Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Baking Powder Biscuit
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a mixing pan, sift the flour.
Mix the baking powder and salt into the center of the flour.
Make and shape the dough
Add water and shortening, mixing just enough to form a dough.
Roll out the dough gently, avoiding excessive kneading.
Cut into biscuits and bake for 20 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the biscuits together as they bake.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that keeps the biscuits tender and separates the dough layers.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the oven so the biscuits rise and become light.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together and bakes through.
The step that matters
Mixing the dough. Mixing only until the dough just comes together keeps it tender. Excessive kneading develops gluten, which makes biscuits tough and 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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