Maryland Beaten Biscuits

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup cold lard
• 3/4 cup ice water, plus more as needed
• 1/4 cup cold whole milk

Before you cook

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Set out a heavy wooden mallet, a rolling pin, or a clean hammer for beating the dough.
• Clear a sturdy work surface that will not slide under repeated blows.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Steps

1. Whisk the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.
2. Work the cold lard into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture feels like damp sand.
3. Add the ice water and milk a little at a time, mixing until the dough just holds together.
4. Aim for a dough that is noticeably stiffer and drier than an ordinary biscuit dough.
5. Turn the dough onto the work surface and flatten it into a slab with your hands.
6. Beat the slab with the mallet, working from one end to the other and driving the dough thinner with each pass.
7. Fold the flattened dough in half and beat it out again.
8. Keep folding and beating for about 30 minutes, roughly 300 blows, until the dough turns satin smooth and blisters appear.
9. Test the dough by tearing a piece and looking for small air pockets throughout the cut face.
10. Roll or pat the beaten dough to a thickness of one third of an inch.
11. Cut rounds with a floured two-inch cutter and set them on the lined sheets.
12. Prick each biscuit straight through in three or four places with a fork.
13. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are firm, dry and only barely tinged with color.
14. Cool the biscuits completely so they crisp, then split them and fill them with shaved country ham.