Maryland Beaten Biscuit
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 the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Rub the lard and salt into the flour.
Mix in the cold water until a stiff dough forms.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes.
Beat and shape
Beat the dough hard with a rolling pin, turning it over until it blisters and looks light and puffy.
Pull off small pieces and form them into round biscuits.
Pinch off a bit from the top of each biscuit, turn them over, and press with your thumb to create a hollow.
Bake
Arrange the biscuits on a baking pan, prick them with a fork, 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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough once mixed with water.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the biscuits and keeps them short and flaky.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the flour so the mixture binds into a stiff, workable dough.
The step that matters
Beat the dough hard with a rolling pin. Repeated beating develops the gluten so the dough blisters and becomes light and puffy. Without enough beating, the biscuits stay dense and do not develop their characteristic texture.
“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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