Baking Powder Tea Biscuit

Baking powder biscuits are an old country recipe that is still highly popular today. Traditionally served with high tea they are a quick bread that is distinctly unique from others. Delicious served with melted butter, jam, soup or stew.

No fussing or mussing with yeast just stir in a few common kitchen ingredients, bake or fry, and enjoy. Baking powder is the rising ingredient which makes this quick bread so easy to prepare. Much debate has raged on the difference between a tea biscuit and a scone but when the many variations to these two baked goods is factored in there really is very little difference between the two. Both are a delightful treat served hot or cold.

The scone is often sweeter and richer (due the addition of sugar and cream into the recipe) but the true difference between the two lies in their name and country of origin. The term scone is traditional in Scotland and England whereas in these countries the term biscuit refers to a cracker or cookie like treat. In the U.S. and Canada our baking powder quick bread is generally referred to as a tea biscuit. When served hot from the oven and oozing in melting butter these biscuits are a delightfully delicious treat which no other baked good can quite compete with.

Of course there is always more than one way to form a biscuit. 1. The dough can be made into a circle and baked in a pan to be then cut into triangular slices or ripped into sections. 2. It can be rolled out lightly then cut with a round cookie cutter into small cookie size circles. 3. The buns can be formed by hand into biscuits which is the method I will use in this recipe. 

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup of non-hydrogenated transfat free margarine
About 4 cups of flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
About 3/4 cup milk

There are many variations to the basic recipe and you can add a dash of flavour to your biscuit by adding in one of the optional ingredients listed below.

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raisins

Instructions:

1. Begin by mixing together the flour, salt, and baking powder Add margarine but use a pastry cutter or fork to cut rather than blend margarine into the flour.

2. Add the milk slowly into the pastry. Fluff pastry with a fork to blend the milk and crumble between your hands to blend in. Do not overwork the dough. The key to a fluffy biscuit is a fluffy pastry. 

3. Take a small handful of pastry and press gently into a biscuit. Lay on greased cookie sheet.

4. Bake at 385 Degrees for 10 to 15 Minutes. Cooking Time Will Depend on the Size of Your Biscuits. Add Butter and Enjoy. There really is nothing like the savour of home baked goodies hot from the oven.
The beauty of cooking at home is that you get to select your ingredients. You can add in or delete ingredients as you choose. Most recipes will adapt somewhat and with trial and error you can create foods to suit your tastes and nutritional requirements.

Cheddar Cheese Tea Biscuit

When it comes to fats in cooking my heart is ruled by my love for olive oil and genuine butter. For texture and economics though these two don't always suit the recipe requirement. This is the reason that I use non-hydrogenated trans fat free margarine in the majority of my baking and also within this recipe.

Making the switch to a healthier heart is easy. There are some fats that your body requires for optimum health but trans fats are not it. They clog your arteries and are a potential heart attack in the making. Please read the labels on your food products and avoid trans-fats whenever possible. To reduce my family's fat consumption further I use one percent milk in our home rather than whole or 2 percent milk. We switched down gradually from whole milk, to two percent milk, and finally down to one percent milk. Now we actually prefer it over the other higher fat content milks.

Keep your heart healthy. Bake up some love and make the switch to safer fats today. Also to help keep cholesterol in check consume oatmeal. Oatmeal is soluble fibre that absorbs cholesterol and helps to flush it from the body. It's heart healthy food.
 
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