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Dessert

Soda Biscuits

Soda biscuits are quick, unleavened biscuits made with flour, shortening, salt, and baking powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Soda Biscuits

Soda Biscuits

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.

Prepare

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

Mix and shape

  1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, shortening, salt, and baking powder until well combined.

  2. Do not knead the dough.

  3. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet.

Bake

  1. Bake for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the biscuits together as they bake.
Shortening
Coats flour particles to keep the crumb tender and short.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, making the biscuits rise and become light.

The step that matters

Do not knead the dough. Kneading develops gluten, the flour's stretchy network. Overworked dough bakes up tough and dense instead of tender and light, so mix only until combined.

“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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