Osem Petit Beurre: Dunking, Biscuit Cake and Cheese

Osem Petit Beurre: The Plain Biscuit for Dunking and Baking

The Osem Petit Beurre earns its place by having almost no opinion of its own. A flat, scalloped, lightly sweet wheat biscuit, it is the one to reach for when something else, the tea, the cheese or the cake, is meant to be the flavour.

Published 26 Sep 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

Osem Petit Beurre: The Plain Biscuit for Dunking and Baking, in summary: A plain, lightly sweet wheat biscuit in the French petit beurre shape. Its fine, dense crumb snaps cleanly, softens slowly when dunked and carries butter, jam, cheese or a coffee-soaked biscuit cake equally well.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

The Osem Petit Beurre earns its place by having almost no opinion of its own. A flat, scalloped, lightly sweet wheat biscuit, it is the one to reach for when something else, the tea, the cheese or the cake, is meant to be the flavour.

The shape and the crumb

Petit beurre is a French style, and the shape is close to standard wherever it is made: a flat oblong with a scalloped edge, its surface pricked all over. The holes stop the dough rising, so it bakes flat and dry, pale and even rather than craggy. Bear in mind that petit beurre is a style name for the shape and recipe family, not a statement about what is in this particular pack.

The crumb is the real difference from a digestive. A digestive has a rough, open, absorbent texture; a petit beurre is fine, dense and close, with very little air in it. Snap one and it splits neatly in two rather than scattering crumbs, and on the tongue it is faintly sweet, faintly toasted and gently wheaten, with no coating, no filling and no loud flavour note to take over.

Dunking it properly

Because the crumb is so close, liquid gets in from the edges instead of soaking straight through, so the biscuit softens gradually and evenly, outside first. Dip one end at a time for a moment rather than plunging it whole. A digestive is the better dunker in a straight contest, but a petit beurre is more forgiving and rarely ends up at the bottom of the mug.

It is plain enough to go with almost any cup. A strong English Breakfast or a milky coffee gives it something to soak up, and beside a delicate Darjeeling or a green tea it simply stays out of the way, which few biscuits manage. That same neutrality explains why families in so many countries hand it to small children.

A biscuit for the kitchen

Plainness makes it useful well beyond the teapot. Dip each biscuit briefly in coffee and stack them in layers with cream, and you have a biscuit cake that never sees the oven, the dense crumb drinking up the coffee evenly. Crushed, it makes a cheesecake base for anyone who finds a digestive too sweet. Osem, the Israeli food maker founded in 1942 and part of Nestlé since the merger completed in 2016, sells it as a classic wheat biscuit.

It works on the savoury side too. There is so little sugar in the taste that a slice of hard cheese sits happily on top, and the close crumb takes the weight without breaking. For something sweeter, a scrape of butter is the traditional choice, jam or honey adds the sweetness the biscuit holds back, and a spoonful of chocolate spread between two of them is about as easy as a treat gets.

The packs we stock

Osem Petit Beurre Classic Wheat Biscuit, 250g (barcode 077544210301)

What to drink with it

Twinings Darjeeling Tea (International Blend), 25 Tea Bags 50g: a lighter, more delicate tea that a plain biscuit leaves room for rather than drowning out.
Lipton Black Earl Grey With Italian Bergamot, 20 Tea Bags 32g: a black tea with bergamot that a barely sweet biscuit lets through untouched.
Nescafe Gold Blend Intense Instant Coffee, 190g: strong instant coffee for the soak in a no-bake biscuit cake, or a mug alongside.
Lavazza Espresso Maestro Intenso Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules: a short Nespresso-compatible espresso for dunking the end of a biscuit.

Elsewhere in the Osem range

The full range is on the Osem brand page.

FAQ

How is a petit beurre different from a digestive? The crumb. A digestive is coarse and open and is the better dunker; a petit beurre is fine and close, snaps cleanly and softens slowly.

How do you use petit beurre in a biscuit cake? Soak each biscuit briefly in coffee and layer it with cream. The result is a no-bake biscuit cake.

Can you eat petit beurre with cheese? Yes. It is only lightly sweet, and the dense crumb holds a slice of hard cheese without breaking.

Does an Osem Petit Beurre contain butter? We hold no published label for this pack, and petit beurre is a style name rather than a list of contents. The ingredient panel on the current pack is the only reliable answer.

Who makes Osem biscuits? Osem, a major Israeli food manufacturer dating from 1942 and the maker of the Bamba peanut puff snack. Nestlé completed its merger with Osem in 2016.

Curator's note: I like a packet in the cupboard for the day a biscuit cake is needed or a slice of cheese wants something underneath. With a pot of Darjeeling it is the politest biscuit you can put out. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Osem Petit Beurre: The Plain Biscuit for Dunking and Baking

Field	Detail
Brand	Osem
Packs we stock	250g
Category	Chocolate Biscuits
Dunkable	Yes, briefly and one end at a time
Best with	English Breakfast, a milky coffee or Darjeeling
Also good for	Biscuit cake, cheesecake base, cheese