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Maryland Biscuit

A biscuit made from flour and cold water, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Maryland Biscuit

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

  1. Mix the flour with cold water gradually until the dough holds together.

  2. Beat the dough with a heavy implement until pliable and blisters form.

Shape and bake

  1. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls, flatten them, and prick several times with a fork.

  2. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure, as its proteins form gluten when mixed and beaten with water.
Cold water
Hydrates the flour so the proteins can link into a cohesive, pliable dough.

The step that matters

Beat the dough until pliable and blistered. Beating works the gluten network, making the dough elastic so it holds its shape and blisters during baking. Stopping too early leaves a dense, crumbly biscuit.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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