To Make Bisketts
From the treasured pages of Cookbook of 1720 approximately
Unknown Author
To Make Bisketts
"Take a quarter of a pound of Flower, & a quarter of a pound of Sugar, one Egg, & what Carraway Seeds you please, wet them with Milk as stiff as you can rowl them out very thin, cut them with a small glass, & bake them on tins in a slack Oven, prick them very well when you set them in, & keep them in a dry place after they are bak'd."
Note on the Original Text
The recipe is typical of the period: brief, trusting the cook to know basic techniques. Measurements are vague ('what Carraway Seeds you please'), and 'Flower' is simply flour. 'Wet them with Milk as stiff as you can' directs you to use just enough liquid to make a stiff, rollable dough. The instruction to bake in 'a slack Oven' means a cooler oven, suitable for drying rather than quickly browning. Finally, 'prick them very well' is to keep the bisketts flat and crisp during baking—a detail today's bakers would recognize as docking.
Title
Cookbook of 1720 approximately (1720)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Unknown
Era
1720
Publisher
Unknown
Background
A delightful window into early 18th-century kitchens, this historical culinary tome brims with recipes, culinary wisdom, and the flavors of a bygone era—offering food enthusiasts a taste of both tradition and intrigue.
Kindly made available by
Folger Shakespeare Library
This recipe comes from around 1720, a period when 'bisketts' referred to simple, sweet baked goods, a precursor to the English biscuit and what would become the American 'cookie.' Caraway seeds were a fashionable spice, believed to aid digestion. Recipes like this were common in middle and upper-class English households, reflecting the growing popularity of refined sugar and home baking. The custom of storing finished goods in a 'dry place' highlights the days before airtight tins, when crispness was prized and humidity an enemy!
In the early 18th century, these bisketts would have been mixed in a large pottery or wooden bowl using a wooden spoon or even just clean hands. The dough would be rolled using a simple wooden rolling pin, and cut out with a small drinking glass or tin cutter. Baking was done on flat metal tins in a brick or stone oven, carefully monitored for temperature—a 'slack oven' meaning only gently heated. A fork or bodkin would be used to prick the surface of each biscuit before baking.
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Servings
18
We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces plain (all-purpose) flour
- 4 ounces granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (or more, to taste)
- 1–2 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
- To make these early 18th-century 'bisketts', begin by creaming together 4 ounces of plain (all-purpose) flour with 4 ounces of granulated sugar.
- Add one large egg, and stir in about 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds (or more, to taste).
- Moisten this mixture with just enough milk—about 1–2 tablespoons—so that it forms a stiff dough you can roll.
- Roll the dough out as thin as you can, aiming for about 1/8 inch thickness.
- Cut them into rounds using a small glass (around 1 1/2 inches diameter works well).
- Lay them out on a baking tray lined with parchment, prick each biscuit well with a fork to stop bubbles, and bake at 300°F (a 'slack oven') for 10–15 minutes, or until pale and dry.
- Let them cool and store in an airtight container in a dry place.
Estimated Calories
35 per serving
Cooking Estimates
It usually takes about 10 minutes to prepare the dough and another 10-15 minutes to bake the biscuits. Each biscuit contains about 35 calories if you make 18 from this recipe.
As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.
We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.
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