Lean biscuit

I accidentally found the recipe for a lean biscuit on the open spaces of the Russian Internet and immediately caught fire to cook it. Just think: a biscuit and no eggs ... Nonsense, however! Having safely forgotten about my desire, I somehow remembered the biscuit and immediately cooked it. I immediately share the result with you, friends.

In fact, I can hardly call the baked goods that turned out to be a biscuit. Firstly, there are no biscuits without eggs, by definition, and secondly, in the picture it was light and fine-pored, like a classic biscuit. But I got a red-haired half-cakes-half-cut on the cut - tender, loose and airy pastries with the aroma of ... honey.

Ingredients

• Wheat flour of the highest grade (210 grams)
• Orange juice (150 milliliters)
• Sugar (145 grams)
• Vegetable oil (70 milliliters)
• Apple cider vinegar (30 milliliters)
• Water (2 tablespoons)
• Baking soda (1 teaspoon)
• Salt (1 pinch)

Directions

1. To prepare a lean biscuit, we need the following ingredients: wheat flour (I used the highest grade, I have not tried it with others), orange juice (freshly squeezed, sugar-free), granulated sugar, refined vegetable (in my case, sunflower) oil, apple (originally white wine) vinegar, drinking water, baking soda, and salt. All foods should be at room temperature.
2. Immediately turn on the oven to warm up to 180 degrees and prepare the baking dish. I have a detachable round shape with a diameter of 16 centimeters. Lightly grease the bottom and sides with vegetable oil (a teaspoon is enough - I did not indicate it in the ingredients), cover it with parchment paper - it adheres perfectly to the oil and does not deform.
3. Let's move on to making a lean biscuit dough. Pour 150 milliliters of orange juice into a bowl, add 145 grams of sugar to it (I think you can reduce its amount).
4. We mix everything so that the sugar crystals are completely dissolved - with a fork, whisk or using a mixer. Then pour 70 milliliters of odorless vegetable oil.
5. Then add 30 ml of apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. Beat the liquid mixture for 1-2 minutes.
6. In a separate container, combine 210 grams of sifted wheat flour with a pinch of salt (preferably finely ground)
7. Mix everything so that the salt is evenly distributed over the flour.
8. Pour the flour and salt into a bowl to the liquid ingredients and mix everything well.
9. Next, you need to make a soda solution. To do this, dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda (without a slide) in 2 tablespoons of drinking water. It is clear that it will not disperse completely, but at least partially.
10. Pour the soda solution into the lean biscuit dough.
11. Mix actively with a whisk or mixer at low speed for no more than 10 seconds. In the process, the dough will foam and increase in volume - the reaction of soda with vinegar and juice has gone. It is quite liquid in consistency - like fatty kefir.
12. Immediately pour the dough into a baking dish and cook the lean sponge cake on a medium level in an already preheated oven at 180 degrees. I have a gas oven, bottom heating, no convection.
13. My sponge cake was ready in 50 minutes, but do not forget that baking time depends on the characteristics of your oven. We check the readiness with a wooden skewer or a toothpick, which should come out of the dough dry. By the way, my biscuit sagged slightly in the center even during the baking process - probably the dough was too thin, and the baked goods were too tender.
14. We take out the finished lean biscuit from the oven, let it stand in the form for about 10 minutes, after which you can free it from the paper. Cool it completely and decide what to do: a cake or just cut it and eat it with tea.
15. Well, this is the experiment and the result. Do I advise you to try this lean biscuit recipe? Why not! It may not be a classic biscuit, but it’s a pretty good pastry that many will allow themselves during the Lent period. Cook for your health, friends, and bon appetit!