Beaten Biscuits

I found this recipe interesting when I came across it in The Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, vol. 1, 1918, because I was shocked to think of millions of women having enough time on a regular basis to stand around beating their biscuits for half an hour. Further research revealed stories of women breaking their rolling pins on it, or taking it out back and beating the dough with the flat of an axe. The biscuits rely on physical leavening rather than any chemical means. They are supposed to be more like a cracker than the traditional baking powder biscuit. I can only imagine they became popular because Valium was yet to be invented and they provided a convenient means of working off pent-up frustration while waiting for suffrage.

“Such biscuits are used very extensively in the South; in fact, they are usually considered typical of the South. Formerly, all the lightness of beaten biscuits was produced by beating, but as the mixture is made today it may be run through a food chopper a few times before it is beaten. If this is done, the labor of beating is lessened considerably, beating for 15 to 20 minutes being sufficient. When the beating is finished, the texture of the dough should be fine and close and the surface should be smooth and flat.

BEATEN BISCUITS

1 qt. pastry flour

1 tsp. salt

1/3 c. fat

1 c. milk or water

Sift the flour and salt and chop in the fat. Moisten with the milk or water and form into a mass. Toss this on a floured board, and beat it with a rolling pin for 30 minutes, folding the dough over every few seconds. Roll the dough 1/3 inch in thickness, form the biscuits by cutting them out with a small round cutter, and prick each one several times with a fork. Place the biscuits on baking sheets or in shallow pans, and bake them in a moderate oven for 20 to 30 minutes.”

Here’s my attempt in process. I do love these grinders. After this I took the dough into the living room to beat my biscuits while watching t.v. (that sounds dirty every time I say it). In case you're wondering, I put the dough through the grinder 3 times and beat it with a rolling pan on the back of a cast iron skillet for one Monty Python episode. Then I rolled them--way too thin--and, since there’s no baking temperature in the recipe, popped them in a 350° oven. Half way thru I remembered that biscuits are usually baked hotter than that and turned it up to 400°. The final result:

Way too flat, no splitting these! But lots of layers and air pockets making it flaky. The taste—like a soft table water cracker. I spread them with cheese and they were just fine. I had three since I figured I worked the calories off just making them.