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Breakfast Biscuit

A quick biscuit made with flour, baking powder, lard, salt, and cold water, baked at 400°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Breakfast Biscuit

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

  1. Sift the flour and baking powder together three times.

  2. Rub the lard thoroughly into the flour.

  3. Mix with cold water to form a soft dough.

  4. Roll out and cut into biscuit shapes.

Bake

  1. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 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

All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that holds the biscuit together as it bakes.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, helping the biscuits rise and become light.
Lard
Coats the flour particles, creating a tender, flaky texture by keeping layers apart.
Cold water
Binds the flour and fat into a soft dough without developing excess gluten.

The step that matters

Rub the lard into the flour. The fat must be worked evenly through the flour so it coats the particles. Uneven or overworked fat gives a tough, uneven texture instead of a tender, flaky crumb.

“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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