These gluten free vegan biscuits are made with just the right balance of vegan butter and shortening. They're light and flaky, and even taste buttery. You just have to try them!
Vegan Butter and Shortening
Honest to goodness butter, made from cow's milk, is one of my most favorite things in this world. I love to cook and bake with it, and I love to eat a piece of buttered bread. But for when butter isn't an option, thankfully there are lots of substitutes available on the market that are also solid at room temperature without hydrogenation.
I've long preferred Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated shortening as a butter replacement (the butter flavored shortening is the best!), but there's also virgin coconut oil and Earth Balance buttery sticks and tubs. Plus, “I Can't Believe It's Not Butter” has even come out with a vegan butter alternative.
Earth Balance has lots more moisture than shortening or coconut oil, so it behaves differently in the oven. That, and it's quite salty. But I've recently started experimenting with Melt brand VeganButter sticks, and I'm completely smitten.
I'm not sure if Melt has less moisture than Earth Balance, or if the fats in Melt are just better emulsified, but Earth Balance tends to melt (haha) during baking before the fat has done its job in creating flaky layers of pastry. The combination of about half Melt and half nonhydrogenated shortening creates a delightfully buttery taste and impossibly flaky biscuits that can be split right in the middle—and still brown beautifully.
Necessity is the mother of invention
The funny thing about restrictions in baking is that, although they may be painful to endure, they really force you to be creative. When my son first went gluten free, before I started writing a food blog or cookbooks, friends and acquaintances alike would tell me, oh I could never do that. If my child had to eat gluten free, I'd just give up.
Well of course you wouldn't give up. You play the hand that you're dealt, and you play it as well as you can, especially if you're doing it for someone else you love. ♡
When I first started this blog, I used to get all worked up whenever anyone asked if they could change ingredients in the recipe and still have it turn out. I had worked so hard to balance everything just right, just as the recipe was written. In baking, when you change one thing, you change everything. I always tried to answer as best I could, but I didn't have all the answers. I still don't!
As time has gone on, my family's needs have evolved a bit. My son still thankfully is only gluten free, but my oldest child (a daughter) is now dairy free and soy free.
Most of the recipes that I develop are still only gluten free as written, and we don't eat gluten in my house at all for the sake of simplicity and peace of mind. But I don't want my oldest to have to go without, say, a light and flaky gluten free biscuit if that's what everyone else is having. And I didn't want to stop making biscuits.
My youngest can eat anything under the sun without any allergies, but she's leaning toward being a vegan when she gets older for the sake of the animals. So there's that, too! And rather than feeling like an albatross, the limitations have led to a new purpose and more creative ways to make amazing recipes that still really, really work.
Ingredients and substitutions
These vegan biscuits are already dairy free, egg free, gluten free and even soy free. Woohoo! They're not, however, low carb or Weight Watchers-friendly. There are only a few substitutions that I think you might ask about, so here goes:
Shortening: I use and recommend Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening. It's not Crisco! I promise. If you can't find Spectrum brand, I'll be honest: I've had some trouble finding a true substitute for it.
I've tried Nutiva brand shortening, and I'm afraid I really didn't care for it at all. It didn't behave the same in baking. You might have better luck with virgin coconut oil or even coconut cream. Just be sure to keep the fats very cold (but not frozen) before adding them to the dry ingredients.
Vegan butter: I have fallen hopelessly in love with Melt brand VeganButter. Earth Balance buttery sticks are generally a good substitute, though, if you can't find Melt. I've also made this recipe entirely with shortening, but the biscuits don't tend to have a lot of flavor and they don't brown nearly as well.
Nut-free: My favorite nondairy milk is unsweetened almond milk, but really any unsweetened nondairy milk that isn't fat-free will work just fine. Just be sure to use an actual liquid that comes in a carton, not a can like canned coconut milk.
Sugar-free: That's so easy. Just eliminate the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar (or replace with 1 1/2 tablespoons of granulated erythritol, which should work fine).
Corn-free: If you can't have corn, replace the cornstarch with arrowroot.
Light and Flaky Vegan Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend plus more for sprinkling (I used Better Batter; please click through for full info)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) vegan butter chopped and chilled (See Recipe Notes)
- 5 tablespoons (60 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening in chunks, chilled (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) unsweetened almond milk chilled
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Add the cold chunks of vegan butter and shortening and toss to coat. Place each piece of fat between your floured thumb and forefinger to flatten, working quickly so nothing melts.
- Create a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour in the almost all the milk (leaving behind about 1 to 2 tablespoons) and the vinegar, and mix until the dough begins to come together.
- If necessary to moisten all the dough, add the remaining milk.
- Press the dough together with your hands, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and dust it with a bit more flour.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a thick rectangle. Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise, dust again lightly with flour, and roll the dough out again into a thick rectangle.
- Repeat the process once more or until the dough seems smoother, finally rolling out the dough into a rectangle that’s about 1-inch thick.
- With a floured, round 2 1/2-inch (or smaller) biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place them about 2-inches apart from one another on the prepared baking sheet.
- Gather and reroll the scraps, and cut out as many more rounds as possible, placing them on the baking sheet as well.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 5 minutes (or the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes) to chill until mostly firm.
- The raw rounds of dough can be frozen completely and then stored in an airtight zip-top bag in the freezer until ready to bake. Bake from frozen, adding about another 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.
- Place the baking sheet with the chilled rounds of dough on it in the preheated oven and bake until the biscuits are puffed, pale golden and a bit flaky-looking on top (about 18 minutes).
- Remove the biscuits from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
- The biscuits will be a bit fragile until they’ve cooled completely.
Notes
Light and Flaky Vegan Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend plus more for sprinkling (I used Better Batter; please click through for full info)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) vegan butter chopped and chilled (See Recipe Notes)
- 5 tablespoons (60 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening in chunks, chilled (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) unsweetened almond milk chilled
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Add the cold chunks of vegan butter and shortening and toss to coat. Place each piece of fat between your floured thumb and forefinger to flatten, working quickly so nothing melts.
- Create a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour in the almost all the milk (leaving behind about 1 to 2 tablespoons) and the vinegar, and mix until the dough begins to come together.
- If necessary to moisten all the dough, add the remaining milk.
- Press the dough together with your hands, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and dust it with a bit more flour.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a thick rectangle. Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise, dust again lightly with flour, and roll the dough out again into a thick rectangle.
- Repeat the process once more or until the dough seems smoother, finally rolling out the dough into a rectangle that’s about 1-inch thick.
- With a floured, round 2 1/2-inch (or smaller) biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place them about 2-inches apart from one another on the prepared baking sheet.
- Gather and reroll the scraps, and cut out as many more rounds as possible, placing them on the baking sheet as well.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for at least 5 minutes (or the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes) to chill until mostly firm.
- The raw rounds of dough can be frozen completely and then stored in an airtight zip-top bag in the freezer until ready to bake. Bake from frozen, adding about another 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.
- Place the baking sheet with the chilled rounds of dough on it in the preheated oven and bake until the biscuits are puffed, pale golden and a bit flaky-looking on top (about 18 minutes).
- Remove the biscuits from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
- The biscuits will be a bit fragile until they’ve cooled completely.
Notes
Thanks for stopping by!
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!
Linda Whalen says
Hi Nicole,
Just love the commentary! Your honesty and humor are brilliant, as are your recipes!
Thanks a million for all the trials you go through to give us such fab recipes.
Glad the kiddos keep shaking things up in the baking realm! Where would we all be if you hadn’t started on this journey for your son?
Simply amazed and thankful,
Linda
Nicole Hunn says
That is so kind of you to say, Linda! They definitely keep me on my toes—but honestly so do all of you. Lucky all around. ?
Micky says
I love all the vegan-friendly recipes that you’ve recently started adding to the website. Please keep them coming!
Nicole Hunn says
Thanks, Micky! I’m so glad you’re enjoying them. Thank you for letting me know. ?
Russell R. Elley says
butter comes from a live breathing animal. there wass no such thing as vegan butter, that is called shorting
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Russell, it’s VeganButter as defined by the product label. This is a vegan recipe. Please read the details and you’ll understand!