Keeping crispbread and biscuits crisp: how to avoid chewy bakes

Knekkebrød, the dry Norwegian crispbread, and biscuits lose their snap for one reason: they draw moisture out of the air. The fix is not the same as for a fresh loaf. Here are the rules that actually work, and the one mistake almost everyone makes.

Moisture is the enemy, not drying out

A fresh loaf and a crispbread have opposite problems. Bread goes hard because the starch in the crumb crystallises, not mainly because it dries out. Crispbread is already baked almost bone dry, and then the moisture travels the other way: out of the room air and into the bake.

Starch and fibre in something that dry pull in moisture all by themselves. In a kitchen where food is boiled, fried and washed up, that happens fast. So anything that breathes and lets air through is the wrong storage for crispbread and biscuits. If you are coming at it from the other side and wondering why your bread goes hard, the explanation is in the guide on why bread goes hard.

An airtight tin is right here, a bag that breathes is wrong

We should be honest about our own product: the beeswax bread bag is made to breathe, and that is exactly why it is wrong for crispbread. It lets moisture out of a fresh loaf, but it does not keep damp room air out either. Crispbread in a bag turns chewy.

One exception: on a trip, beeswax wraps are good for crispbread, because the sheet is tight and protects against being squashed in the rucksack. At home the airtight tin is still best, see the guide on bread at the cabin and on the trail. If you want to compare the storage methods for the loaf itself, that is in bread bin or bread bag.

How to rescue soft crispbread in the oven

Soft crispbread does not belong in the bin. The moisture can be driven out again, and it takes a few minutes.

1. 1
   Set the oven to 150 °C

   Top and bottom heat. You are drying, not baking.

2. 2
   Lay the bakes out in a single layer

   On a baking tray with baking paper. Do not stack them, the moisture needs a way out.

3. 3
   In for 3 to 5 minutes

   Thin biscuits often need only 2 to 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them.

4. 4
   Take them out while they still feel a little soft

   The snap arrives as they cool down, not in the oven.

5. 5
   Cool them completely on a rack

   Put them in the tin warm and they steam themselves soft again within the hour.

6. 6
   Straight into an airtight tin once they are cold

   Lid on at once, so the moisture uptake does not start all over again.

The same method works on kavring and flatbrød. The crust on a whole loaf is a different exercise, see the guide on keeping a baguette crisp.

Crisp and soft should never share a tin

This is the rule people forget, and it is the one that costs the most. Moisture always travels from the damp to the dry. Put a soft cake, a bun or a piece of apple in the same tin as the biscuits, and the biscuits are chewy by the next morning. The cake gets drier at the same time, so both of them lose.

It applies to two kinds of biscuit as well. One soft sirupssnipp, the Norwegian syrup biscuit, will turn crisp krumkaker, the thin rolled wafers, limp within a day. One tin for crisp, one for soft, that is the whole art. In the Christmas baking this is the most common mistake of all, and it is covered more thoroughly in the guide on Christmas baking and Christmas biscuits.

Storing biscuits: the small things that decide it

• The lid has to actually seal. A rubber gasket or clips. A pretty metal tin with a loose lid is decoration, not a seal.
• Choose a tin that matches the amount. A lot of air in the tin is a lot of moisture the bake can draw in.
• Keep the tin cool and dry. Not above the cooker, and not next to the dishwasher that puffs out steam when it is opened.
• Baking paper between the layers. Then the ones at the bottom do not get crushed, and they lie evenly.
• Do not put a slice of bread in the tin. That old trick is for soft cakes that are meant to stay soft. In a tin of crisp biscuits, a slice of bread is the last thing you want.

The same mistakes crop up on the bread side, see the overview of common bread storage mistakes.

When the freezer is the right answer

If you have baked a big batch of crispbread or biscuits, they take the freezer well. Freeze them in an airtight box, ideally with baking paper between the layers. Take out what you need. If they are limp after thawing, a few minutes in the oven at 150 °C brings the snap back.

Frequently asked questions