies      Origin: American	No-bake Cheesecake II      Origin: American	Pumpkin Cheesecake      Origin: Britain
Macaroons      Origin: Britain	No-bake Lemon Cheesecake      Origin: American	Pumpkin Pie Bars      Origin: American
Magrood (Libyan Date Biscuits)      Origin: Libya	Oat and Barley Milk Cakes      Origin: Ancient	Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust      Origin: American
Mamoul      Origin: North Africa	Oat and Currant Biscuits      Origin: Britain	Pumpkin Spice Cookies      Origin: American
Mandelbroit (Mandel Bread)      Origin: Jewish	Oat Biscuits      Origin: Britain
Mandelskorpor (Almond Rusks)      Origin: Denmark	Oatcakes      Origin: Ancient

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