How To Make Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits | Extra Flaky
Make impossibly flaky, crisp and tender gluten free buttermilk biscuits with layers and layers. All the tips you’ll need for immediate gf pastry success are here!
Yield: 8 biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 ⅝ cups (228 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- 6 tablespoons (26 g) powdered milk (nonfat or whole milk)
- 3 tablespoons (27 g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter cut into large (3/4-inch) dice and chilled
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) buttermilk chilled
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
Make the biscuit dough.
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, xanthan gum, nonfat dry milk, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt, and whisk to combine well.
- 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 the buttermilk. Mix with a large spoon or spatula until the dough comes together.
- The dough will be shaggy, with some irregular edges. It should still be cold.
For the first “turn” of the dough.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press it together into a disk. Dust the dough with a bit more flour, and roll with a rolling pin into a thick rectangle.
- Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise, then in half width wise, dusting again lightly with flour if necessary to prevent sticking. You have completed the first “turn” of the dough.
For “turns” 2, 3, and 4 of the biscuit dough.
- Roll out the dough into a thick rectangle, fold it in half lengthwise, again width wise to create a packet, and dust lightly with flour if necessary. This has been the second “turn.”
- Repeat the process again twice more (two more turns for 4 turns total), working quickly to ensure that the butter does not melt. Dust again lightly with flour, and roll the laminated dough into a disk about 1-inch thick.
Finish shaping the biscuit dough.
- 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. Shake each round out of the cutter.
- Place the raw biscuits 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). While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 400°F.
Bake the biscuits.
- Once the dough is firm and cold, and the oven it 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
Adapted from the book Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: Biscuits, Bagels, Buns, and More by Nicole Hunn. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Copyright © 2013.
Originally published on the blog in 2019. Recipe clarified slightly; text modified for clarity
Originally published on the blog in 2019. Recipe clarified slightly; text modified for clarity