Biscuit Loaf

The romanticized version is that I used to love reading the “Little House” books as well as “The Hobbit” and that their incessant talk of food made me ravenous—bread items in particular. Although it was bookworming that inspired the obsession, what drove me to action was more pedestrian: I needed to make biscuits just like Kentucky Fried Chicken’s.  And so I started baking recipe after recipe as soon as I was allowed to leave the sidelines, grating orange zest for my mamá’s pudín Mary.

Years later, successes and flops documented in a nerdy child’s precise handwriting, I put together a dough that yielded tall biscuits with a fluffy and flaky crumb, and a crisp exterior. I’ve published the recipe here and there, and here it is again, except that it’s in loaf form—more surface area for butter (or whipped cream) spreading.

This recipe and others to come are part of A Year in Dinners, a book I’m currently working on. 

BISCUIT LOAF 

 Makes 1 loaf 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 ounces lard or butter, chilled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup buttermilk*, chilledAdjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

 *If you don’t have buttermilk, use regular milk, substituting 1 tablespoon with distilled white vinegar.

• In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add the lard and use 2 dinner knives to cut it into the flour, or, use your fingertips to quickly work it in: the mixture should be shaggy and coarse. Add the buttermilk and stir with a rubber spatula, just until a dough forms. 
  
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead 2 to 4 times, just to form a dough. Flatten the dough out, then roll it and pat it into a loaf (approximately 10- by 6-inches). Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden. 
  
• Cool 10 minutes before serving with butter or whipped cream.