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Dessert

Beat Biscuit

A simple biscuit made with flour, lard, salt, and cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Beat Biscuit

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, lard, and salt, and rub them together until well mixed.

  3. Gradually add the cold water and work the dough until it is perfectly smooth.

Shape and bake

  1. Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.

  2. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

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
Rubbed into the flour to add fat, tenderness and a flaky texture.
Cold water
Hydrates the flour so the dough comes together and can be worked smooth.

The step that matters

Working the dough to smooth after adding the water. Adding water gradually and working the dough until smooth lets the flour hydrate evenly. Overworking develops gluten, which makes the biscuits tough, so stop once the dough is smooth.

“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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