Tea Biscuits

[OakLeaf]

In the USA, a "biscuit" is a light, flaky bread, that uses a lot of solid fat like butter or shortening as part of its "leavening," uses no eggs or other binders, and is usually unsweetened. Making these biscuits is very similar to making pie crust, except that the proportions of flour and liquid are much higher in comparison to the shortening. Typically they're rolled out thick and cut with a circular cookie cutter. They're usually served for breakfast, warm with butter and jam, or in some parts of the country, smothered with sausage gravy.

In the UK, a "biscuit" is a sweet, heavy confection that typically uses eggs or another binder. They may be frosted, but no other toppings are added. The dough can be rolled thin and cut into various shapes, or dropped by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet to spread out during baking. They're usually served for dessert or an afternoon snack with tea. They're great warm out of the oven, but they're made to be served at room temperature as well. Americans call them "cookies."

[malkin]

And in Utah a scone is a blob of deep fried dough served with honey, syrup or jam.

[badger]

yeah, and your McDonald's have the breakfast sandwiches in biscuits instead of english muffin. Sorry, that was the first thing that popped up with you were talking about the different biscuit types. They kind of remind me of scones, too.

I didn't know that "Russian Tea Biscuits" and the Viennese sugar balls are the same thing. My mother used to bake a ton of German/Austrian cookies/pastries around Christmas time. I loved those sugar balls, those melt-in-your mouth goodness. *sigh*

[shootingstar]

And in Utah a scone is a blob of deep fried dough served with honey, syrup or jam.

So interesting on different regional interpretations.

I was never keen on tea biscuits and now I know why -- they are 'thuddish' heavy things. based on the ingredients explained by helpful folks here.

I am picky on the type of scone that I prefer -- lighter versions with abit of real fruit mixed into batter and baked. Or dried fruit. Often these versions are made with some oatmeal, whole wheat flour, etc. Awhile ago I used to make a scone that used yogurt, not much sugar, flour, fruit, etc.

[OakLeaf]

I was never keen on tea biscuits and now I know why -- they are 'thuddish' heavy things.

Whichever kind you mean... you must never have had a good one! American-style breakfast biscuits are light, tender and delicate morsels of deliciousness ... Cookies can be all over the map but certainly don't have to be "thuddish."

[violette]

they are the ones served with sausage gravy, Tim Horton's biscuits. almost look like strawberry shortcakes.

[OakLeaf]

As I said before I don't have a standard recipe that I use (I think I usually go to the Joy of Cooking), but I ran across this troubleshooting page that has a lot of tips. They reiterate my first thought, that "More baking flops occur from old, tired baking powder than from any other cause."

[bmccasland]

Also if you over mix the dough. My grandmothers used shortening (Crisco) in their biscuits, and White Lily flour (it's a southern thing). It seems that the buttermilk recipies (or use sour milk) makes a bit "lighter" biscuit too.

And if you want to be decadent, melt some bacon drippings in the pan (put in the oven while it's pre-heating). After you've cut your biscuits out, coat both sides in the melted drippings, then bake. (It helps if you slant the pan, so that all the drippings are at one end.)