Twin Biscuits

This is a variation entry rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes you have the book's Standard Biscuit dough in front of you, and gives only the flour quantity as a reminder of scale. The technique is the whole point.

• You need the base recipeNothing here works without the book's Standard Biscuit dough. The page gives only the flour figure (4 cups sifted flour) as a scale reminder; the leavening, salt, fat and liquid all come from the base entry. Do not try to reconstruct it from the flour figure alone.
• Quick ovenNo temperature is given; period equivalence tables put a quick oven at roughly 400 to 425F. Biscuits depend on a fast burst of heat to set the crust while the baking powder is still working; a moderate oven gives pale, heavy results.
• Why two thin roundsEach round is rolled a little under half an inch, so the pair bakes up roughly twice the depth of a single round. The butter between them keeps the layers from fusing, and the baked biscuit pulls apart cleanly in two — no knife, no ragged crumb.
• Butter, not shorteningButter -- Melted butter is what the recipe calls for, brushed on before the rounds are paired. A thin coat is enough to keep the two faces from knitting together.
• HandlingCut both rounds from the same rolling, and stack them the moment they are cut so the surfaces are still soft. Re-rolled scraps toughen quickly, so cut economically the first time.
• Timing12 to 15 minutes is right for a doubled biscuit at high heat. Judge by colour: deep gold on top and a firm, dry side seam.
• YieldFour cups of flour makes a large batch; since each finished biscuit uses two rounds, the count is half what the same dough would give as single biscuits, and varies with cutter size and thickness. They are best within an hour of baking.