Sugar cookies never last long around here.

Recipe: Bisket Drops

Time for dessert! This “Bisket” recipe is a biscuit in the British English sense. In the U.S., we would call these babies cookies–drop cookies to be precise:

“Let one Pound of Sugar, four Yolks of Eggs, two Whites, and a little Canary Wine be beaten well together. When the Oven is ready, add one Pound of Flour with a few Seeds, and let all be likewise well incorporated: That done, butter the Paper, lay your Drops in Order on it. Ice them with fine Sugar, and set them in a gentle Oven.”

— The Whole Duty of a Woman… 1737 (p. 619)

That bird is cute, but keep it away from my cookies.

Step 1

Let’s mull this over for a moment before we begin.

In a rare turn for our friendly The Whole Duty of a Woman authors, there are some fairly well defined proportions here. This recipe is also easily scalable, as one might imagine was necessary given that some of our recipes call for about fifty pounds of ingredients. So, let’s get started.

Step 2

“Let one Pound of Sugar, four Yolks of Eggs, two Whites,”

Always impressed by anyone who can separate eggs this way.

Translation:

Pretty straightforward. One pound of sugar. You’re probably safe to just use white sugar. Two whole eggs and two additional yolks. Beat (or cream) that all together with a mixer or beater…or by hand if you like to keep things really historical.

Step 3

“and a little Canary Wine be beaten well together.”

This wine would never make it into the cookies. Mine.

Translation:

I think Canary Wine is just a sweet white wine. Any white dessert wine should do. I feel like a “little” is probably a splash, or the equivalent of a tablespoon or two.

Step 4

“When the Oven is ready, add one Pound of Flour with a few Seeds, and let all be likewise well incorporated:”

I like where this is going.

Translation:

“Flour with a few seeds.” Okay, I’m going to guess that this is maybe a not too finely ground whole wheat flour? I just don’t know what the seeds would be if not the actual wheat berries themselves. If it were a different sort of seed, you’d think they would specify. Well, regardless, I’m recommending just a nice even pound of all purpose white flour. Mix it on in there. And for your own sake, throw in a couple healthy pinches of salt, they probably assume you already know to do that.

(This would be prime time for the modern baker to add some additional flavor. Think vanilla extract, almond extract, even some lemon zest would be nice. Or, just go traditional. They’re your cookies, mate.)

Step 5

“That done, butter the Paper, lay your Drops in Order on it.”

Yes, there are chocolate chips in the picture, but work with us here. These are drop cookies.

Translation:

Think greased parchment on a baking sheet, I think. Cookie sized dollops, probably not more than a dozen at a time. Gentle oven? Well, I’d guess that means 350 degrees Fahrenheit. And for how long? Well, until they’re golden brown and look “done.” I’d start checking them after 6 or 7 minutes and keep checking every minute or two after that.