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Baking Powder Biscuits

Baking Powder Biscuits

M. Blakely

M. Blakely

Cook 15 mins15m

The trick to making flaky, tender biscuits is to treat the dough gently, to handle it as little as possible, & to not use too much extra flour.

There are two recipes here; very similar. The one from "Cookery For Today" is quite a bit older, however, & notes that because flour used to be locally milled it was sometimes subject to large quality differences. The amount of liquid to add in that recipe is therefore only approximate!

Ingredients

  • 2 c. flour
  • 1 tsp salt (Optional)

  • "Cookery For Today" (1932 ed.)

  • 4 tsps baking powder
  • 2 tbsps shortening
  • ¾ c. milk (You can also make this ½ milk & ½ water)

  • "The Ground Meat Cookbook" (1970 ed.) (From the Culinary Art Institute)

  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ½ c. lard (Option 1a)
  • ½ c. shortening (Option 1b)
  • milk

Instructions

Keep screen awake
  • 1
    Preheat oven to 450º F.
  • 2
    Mix together flour, baking powder, & salt, if using the latter.
  • 3
    THE GROUND MEAT COOKBOOK: With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in lard/shortening until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Make well in center & pour in 1/2-c. milk. Stir with fork until dough follows fork. Form dough into ball & put on floured surface. Knead dough by folding opposite side towards you. Using fingertips, gently push dough away. Give dough a quarter turn & repeat process, 10-15 times till dough is just smooth. (Always turn dough in same direction & use as little extra flour as possible.) Roll dough to 1/2-in. uniform thickness.
  • 4
    COOKERY FOR TODAY: Work shortening into dry ingredients with fingertips or 2 knives. Gradually add milk, stirring with knife(!) to form soft dough. Put dough on floured board/counter. Lightly pat & roll to 1/2-in. thickness. (The more you hand the dough & more flour you use, the harder the finished product will be.)
  • 5
    Cut dough with floured biscuit cutter, using even pressure to keep sides of biscuits straight, & put on ungreased cookie sheet. (For soft-sided biscuits, put them close together on baking sheet; for crusty-sided biscuits, put them 1-in. apart.)
  • 6
    Brush top of biscuits with milk (from THE GROUND MEAT COOKBOOK) & bake till golden brown (app. .).

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