Campfire Baking Powder Biscuits

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cold unsalted butter
• ¾ cup milk or buttermilk

Grease the inside of a  10-inch cast iron Dutch oven.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles crumbs.  Pour in milk all at once and stir quickly to form a soft dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it 5 or 6 times.  Pat the dough to ¾-inch thickness with hands and cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.

Transfer the biscuits to the Dutch oven, arranging them so they touch, and cover with the lid.  Place the Dutch oven in hot coals and use a shovel to arrange more coals on top of the lid.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes until the tops of the biscuits have risen and are golden brown, rotating the Dutch oven every 5 minutes.  Biscuits will bake from the top down.  Serve hot with butter, jam, or honey.

Campfire Cooking: To bake biscuits over a campfire, lightly grease a 10-inch cast iron Dutch oven and arrange the biscuits in the pan so they touch.  Place the pan over hot coals, turn the lid upside down on the pan, and arrange more hot coals around the perimeter of the lid, plus a few extra coals in the center for even heat.  Bake 10 to 15 minutes until the biscuits rise and are lightly browned.

Yield:  9-10 biscuits