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Maryland or Beaten Biscuit

A quick biscuit made by beating dough with a biscuit beater or heavy rolling pin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Maryland or Beaten 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. Rub the Cottolene and salt into the flour.

  2. Mix with cold water to form a very stiff dough.

  3. Knead for ten minutes until well mixed.

  4. Beat the dough hard with a biscuit beater or heavy rolling pin.

  5. Turn the dough over until it begins to blister and looks light and puffy.

Shape and bake

  1. Pull off a small piece of dough and form it into a round biscuit.

  2. Pinch off a bit from the top of the biscuit.

  3. Turn the biscuit over.

  4. Press the biscuit with your thumb to leave a hollow in the center.

  5. Place the biscuits some distance apart on a baking pan.

  6. Prick each biscuit with a fork.

  7. Bake for twenty minutes in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

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

Flour
Forms the main structure of the biscuit as the dough is mixed and worked.
Cottolene
Fat that is rubbed into the flour, tenderizing the biscuit and helping it stay flaky.
Cold water
Hydrates the flour to form the dough while keeping the fat cold and unmelted.

The step that matters

Beating and turning the dough until it blisters. Beating and folding the stiff dough builds layers and air, which helps the biscuits rise light and puffy. Too little working leaves them dense.

“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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