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Baking

Maryland Biscuit

A simple biscuit made with sifted flour, lard, cold water, and salt, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 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.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. In a bowl, mix the flour and salt.

  3. Add the lard and enough cold water to form a stiff dough.

  4. Beat the dough for half an hour.

Shape and bake

  1. Shape the dough into small cakes and press them flat with your fingers.

  2. Bake in the preheated oven until golden.

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 structure of the dough once mixed with water.
Lard
Adds fat that tenderises the biscuit and helps it brown.
Cold water
Hydrates the flour so the dough holds together.

The step that matters

Beat the dough for half an hour. Beating develops gluten in the flour, giving the dough strength and chewiness. Cold water and fat keep the dough from becoming tough, so beat steadily rather than aggressively.

“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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