People are only just realising why bourbon biscuits have holes in top of them

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Ever wondered why bourbon biscuits have holes in the top? It's not just to make the biccies look pretty. The divots are known as "docker" holes.

They are created by a nifty machine that pokes them into the dough before they're baked – and this serves a very important purpose.

According to Mark Greenwell, team manager at the United Biscuits factory in Carlisle, which makes McVitie’s and Carr’s water biscuits, they help the product to bake evenly.

He says the holes in the soft biscuits allow steam to escape and this prevents them from breaking or cracking. Mark told host Kate Quilton on a previous episode of Food Unwrapped on Channel 4: “If the holes weren’t there, steam would build up inside the biscuits. “The biscuits would collapse back down and you wouldn’t have a controllable product.