Vintage 7Up Biscuit Recipe - Semi Homemade Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How did they make biscuits in the old days? ›

“… beaten biscuits are what people made in the days before baking soda and baking powder was around. In order to get the biscuits to rise, cooks would beat the dough with a mallet, rolling pin, or even an ax for over half an hour util it blistered.”

The cream of tartar adds loft, replaces the usual buttermilk in biscuits, and explains why the biscuits need a little “rest period” as called for in the instructions below.

Buttermilk adds a tangy flavor to the biscuits and makes them slightly more tender. Butter: We use salted European butter in this recipe. It will work with unsalted or salted butter. I like the extra saltiness of salted butter, but you can reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon if you prefer.

That is why you will notice that recipes usually call for a small amount of baking soda, typically ¼ teaspoon per 1 cup of flour. Do not make the mistake of trying to substitute equal parts baking soda for baking powder in recipes. Your baked goods will have no leavening, be quite flat, and have an altered taste.

Originally, biscuits were little more than wheat flour and water, baked to form hardtack, which was carried by travelers because it stored for long periods of time. By the early 1800s, commercial baking powder was developed and the biscuit took a form that resembles the modern biscuit.

The cornstarch lowers the protein of the flour, which produces a more tender biscuit. The heavy cream provides the fat that helps create the flaky layers in great biscuits.

Aeration/Foaming. Aeration is a critical function in the formulation of baked goods. It refers to the process of introducing gas into a liquid or viscous solution. Beaten whole eggs as well as egg whites on their own, are highly effective leavening agents, incorporating air into the dough or batter.

Increasing the amount of butter definitely makes the biscuit "taste" softer, more crumbly, and more flaky.

Rolled Oats (49%), Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed, Sustainable Palm), Sugar, Salt, Flavourings. For allergen information, including cereals containing gluten see ingredients in bold. May also contain Egg, Milk, Soya and Tree Nuts.

Is butter or crisco better in biscuits? ›

Crisco may be beneficial for other baking applications, but for biscuit making, butter is the ultimate champion!

The extra fat in the heavy cream is helpful because buttermilk in stores is often “low-fat” buttermilk. Buttermilk. The buttermilk adds a tangy flavor to the biscuit and helps hydrate the dough just enough to create a nice structure for our biscuits.

If you start asking around, any Southern chef, Southern Living Test Kitchen pro, or biscuit-making family member will swear by White Lily flour. Generations of bakers have claimed it as the secret to the perfect, flaky biscuit.

The Earliest Evidence

The Romans certainly had a form of biscuit, what we'd now call a rusk and, as the name suggests, it was essentially bread which was re-baked to make it crisp. It kept for longer than plain bread, and was useful for travellers and soldiers' rations.

What makes biscuits Southern? Besides being passed down by beloved grandmothers, Southern biscuits are typically made with flour made from soft red winter wheat, such as White Lily.

Britain's favourite snack began life in the ancient world when slices of bread were dried to store them. The Romans called these rusks panis bicoctus (bread twice-baked), and so the original method for making biscuits is embedded in their name.