why did my biscuits go ROCK hard???

[alannabanana]

me and ds have great fun cooking, but i havent attempted biscuits/cookies in many years. made some the other day and they were fine out the oven, but when they cooled they were like bricks!
i creamed together the marg and sugar, added one beaten egg, folded in the flour, a bit of vanilla extract and some white chocolate shavings, then the fun bit of rolling the dough and cutting out the shapes. it all seemed to be going well so i'm not sure what happened - did i miss some crucial non-rockifying ingredient?? i used plain flour...could that be it? they were in the oven no more than 15 mins...maybe that was too long??
any cookie experts online???!

Could be many things or a combination:

Did you roll out/ball up the dough lots of times? They heed only minimal handling, and the first 'roll out' is always the most juicy, imo!

Did you roll them out too thinly? The thinner the biscuit, the crisper.

Is your oven a fan oven? Did you adjust the cooking temp to suit? Fan ovens can be very dry so can dry out food. I have put a bowl of water in the oven when cooking to prevent it from drying out. If too hot, try reducing the temp and if necessary increase the cooking time.

Did you leave them in the oven too long? They carry on cooking after you've brought them out, so always test the middle of the biscuit with your fingerto see if it is 'springy' and take out at that point-don't let it go over!

Trial and error is the way with baking, so bake some more and make a change and note how it goes, then try changing one more thing, then another, to see what differences you get.

thats some class advice, thanks. we did roll it out a few times, so could be that, and each time it seemed to drink in the flour. im thinking a lower cooking temp too, and the fan oven thing, defo give that bowl of water a go - thanks!
and yes you are still sexy!

I read the title as 'bits' and thought it was someone quoting their little boy... :o

well thats a whole nother thread entirely which my ds would have plenty to say on!!