Baking powder biscuits are one of the easiest forms of bread you can make. A single recipe can be used to make plain biscuits, savory, and sweet.
While I have a couple of recipes I swap between, I wanted to try a recipe out of the My Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, the Great Depression-era bible of recipes.
It is a solid recipe, but with the old recipesm certain ingredients might cause confusion. And back in the day, double-acting baking powder was invented in 1860. For decades after, many women still used tartrate baking powder (yes, that random jar of cream of tartar in the spice aisle was once very important), or calcium phosphate. These were single-acting baking powders. The concept of phosphate-S.A.S baking powder changed it all – it was double-acting, meaning the second part was heat-activated. You no longer had to fear your item would not rise all the way.
I was reading the companion cookbook to the Laura Ingalls “Little House” books this winter, and I hadn’t realized how happy Ma was one year to get fresh baking powder once the train could get through. It was still a relatively new invention for her when they were homesteading.
But it also got me thinking, and I wandered to the pantry and realized I have two types of baking powder.
As a child, I remember helping my Mom often with baking quick breads and biscuits. She always bought Calumet or Rumford, both of which were double-acting. As a teen and young adult, I used various baking powders, constantly frustrated because they didn’t work properly. Well, the non-aluminum type is calcium phosphate. It is a single action. I just didn’t know that in the pre-Internet days. And while I really don’t like aluminium-based ingredients, they work much better. I found out that I was using it as a 1:1 substitution, and that you need to double the calcium phosphate version. Huh. Thanks, old cookbook!
I doubled the recipe because the boys love biscuits. If I am going to make a mess, I might as well make extra for later on. They love them cold later, with a bit of butter.
Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp double-acting baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp butter, cold and diced, or fat such as lard or bacon grease
- ¾ to 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the butter, work it in with your fingers. Add in the cheese.
Stir in the milk till the dough can be handled without sticking. How much milk depends on your flour and the humidity.
Lightly flour a work surface and knock out the dough. Pat out to ¾” thick. Cut into squares or use a biscuit cutter.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden on top.
~Sarah