Be careful when your biscuits turn too brown

Those dark brown, but not quite burnt, biscuits are still not quite safe to eat. — dpa

You left your biscuits in the oven just a few minutes too long, leaving them to become a crunchy dark brown – oh well, no point wasting a good batch of treats, right?

Health experts say these kinds of homemade biscuits are actually a clear health hazard because something called acrylamide is formed when starchy foods are baked at high heats.

This substance is thought to alter our genetic material and cause cancer.

If you take the biscuits out of the oven when they are golden yellow, however, then you can tuck in without any worries, especially if you have followed these three tips:

• Use baking paper

  This ensures that the biscuits don’t brown too much from the bottom.

• Avoid using ammonium carbonate or baker’s ammonia

  This leavening agent causes higher acrylamide levels than baking soda or baking powder.

• Don’t set the oven too hot

  Acrylamide levels rise sharply at temperatures above 180°C.

  If you want to be on the safe side, stay below this temperature.

Acrylamide, a byproduct of heating certain foods to high temperatures, is also common in home-roasted coffee and dark slices of toast, and should be consumed in the smallest quantities possible.

This substance can also be found in starchy foods like potatoes and bread after they have been roasted, baked or fried at high temperatures for long periods.

Even beyond the acrylamide risk, homemade biscuits don’t exactly belong to the “healthy” category, with their large share of fat, white flour and sugar.

But you can substitute some parts for healthier ingredients without sacrificing taste, bakers say.

Simple wheat flour can be replaced by spelt flour, for example.

This has only a minimal effect on the taste, but contains significantly more fibre and minerals.

Similarly, raw cane sugar and whole cane sugar can be used instead of fine granulated sugar.

The original taste of whole cane sugar doesn’t fit with every pastry, but it’s great for gingerbread.

Raw cane sugar can be used universally.

You can try reducing the sugar in soft cake doughs by a third and see if you notice any loss of taste.

However, hobby bakers have to be careful with crispy biscuits, as to maintain taste and consistency, you shouldn’t shave off more than 10 to 20% of the recommended sugar content. – dpa