Ingredients

2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (we use our homemade gluten-free all-purpose flour mix) NOTE: If the flour mix you use does not contain xanthan gum, add in a teaspoon of xanthan gum; our homemade mix already contains xanthan gum.

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (here is our recipe for homemade baking powder)

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons cold vegan stick butter (we use Earth Balance)

1 cup cold plain plant milk (we use our homemade coconut milk)

UPDATE: A reader told us that she had great success making these biscuits using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1, cashew milk, and Myokos Cultured Vegan Butter!

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, xanthan gum if your flour mix doesn’t already have it, baking powder, and salt), and blend well with a whisk (or a fork if you don’t have a whisk).

Divide the butter into several pieces and add it to the flour mixture. Now cut the butter into the flour mixture until all of the butter bits are no larger than peas. We use a pastry blender to do this (this exact one, in fact), and it makes quick work of it; if you don’t have a pastry blender you can accomplish the same thing with a fork, or two table knives (drawing them across each other through the flour).

You can also do the above in a food processor: fit your food processor with the S blade, put all the dry ingredients in and pulse it a couple of times. Then add the butter, and pulse until the butter is cut in and the butter bits are no larger than peas. At this point take the mixture out of the food processor and put it in a bowl. Do not use the food processor to mix in the milk – you have been warned.

Now, once the butter is cut in, add the milk all at once, and mix it in until it is fully incorporated, and you have a soft, uniform dough.

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of parchment paper (not the one lining the baking pan), or a length of waxed paper. Center the dough in the middle of the paper, and then put another piece of parchment paper or waxed paper on top if it. The reason for this is partly that you want your hands to make as little contact with the dough as possible, and partly because it makes this next step much easier.

Through the top piece of paper, pat the dough into a rectangle that is about an inch or less thick.

Now, remove the top paper, and using the bottom paper, fold the two ends of the dough over towards the center, so that the dough is folded into thirds.

Now, rotate the paper with the dough 90 degrees, and repeat the process (putting the second piece of parchment or waxed paper on top, patting the dough out into a rectangle, then folding it in on itself). Then do it again, a third time.

After the third time, transfer the dough from that parchment paper onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and pat the dough into a rectangle that is 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.

Take a sharp knife and cut the dough down the middle lengthwise, and then cut each half into 3 or 4 individual biscuits. (We have not used a biscuit cutter for these biscuits, if you do, please let us know how it turns out!)

Now, barely separate the biscuits from each other. They should be almost touching.

Note that the biscuits at the bottom of the picture are the correct amount of closeness to each other; the biscuits at the top are too far apart in the center.

Place the biscuits in your preheated oven, and set the time for 20 minutes, although start checking them at 15 minutes, because different ovens and different altitudes can effect how long they take to bake. They consistently take 20 minutes for us.

(In a happy coincidence, if you are in the mood for vegan biscuits and sausage gravy, or vegan sausage biscuit sandwiches, our vegan breakfast sausage recipe also bakes at 425° for 20 minutes! Make them together, giving the biscuits the upper rack and the sausage the lower rack. You can find our cream gravy recipe here.)

When the biscuits are done, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a baking rack. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes.