Great Grandmas Pioneer Trail Biscuits Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450˚ F. Sift 2 cups flour, the salt, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl. Mix in the lard with a fork or your fingers until well blended.
• Gradually add the buttermilk until the dough is wet and sticky (but not too wet), then add the remaining 3 tablespoons flour until the dough comes together and is kneadable. Either pinch off 2-inch biscuits or pat out the dough until ½ inch thick on a lightly floured surface and cut out biscuits with a floured 2-inch round cutter; arrange on a baking sheet. Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk.
• Bake the biscuits until golden brown on top, 15 to 17 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk; stir just until moistened., Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8-10 times. Pat dough into a 10x4-in. rectangle. Cut rectangle lengthwise in half; cut crosswise to make 10 squares., Place 1 in. apart on an ungreased baking sheet; brush tops with egg. Bake until golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease three 9-inch pie tins with 2 teaspoons lard.
• Put the biscuit mix in a bowl and make a well in the middle of the flour. Put the lard in the well and add the buttermilk. Gently mix the buttermilk and lard into the flour with your hands until a soft dough forms. If the dough is dry, add a little more buttermilk; if it's too wet, add a little more flour. Coat your hands well with flour and gently form the dough into balls a little larger than a golf ball. Place the dough balls in the pie tins, 7 per tin. Gently press each ball down to flatten.
• Bake until lightly browned on top and the biscuits release from the tins when you give them a shake, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the tops of the biscuits with the butter or margarine. Serve hot!

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt into a bowl. Use a pastry cutter to chop vegetable shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk egg and milk together in a separate bowl and slowly add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring as you pour, until dough is moistened and well-mixed. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until biscuits have risen and are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F
• Sift together into a bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar.
• Add the butter or margarine. With a fork or a pastry blender cut the butter in util the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the milk and the egg, just until combined. Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead lightly 4 or 5 strokes. Roll or pat (being careful to handle the dough as little as necessary) into a 1/2-3/4-inch thick round. Cut with a biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased baking sheet, farther apart if you like crispy edges, and closer together if you like them soft.
• Bake at 425F for 10-15 minutes. (For elevations of 500 feet or more use 4 teaspoons of baking powder.).

Steps:

• Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cut in the lard, until mixture looks like meal. Stir in buttermilk. If dough is not pliable, add just enough buttermilk to make a soft, puffy dough that is easy to roll out. Knead dough on lightly floured board about one to two minutes or 25 to 30 times. Roll out dough to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit cutter, or use a glass of the right size. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
• *** I don't use LARD. I use either Butter Flavored Crisco or Margarine. The Pioneers cooked them a bit differntly as there were no modern ovens on the trail... They made make-shift ovens that were sitting on coals of the campfire and more coals on top to get a hot oven effect. They also spent a lot of time baking as the ovens were small. They also sometimes made them in a skillet or a heavy pot with a lid (Dutch Oven)with coals under and about 12 - 15 on top.