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Individual Biscuit Pies
Proceed as for Biscuit Pie, but after dough is rolled out thin, cut into biscuits with baking powder tin cover. Put a layer of biscuits in pan, stick a good dab of marmalade or thick jam on top, cover each biscuit with a plain biscuit, jab with a fork, and bake as directed above. The filling may be mixed with chopped nuts, or with peanut butter. I BIG BOX GRAHAM CRACKERS
A camp version of a jam turnover: two rounds of biscuit dough sandwiched around a spoonful of preserves. The instructions lean on a preceding Biscuit Pie recipe, so the working details have to be filled in.
- The cutterA "baking powder tin cover" is the lid from a cylindrical baking powder can, roughly 2 to 2 1/2 inches across. Any biscuit cutter, glass rim or empty tin of that diameter does the same job.
- The doughStandard baking-powder biscuit dough — flour, baking powder, salt, fat, liquid. The recipe gives no measurement, only 'rolled out thin'; perhaps around 1/4 inch, thinner than biscuits would normally be rolled, since two rounds are stacked.
- Oven heatThe recipe gives no temperature or time; it says only to bake 'as directed above', pointing back to the parent Biscuit Pie recipe, which is not reproduced on this page. Biscuit dough generally wants a hot oven — in modern terms something in the region of 425–450F for 10 to 15 minutes, until the tops are set and lightly browned.
- Sealing matters mostPress the edges of the two rounds together firmly before baking, or the jam boils out and welds the pies to the pan. Cold, thick jam behaves far better than warm or runny preserves.
- The fork jabPricking the top most likely serves as a steam vent, though the fork may also be doing the work of sealing the two rounds together. Without it the top round can lift off the filling in a dome.
- Filling quantityA rounded teaspoon per biscuit is the practical limit; a "good dab" larger than that will find its way out. Keep it in the centre with a clear 1/4-inch margin all round.
- Peanut butter variationPeanut butter alone stiffens and dries in the oven. Mixed half and half with jam it stays soft, which is presumably why the original pairs them.
- YieldA single batch of biscuit dough made with 2 cups of flour, rolled thin, gives roughly 10 to 12 finished pies.