This versatile recipe for gluten free biscuits makes tender and light pastries that are the perfect side to any meal. Make them as drop biscuits or rolled out and cut into rounds!
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I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend forever making dinner each night. They're just going to eat it and forget it, no matter how good it is. And I don't want to prepare the same meal every night any more than they want to eat the same meal every night.
When I'm making rice or gluten free pasta night after night, even if the rest of the meal wasn't a repeat, I found it inexplicably sad. This easy gluten free biscuit recipe makes a buttery, satisfying side dish that's quick enough for a weeknight dinner—especially if you make them as drop biscuits.
Table of contents
Why you'll love these biscuits
- Quick & easy: If you're making drop biscuits, all you have to do is combine the dry ingredients, add cold butter, add buttermilk, scoop and bake. They can be ready in 20 minutes flat!
- No waiting: Since biscuits are pastry, all of your ingredients should be cold. That means no waiting for butter to soften or eggs to come to room temperature.
- Freeze beautifully: You can freeze shaped, raw biscuits and bake them right from frozen any time. Or you can freeze them baked, sprinkle with water and defrost and refresh like new!
- Ideal side dish: The perfect alternative to pasta, rice, or potatoes with your gluten free fried chicken!
How to choose between drop or rolled biscuits
This recipe has the same ingredients whether you make them as scoop-and-drop biscuits or cutout biscuits. Cutout biscuits do have a little less moisture, and they're rolled and folded, then cut out, a bit like laminated gluten free puff pastry.
Here are the questions to consider when deciding how to shape your biscuits:
- How much time do you have? Drop biscuits can be in and out of the oven in less than 30 minutes. Layered biscuits call for more shaping and a bit of chilling.
- What texture do you prefer? Drop biscuits are more dense and crusty with craggy buttery edges that get crispy in the oven. Rolled biscuits are layered and flaky, have a softer crumb, and are lighter and fluffier.
- Are you comfortable rolling dough? Some people don't like to break out the rolling pin. If that's you, make the drop biscuits and just mix, scoop, and bake.
- Do you want them to be like Pillsbury grands? If you miss the flaky layers of Pillsbury and you want them to be like gluten free biscuits in a can, make the layered biscuits! It's worth the extra step.
This gluten free biscuits recipe is special no matter which way you make it, though. You probably have all of its ingredients right there in your gluten free pantry.
Ingredient notes
- Gluten free flour – Choosing an all purpose gluten free flour blend carefully is important in all good recipes, but it's even more important in a pastry recipe with only a handful of basic ingredients like this one. Be sure you add 1 heaping teaspoon of xanthan gum if you're using Nicole's Best multipurpose gluten free flour, since it doesn't already contain xanthan gum. King Arthur Flour blends just won't work here.
- Cornstarch – Adding a bit of cornstarch helps to soften the blend and create a lighter crumb. If you're using Cup4Cup, though, that already has too much cornstarch so replace the 14/ cup (36 grams) cornstarch with an equal amount, by weight, of Cup4Cup.
- Baking powder – serves as a leavening agent, an ingredient that help baked goods rise and get fluffy
- Baking soda – this is also a leavener, but it is here mostly because it helps the biscuits to brown in the oven
- Salt – salt plays a big role in bringing out the flavor of these buttery biscuits
- Sugar – there's only two teaspoons of sugar in this recipe, and while it does add a tiny bit of sweetness, it helps keep the biscuits tender and adds some complexity to the flavor
- Butter – as the moisture in butter burns off, it creates tiny steam pockets that give the biscuits such a light, airy texture; keep it cold so your butter doesn't melt into the batter, but instead puffs it out
- Buttermilk – it adds a lovely flavor and helps make the biscuits fluffy and tender
How to make this easy gluten free biscuit recipe
These step by step photos for how to make this recipe are designed to make it easy for you to imagine exactly what this recipe calls for. For full instructions including exact quantities and a full printable recipe, be sure to scroll down to the recipe card.
Whisk dry ingredients & add butter
Whether you're making drop gluten free biscuits or rolled and cutout biscuits, begin by whisking together the dry ingredients and tossing the butter in them. For drop biscuits, add in grated or finely chopped butter. For rolled biscuits, add coarsely chopped butter and flatten it in the flour.
Add buttermilk & shape drop gluten free biscuits
For both shapes, mix in buttermilk to create a relatively wet dough. For drop biscuits, mix, scoop with dough with an ice cream scoop, then brush with melted butter. For layered biscuits, you'll add a little less buttermilk. We'll shape those below.
Roll out layered biscuit dough
For the cutout dough, add all but about 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk, & only add more to any very crumbly bits of dry ingredients. Roll the dough into a rectangle, fold it like a business letter, and roll it again. Repeat at least 3 times, sprinkling with flour as you go.
Cut layered dough and prepare to bake
Cut out shapes of the rolled dough using a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, and place them on a baking sheet. Chill the cutouts, since we've handled the dough quite a bit and we need it cold in the oven.
Bake at 425°F
Whether you've made drop biscuits or rolled cutout biscuits, bake them in a 425°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes. The drop biscuits tend to take a few minutes longer to bake than the layered biscuits, so those take closer to 18 minutes to bake. Let the biscuits set on the baking sheet for just a couple minutes, and enjoy!
How to make drop biscuits that are still light
If you're making rolled and cutout biscuits, lightness will come from layers of flour alternating with layers of cold butter that puff and expand in the heat of the oven.
With drop biscuits, we use smaller pieces of butter, just the right ingredients (of course!), a slightly wetter dough, and a light, light touch. Drop biscuit dough is handled very little, so it's easy to keep those ingredients cold!
More recipe tips & tricks
Keep your ingredients cold
The secret to making pastry is to keep the cold ingredients that way. If your butter liquefies before the biscuits start baking, your biscuits are going to be dense and hard.
To help keep the butter cold, be sure to turn on your oven before you start preparing the biscuit dough, and keep the butter and buttermilk in the refrigerator until you're ready to add each of them to the mixture. If you find that the butter is melting at all as you're working, return it to the refrigerator again until it's firm.
Measure your gluten free flour blend by weight
Because this gluten free drop biscuit recipe doesn't have a lot of ingredients and relies on precise measurements to ensure the lightest, fluffiest texture, it's essential that you measure your gf flour by weight rather than volume.
Measuring by weight really is the only way to ensure that you've got just the right amount of flour, so pull out that kitchen scale (or pick one up if you don't have one — I really like this kitchen scale on Amazon (affiliate link; feel free to shop around!)).
Don't handle the drop biscuit dough
Once you've mixed the drop biscuit dough, it's best to avoid handling it as much as possible. Instead, use an ice cream scoop, two spoons, or a spoon and spatula to scoop the dough and drop it onto your baking pan.
In addition to keeping your hands clean, this will help prevent your butter from melting since it won't come into contact with the warmth of your skin. If you're having any trouble getting your biscuit dough to release from the ice cream scoop, try dipping the scoop in ice water before each portion.
How to store leftover biscuits
If you have leftover biscuits of either shape and think you might eat them within the next 12 hours, place them in a sealed glass container and store them at room temperature.
For longer storage, let them cool completely, then freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once they're frozen, pile them into a freezer-safe bag for up to a month.
How to refresh biscuits
Defrost frozen biscuits at room temperature first. Once they're defrosted, or if you've stored them at room temperature, you can refresh them by sprinkling them with lukewarm water and placing them in a 300°F oven or toaster oven until warmed through. The water keeps them from drying out during reheating.
Making biscuits in advance
All you have to do is prepare the easy gluten free biscuit dough, drop the biscuits onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and then put the whole thing in the freezer rather than the oven.
Once they're frozen, remove them from the freezer and pile them into a freezer-safe zip-top bag. Bake them right from frozen, but begin with the oven at 400°F and increase it to 425°F after 5 minutes. You will probably need to add a few minutes to the baking time.
Recipe ingredient substitution suggestions
Dairy free biscuits
The dairy in these biscuits is in two forms: buttermilk and butter. The buttermilk can easily be replaced with 1/2 cup (129 g) plain dairy-free yogurt + 1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces) unsweetened nondairy milk. Adding some lemon juice or vinegar to milk won't create a true buttermilk substitute, since real buttermilk
For butter, the best replacement is 4 tablespoons (56 g) Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening + 4 tablespoons (56 g) Melt brand or Miyoko's Creamery brand vegan butter. You can use all vegan butter, but the biscuits are more likely to spread. Whatever vegan butter you use must be solid at room temperature.
Corn free biscuits
Cup4Cup and Nicole's Best gluten free flour both contain cornstarch, so if you can't have corn, you'll need to use Better Batter. If you're using Better Batter, try replacing the cornstarch in the recipe with arrowroot or potato starch.
Do you need xanthan gum to make these gluten free biscuits?
To make this recipe for gluten free biscuits, you need xanthan gum. But you can still make amazing gluten free drop biscuits without xanthan gum.
If you'd like to make easy drop biscuits but you're sensitive to xanthan gum and guar gum, try our gluten free biscuit recipe without xanthan gum. It has a different flour blend, and uses something called konjac powder instead of xanthan gum.
FAQs
Drop biscuits are easier to scoop and drop onto a baking pan. Drop biscuits also don't have the layers that come with rolled biscuits, but they're still buttery and delicious.
Your dough may be dry because you used a different gf flour than what I recommend. Some brands, like King Arthur Flour, are starchier than others, so they soak up liquid and get dry.
If you did use one of my recommended blends, you may have overmeasured your flour. If you made rolled biscuits, you may have incorporated too much flour into the biscuit dough during shaping, or the butter may have melted while you were handling it. Next time, make the butter chunks larger and chill the dough if the butter begins to melt.
Yes, you can bake these easy gluten free biscuits in a cast iron pan, but you'll need to watch them carefully as the heated pan will cause them to bake more quickly.
If your gluten free biscuits are flat, not puffy, there's a good chance that your butter melted before the biscuits got into the oven.
This generally happens when you use warm ingredients (butter that's been sitting out) or let your dough sit while the oven is preheating.
For your next batch, do everything you can to keep that butter and buttermilk as cold as possible.
Yes, you can make your dough in advance by keeping the prepared dough in the fridge until you need it. If you're making drop biscuits, make sure to keep the dough tightly covered to keep it from drying out, and try to use it within a few hours. If you're making rolled biscuits, shape the dough into rounds before refrigerating it.
Gluten Free Biscuits Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend plus more for sprinkling (please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch (or try potato starch or arrowroot)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter chilled
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) buttermilk chilled
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) unsalted butter melted (optional; for drop biscuits)
Instructions
- If you're making drop biscuits preheat your oven to 425°F. If you're making rolled biscuits, preheat your oven while the shaped dough is chilling in the refrigerator.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar, and whisk to combine well.
To make drop biscuits
- Using a standard box grater, grate the chilled butter. If it melts at all during preparation, place the grated butter in the refrigerator until firm.
- Add the grated and chilled butter to the bowl of dry ingredients, and toss to coat the butter in the flour mixture.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add the buttermilk and mix until just combined.
- Working quickly, so the dough doesn’t get warm, drop the batter by the quarter cup using two large spoons or a 2-inch ice cream scoop about 1 1/2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Do not pack the dough into the ice cream scoop.
- Brush the tops of the mounds of dough lightly with the melted butter. This step is optional but helps the biscuits brown in the oven.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake until lightly golden brown all over (15 to 18 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to set briefly before serving.
To make rolled biscuits
- Using a sharp knife, cut the butter into a large (3/4-inch) dice. If it melts at all during preparation, place the diced butter in the refrigerator until firm.
- Add the chopped butter to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Place each piece of butter between your floured thumb and forefinger to flatten, working quickly to ensure that you don’t melt any of the butter.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in all but about 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk.
- Mix with a large spoon or spatula until the dough comes together. The dough will be shaggy, with some irregular edges. Mix in more buttermilk by the drop if there are any dry bits.
- Press the dough into a disk. If it doesn't seem cold any longer, place it in the refrigerator to chill for about 5 minutes or until firm.
- Dust the dough with a bit more flour, and roll with a rolling pin into a rectangle about 3/4-inch thick.
- Fold the rectangle in thirds like you would a business letter and press it together lightly to help it adhere to itself.
- Sprinkle the outside of the dough lightly with more flour, and roll it out again into a thick rectangle, sprinkling it with more flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
- Repeat this process of rolling and folding 1 or 2 more times, dusting with flour as necessary and chilling the dough if the butter begins to melt at all. After the final folding, dust the dough again lightly with flour, and roll it into a disk about 1-inch thick.
- With a floured, round biscuit cutter or cookie cutter (about 2 inches in diameter), cut out rounds of dough by pressing firmly and cutting quickly.
- Place the raw biscuit cutouts about 2-inches apart from one another on the prepared baking sheet. Gather and reroll scraps, and cut out as many more rounds as possible, placing them on the prepared baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill the dough until firm (or in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or until firm).
- Preheat your oven to 425°F while the biscuits are chilling.
- Once the dough is firm and cold, and the oven is hot, place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven. Bake until the biscuits are puffed and pale golden, about 15 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool on the baking sheet until firm (about 5 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Adelaide says
I was somewhat confused with my outcome with this recipe. I followed the instructions meticulously, and I swapped out cornstarch with arrowroot starch, but that’s all I changed. I felt like my batter was slightly too wet as I was moving my batter onto the baking sheet, but I added the right amount of buttermilk. I set my timer for fifteen minutes, but when I took my biscuits out, they had melted and fused together as sort of one big biscuit uni-cookie. I know I added the right amount of butter , and I’m positive my oven heat was correct, so I have no idea what I did wrong.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Adelaide,
If you didn’t use one of my recommended flour blends, then that is likely the reason. Likewise if you measured your dry ingredients by volume rather than by weight, or didn’t work quickly, using cold ingredients. The video should show you exactly how everything looks, at every single stage—and that the recipe works when made precisely as written! I hope that helps.
Sarah Metzger says
Just tried your drop biscuit recipe! I no longer will have to miss out on biscuits when I make them for the family. These were AMAZING! I used King Arthur flour GF and they came out fluffy and delicious.
Stacy says
Do you think these would work in place of canned biscuits for chicken and dumplings?
Nicole Hunn says
I have a number of recipes for chicken and dumplings right here on the blog, Stacy. Just use the search function!
Jill says
Do you need the sugar? I grew up making biscuits, not GF, and they were exceptional. They had no sugar in them and I don’t like sweet biscuits.
Nicole Hunn says
It’s a very small amount of sugar and just helps balance the flavors. It doesn’t make the biscuits sweet, though. Hope that helps!
Kathy Kotzas says
Love your recipes! I just made these and as I am in Australia I weighed everything as our cup measures are different. I really appreciate you putting the conversions in for us. My mixture came out a lot wetter than yours looked and so I added more flour. In the recipe it says 1/4 cup (36g) cornstrach but I worked out it would be 60g. Is that right? Can you suggest where I may have gone wrong?
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Nicole Hunn says
Most likely it’s your flour blend, Kathy. And when baking by weight, you essentially ignore volume measurements.
Ann says
Hmmm . . . I just made these and the dough was too dry! The dough just wouldn’t come together, so I added a bunch more buttermilk. Since I was SUPER careful about the weight measurements, is it possible that our 1-cup measures for the buttermilk are all very different? That’s really the only major thing that isn’t measured by weight, right? What do you think, Nicole? Any suggestions? And, by the way, I ate THREE of these with dinner – they were that good!
Nicole Hunn says
I’m honestly not sure, Ann, except to say that perhaps the issue was your flour. If you used an unbalanced, high-starch blend, then it will absorb a ton more moisture. This dough is actually considerably more wet than most other biscuit doughs.
Cara says
These look really good and I’d love a departure from the ‘rice, pasta or potato’ choice I feel like I make every day when deciding dinner. But, I’m Canadian, and we dont’ really ‘do’ biscuits, at least not where I’m from. Can Nicole or someone tell me what you would typically serve these with for dinner?
Nicole Hunn says
You’d serve them in place of rice, pasta or potato with whatever else you’re serving, Cara. I frequently serve them with soup, when I want something to round out the meal. Or even with just chicken and a vegetable. They’re relatively neutral tasting!
Emily says
You can also think of them as much-faster dinner rolls – so it also substitutes for where you might have a bread basket.
Nicole Hunn says
Well said, Emily!
Shawna says
Can i substitute granular stevia for sugar in your recipes or is sugar needed?
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid I’m not really familiar with working with granulated Stevia, but unless it’s yeast bread, which needs the sugar, you should always be able to replace granulated sugar with granulated Swerve, which is a really good granulated sugar substitute.
Shawna says
Is it possible to substitute almond milk (mixed w some apple cider vinegar?) for the buttermilk? Or any lower calorie milk and still have good biscuits? Thanks!
Ashley Lanson says
Did you try the almond milk?
Nicole Hunn says
Lowfat buttermilk isn’t highly caloric, if that’s your concern. You can also replace the buttermilk with a mix of half nondairy plain milk + half unsweetened nondairy yogurt.
Carol 2 says
I gosh, you have these recipes mastered, can’t wait to get your book,thought I could tell someone Its my birthday and then let them know I want any and all your books, but decided I’ll just treat myself. I love your method of simple and delicious, sure is good to know that is possible with all the rising costs of food these days. You have become my ‘hero’ thank you so much for sharing,you have been a blessing to my family..
CarolB says
Do these or the ricotta biscuits freeze well?
Nicole Hunn says
These freeze beautifully both before and after baking!
Kimmy Dawn Cox Wright says
I have leftover gravy that will be perfect with these! Thanks so much. Was going to do your other biscuit recipe but am excited for a quicker recipe. Not that the other isn’t good.
Michelle says
Yay, biscuits for lunch on our second in a row wet, soggy, foggy day! Yesterday I was so craving something warm, baked in the oven. I’ve only been gf for a couple of years, and I was craving focaccia. Do you have a gf focaccia recipe?
Michelle says
Never mind, I just found it!
Kris Bell Slager says
Anybody successfully try to make these dairy free? What did you substitute the butter with? Hubby has to avoid gluten & dairy; I don’t bake for him much anymore. :(
Cathy Soller says
Kris, I use Earth Balance Buttery Spread because I can’t have dairy or soy. It doesn’t come unsalted but just cut back a little and you should be good.
Leah says
Try Crisco and cut it in with a pastries blender.
Lauren says
Hi, I have successfully used chilled coconut oil as a dairy free option in other biscuit recipes…
Nicole Hunn says
I would not recommend using coconut oil in this recipe, Lauren. Instead, in all pastry if you need a dairy free butter replacement, I recommend using Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening, butter flavor. It is solid at room temperature and has much less moisture than coconut oil.
Eddi says
They look easily converted to the red lobster garlic cheese biscuits any ideas?
Nicole Hunn says
I have a copycat recipe for those on the blog, Eddi. Please use the search function!
Allison says
Mmmm…I’ve been craving drop biscuits, and I can’t wait to bake these this weekend!
By the way, I baked your Entenmann’s Carrot Cake dupe last weekend. FREAKING DELICIOUS! Even better than the ‘real’ thing. Your cream cheese icing is insanely good. We’re having a surprise wedding in December and I’m baking our cakes. Three 8″ layers of that carrot cake will be one of our cakes (the other cake will be a chocolate cake recipe from one of your books). Thanks, Nicole! You’re the BEST!
Nicole Hunn says
That’s absolutely awesome, Allison. I feel like I’m going to the wedding—and I don’t even have to get dressed up! ;)
Jennifer S. says
YEAH BABY!!! So going to make this for my lunch today and hoard them all so no one else can even have one!! Thanks so much Nicole!!!!
Anneke says
I knew “super lovley, longtime reader named Jennifer” had to be you!
Anneke says
Or, “super lovely!” Grrr.
Nicole Hunn says
You bet, Jennifer!! It took me a few minutes to get what you were after, but once I did I couldn’t stop thinking about light and fluffy drop biscuits! ;)