Praise the Lord and pass the Gun Powder Biscuits

Gramma (Jennie Helset) in her kitchen

One of Grammas’ favourite sayings was, “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.” I think that was her way of saying, while it is good to invoke help from above, it doesn’t hurt to do what you can for yourself. Not only did gramma have a pretty sound outlook on life in general she was also an incredible cook.

These baking powder biscuits she would make, we children would refer to as “gun powder” biscuits. We had, even at that young age, more experience with gun powder than baking powder due in no small part to an understanding uncle who would facilitate any experiment with explosives that we wish to undertake.

These biscuits make a great addition to a hearty stew or are appreciated wherever good gravy is served.

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tbs baking powder
• 2 tbs sugar
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ cup butter

Mix all dry ingredients and then cut butter into the mixture. Mixture should be a little coarser than corn meal. The tricky part comes when we add the water. Slowly add water and continue to lift the water through the mixture with a mixing spoon. It takes a little practice but your mixture should be considerably thicker than a pancake dough and hold together in a large ball but have a wet look to the ball. Start with a cup of water and then add in tablespoon increments til the right consistency is reached.

Grease 9 holes of a 12 seater muffin tin and drop the mixture into the 9 spaces. Bake for 12 mins at 375 and then finish off with about 2 mins with the broiler going. Watch it closely as they can burn quickly. You only have to do that 5 or 6 times and then you’ll remember to watch it like a mother hen and her chicks.