It has been a long time since I made a batch of flaky, warm, buttery biscuits. Going gluten free really took away my joy of baking for a long time and I didn’t think about how awesome biscuits would turn out gluten free.
Did you know September is National Biscuit Month?!? It really is…
Just the other day I got inspired by my original recipe and decided that with a little tweaking I could make this into a perfect gluten free biscuit recipe.
If you are more interested in the good ol’ fashioned wheat version all you have to do it sub out the GF flour mix and rice flour for 2 cups of bread, all purpose or whole wheat flour (or a combination).
I mixed together half gluten free flour blend and half rice flour for a reason. By all means you can use all Cup4Cup or BTMR GFree Flour blend but because those both have xanthan gum in them it makes for a biscuit that is a little more chewy. Honestly, I really doubt it would bother most of you but I wanted something a little bit more flaky so rice flour for the win for me. I thought about experimenting with potato starch next time…
I have a problem with cleaning up after myself so I really strive to use the least amount of dishes possible. For this reason I have two super helpful shortcuts when making these biscuits:
1) Grate frozen butter on a cheese grater instead of cutting it in. Either works but I like the uniform size of the grated butter and I don’t need to worry about working it down any smaller.
2) These biscuits can be made completely in your food processor. Straight-up. I wouldn’t lie about something like this. Put in dry ingredients. Pulse a couple times. Add butter chunks and pulse until its like coarse meal. Add milk as you pulse until it starts to come away from the sides. Then pat or roll out and continue as normal.
Be warned, the biscuits will not be quite as flaky and light when made with those shortcuts. But it is a small difference and if the mess is what is stopping you from making biscuits from scratch then you should definitely try the shortcuts. The result is a very similar product with amazing flavor.
- 1 cups BTMR GFree Flour or Cup4Cup
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp white sugar
- ⅓ cup butter, cubed and very cold (shortening, coconut oil will work)
- 1 cup milk (cow, almond, rice etc)
- Preheat oven to 425F
- Whisk together dry ingredients
- Add the frozen butter and start breaking it up with your fingers while pressing them into flat disks of butter
- Stir in milk
- Turn onto a floured surface and knead about 10-12 times (do NOT overwork, only enough to bring it together. you want the fat to stay cold)
- Pat or roll out to 1 inch thick
- Cut biscuits into your desired shape. Brush off excess flour and place on ungreased baking sheet
- Bake 13-15 minutes
The lower fat milks make a drier biscuit. I noticed a huge difference between a low fat almond milk vs heavy cream. The fattier milks make a better biscuit but the low fat biscuits were perfect for dipping into hot soup or stew.
Using a sharp cutter makes a taller and flakier biscuit. A dull-edge used to cut will seal the edges preventing the biscuit from puffing up.
April J Harris says
I have a problem cleaning up after myself in the kitchen too! Love this recipe – your biscuits look so light and fluffy. Thank you for sharing this fantastic gluten free recipe with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop.
Andrea Mabee says
Yes I think we all battle with the dreaded cleanup but its just part of the job. The best days are when Jonny is in the kitchen with me. He really helps keep things in order while I make a mess lol.
swathi says
Yes cleaning kitchen after cooking is real headache, by the way your biscuits looks delicious, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop, pinning and tweeting.
Andrea Mabee says
Yes I wish I had someone to follow me around and clean up after me as I cook but alas! lol. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Kaila (GF Life 24/7) says
Your recipe looks delicious! I can only use the wholesome cup 4 cup, and while it works really well for cookies, it doesn’t work for everything. That’s because you use different amounts of xantham gum for different types of products. I think it’s great that you pointed that out in your post because it’s such a common confusion!
These biscuits are truly mouthwatering. It was wonderful to find your blog through Gluten Free Fridays. And, I hope you are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend. 🙂
Andrea Mabee says
Yes I have been through a lot of trial and error with gluten free flours. I used to think it was very complicated but over time I have been able to simplify how much xanthan or guar gum is needed. Maybe I will make a how-to post.
I have been “on the fence” for quite a while whether or not to include xanthan gum in my GFree Flour Blend because it really depends on the recipe.
Thank you for checking out the post! I get so inspired by all the posts I see on Gluten Free Fridays on Vegetarian Mamma! 🙂