Biscuit vs. Cracker: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
A biscuit is a soft, often sweet, baked bread product, while a cracker is a thin, crisp baked item, usually savory.
Key Differences
Biscuits are typically soft, flaky, and made with flour, baking powder, and fat. Crackers, in contrast, are harder, crisper, and often contain less fat and no leavening agents like yeast or baking powder.
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Dec 05, 2023
Biscuits are often slightly sweet or neutral, serving as a base for other flavors like butter or jam. Crackers are usually savory, seasoned with salt, herbs, or cheese.
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In American English, 'biscuit' refers to a soft bread roll, while in British English, it is a sweet baked good similar to an American cookie. Crackers are universally recognized as thin, crispy snacks.
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Dec 05, 2023
Biscuits are commonly served as a side dish with meals or as a base for dishes like biscuits and gravy. Crackers are often used as a snack, paired with cheese or dips.
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Dec 05, 2023
Biscuits can range from buttermilk varieties to scones, while crackers include varieties like saltines, cheese crackers, and water biscuits.
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Dec 05, 2023
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Comparison Chart
Primary Use
Often as a side dish or breakfast item
Typically as a snack or appetizer
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Cultural Variation
Sweet in UK, bread-like in the US
Consistent definition worldwide
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Common Varieties
Buttermilk, scones, drop biscuits
Saltines, cheese crackers, water crackers
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Biscuit and Cracker Definitions
Biscuit
A soft, leavened bread roll, often eaten with butter.
She enjoyed warm biscuits with honey for breakfast.
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Cracker
A thin, crisp baked bread or pastry, usually savory.
She topped her soup with saltine crackers.
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Biscuit
Something seen as easy or uncomplicated.
Fixing the car was a biscuit for the skilled mechanic.
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Cracker
A product with various flavors and textures, from water crackers to cheese crackers.
For the party, they bought an assortment of crackers.
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Biscuit
A sweet, baked, flour-based food, similar to a cookie.
He dunked a chocolate biscuit into his tea.
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Cracker
Often used as a base for spreads or toppings.
She spread peanut butter on a cracker for a quick snack.
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Biscuit
A quick bread made from flour, fat, and a leavening agent.
The chef baked fresh biscuits to accompany the stew.
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Biscuit
A small cake of shortened bread leavened with baking powder or soda.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cracker
A small cardboard cylinder covered with decorative paper that holds candy or a party favor and pops when a paper strip is pulled at one or both ends and torn.
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Biscuit
A hard, dry cracker given to dogs as a treat or dietary supplement.
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Cracker
One who gains unauthorized access to a computer or computer network, usually for a malicious purpose such as to steal information or damage programs. See Usage Note at hacker.
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Biscuit
A thin, often oblong, waferlike piece of wood, glued into slots to connect larger pieces of wood in a joint.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cracker
(Offensive) Used as a disparaging term for a white person, especially one who is poor and from the southeast United States.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cracker
A dry, thin, crispy baked bread (usually salty or savoury, but sometimes sweet, as in the case of graham crackers and animal crackers).
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Biscuit
Pl. biscuit Clay that has been fired once but not glazed. Also called bisque2.
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Cracker
A short piece of twisted string tied to the end of a whip that creates the distinctive sound when the whip is thrown or cracked.
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Oct 19, 2023
Biscuit
A small, flat, baked good which is either hard and crisp or else soft but firm; a cookie.
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Oct 19, 2023
Biscuit
A small, usually soft and flaky bread, generally made with baking soda, which is similar in texture to a scone but which is usually not sweet.
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Oct 19, 2023
Cracker
A person or thing that cracks, or that cracks a thing (e.g. whip cracker; nutcracker).
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Cracker
The final section of certain whips, which is made of a short, thin piece of unravelled rope and produces a cracking sound.
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Biscuit
(nautical) The "bread" formerly supplied to naval ships, which was made with very little water, kneaded into flat cakes, and slowly baked, and which often became infested with weevils.
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Cracker
Refinery equipment used to pyrolyse organic feedstocks. If catalyst is used to aid pyrolysis it is informally called a cat-cracker
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Cracker
A fine, great thing or person (crackerjack).
She's an absolute cracker!
The show was a cracker!
A cracker of a day.
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Biscuit
(woodworking) A thin oval wafer of wood or other material inserted into mating slots on pieces of material to be joined to provide gluing surface and strength in shear.
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Cracker
An ambitious or hard-working person (i.e. someone who arises at the 'crack' of dawn).
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Cracker
(computing) One who cracks (i.e. overcomes) computer software or security restrictions.
Script kiddie
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Cracker
An impoverished white person from the southeastern United States, originally associated with Georgia and parts of Florida; (by extension) any white person.
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Biscuit
A kind of unraised bread, of many varieties, plain, sweet, or fancy, formed into flat cakes, and bakes hard; as, ship biscuit.
According to military practice, the bread or biscuit of the Romans was twice prepared in the oven.
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Biscuit
A small loaf or cake of bread, raised and shortened, or made light with soda or baking powder. Usually a number are baked in the same pan, forming a sheet or card.
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Biscuit
Earthen ware or porcelain which has undergone the first baking, before it is subjected to the glazing.
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Biscuit
A species of white, unglazed porcelain, in which vases, figures, and groups are formed in miniature.
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Cracker
A noisy boaster; a swaggering fellow.
What cracker is this same that deafs our ears?
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Cracker
A small firework, consisting of a little powder inclosed in a thick paper cylinder with a fuse, and exploding with a sharp noise; - usually called firecracker.
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Biscuit
Any of various small flat sweet cakes (`biscuit' is the British term)
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Oct 19, 2023
Cracker
A thin, dry biscuit, often hard or crisp; as, a Boston cracker; a Graham cracker; a soda cracker; an oyster cracker.
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Biscuit
A term originally referring to baked, twice-cooked bread.
Sailors often ate hard biscuits on long voyages.
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Cracker
A nickname to designate a poor white in some parts of the Southern United States.
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Cracker
A thin crisp wafer made or flour and water with or without leavening and shortening; unsweetened or semisweet
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Cracker
A programmer who `cracks' (gains unauthorized access to) computers, typically to do malicious things;
Crackers are often mistakenly called hackers
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Cracker
Firework consisting of a small explosive charge and fuse in a heavy paper casing
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Cracker
A party favor consisting of a paper roll (usually containing candy or a small favor) that pops when pulled at both ends
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Cracker
A small, dry, baked food, often eaten with cheese.
He arranged cheese and crackers on the platter.
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Cracker
A term derived from the crackling sound made when eating.
The sound of crackers being eaten filled the quiet room.
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
What is a biscuit in British English?
A sweet, baked item similar to an American cookie.
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What are biscuits made of?
Flour, fat, baking powder, and milk or buttermilk.
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Can crackers be homemade?
Yes, they can be made with simple ingredients like flour, water, and salt.
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Are biscuits typically sweet or savory?
They can be either, but are often slightly sweet or neutral.
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What's the difference in usage between biscuits and crackers?
Biscuits are often a side dish, while crackers are more for snacking.
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Do crackers contain yeast?
Some do, but many are made without leavening agents.
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Dec 05, 2023
Can biscuits be used as a dessert?
Yes, especially scones and sweet varieties.
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What defines a biscuit in American English?
A soft, leavened bread roll, often eaten with meals.
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Are crackers considered a healthy snack?
It depends on the ingredients; whole grain varieties can be healthier.
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Can biscuits be gluten-free?
Yes, with alternative flours like almond or rice flour.
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What is a water cracker?
A very light, crisp cracker made with minimal ingredients.
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Are crackers used in cooking?
Yes, often as a breading or in casserole toppings.
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Are biscuits vegan?
Traditional recipes contain dairy, but vegan options exist.
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How are biscuits different from rolls?
Biscuits are flakier and made with a different leavening process.
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Is a cracker a type of bread?
It's a baked product, similar to bread but much crisper.
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What's the origin of the word 'biscuit'?
From the Latin 'bis coctus,' meaning 'twice cooked.'
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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