Soda Biscuit Crackers
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dough
Mix the flour and water in a large container.
In a separate bowl, melt the lard and add it to the mixture.
Dissolve the baking soda in a small amount of water and add it to the mixture.
Stir in the salt and baker's yeast.
Knead the dough until smooth and let it rise until doubled in size.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.
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 as its proteins bond with water.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crackers and gives a crisp, flaky texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with acidic components and heat to produce gas and lighten the dough.
- Baker's yeast
- Ferments sugars in the dough, producing gas that makes it rise.
The step that matters
Knead the dough until smooth and let it rise until doubled in size. Kneading develops gluten so the dough holds gas during rising. Under-kneading or under-proofing leaves the crackers dense, while over-proofing weakens the structure and can make them collapse or bake unevenly.
“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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