I wanted to take part in the Recipe Box Swap this month and lucky me it was no-theme month so I got to choose whatever I wanted to share. This recipe comes from one of my all-time favourite cookbooks, The Purity Cookbook. The edition I have is a 2001 reprint of the 1967 edition, but the cookbook has been around for a long time. The maker of Purity Flour, Western Canada Flour Mills Co., was founded in 1905 and I believe the first edition of the Purity Cookbook was released in 1917. I believe that you can still get the 2001 reprint and I highly recommend it.
A tea biscuit dough should be soft but not sticky. A little kneading improves the quality of the biscuits, but should be done with a gentle touch as too much handling tends to make them tough.
Tea Biscuits, BASIC RECIPE
Preheat oven to 450F
Blend or sift together
2 cups Pre-Sifted PURITY All-Purpose Flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Cut in finely
1/3 cup shortening
Add
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
Stir with a fork to make a soft dough.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll or pat to desired thickness, (biscuits will be doubled in height when baked). Cut out with a floured cutter.
Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet, close together for soft-sided biscuits or about 1″ apart for crusty-sided biscuits.
Bake in preheated 450F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Yield: 18 to 20 - 1 3/4″ biscuits.
Follow this link to see who else is swapping this month: The Recipe Box Swap
I love having tea in the afternoons after work...normally with fruit, but tea biscuits sound so much better!
ReplyDeleteThese sound delightful - I'm dreaming of them with cheese! Thanks for the recipe and the cookbook recommendation. :)
ReplyDeleteI have the original printing of this cookbook, my mom gave it to me when I started out on my own. I'll have to check out that recipe now.
ReplyDeletethere is another similar to it, I think she got them for free for buying flour.
I have loved Thais cookbook as long as I can remember. My mom had the old one with the coil binding. Mine is so tattered from use that I had to look some recipes on line. I have also given it to new brides as a shower gift. As for the biscuits? Devine!
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