Flakey Vegan Biscuits
This vegan biscuit recipe gives you lots of flakey, buttery layers! Below I’ll share my best tips on how to make vegan biscuits.
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Biscuits are one of my favorite foods ever, and I’m always testing out new ways to make delicious biscuits at home. Vegan biscuits are not at all hard to make, and they can taste just as great as traditional biscuits! This may seem impossible because two key ingredients for great biscuits - butter and buttermilk - are naturally not vegan. But, vegan substitutes are so common these days that using vegan ingredients for buttermilk biscuits is not only very possible, but very delicious.
Let’s start with the butter. Butter is a key ingredient in any type baking, especially pastry and especially biscuits. That real butter taste is hard to replicate without the real thing, but there are many vegan butter substitutes now that come very close. My ultimate favorite vegan butter substitute is Earth Balance butter. It’s the only vegan butter I use in my vegan baking. I like Earth Balance butter because it acts very much like real butter in baking, and the taste is very similar. I live in Southern California, and I typically find Earth Balance butter at my local Vons and Trader Joe’s.
Buttermilk is another rich ingredient that makes biscuits so tender and delicious. Buttermilk is essentially fermented milk, which is why it’s much more flavorful than regular milk. A very common vegan buttermilk substitute is 1 c non-dairy milk + 1 tbsp vinegar. The vinegar curdles the non-dairy milk to give it that traditional buttermilk flavor and texture. I’ve found this to be a great vegan substitute for all types of recipes (like buttermilk pancakes)! I like to use almond milk and apple cider vinegar as my acid, but you can use any combination of non-dairy milk (soy, oat, almond) or acid (apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, white vinegar).
Vegan “Buttermilk” Biscuit Tips
Use cold butter and “buttermilk” when making biscuits. This is a key rule for any type of pastry. You want to be use to use very cold butter so that you get those key flakey layers that makes pastry so delicious. The cold butter will melt while baking, and it will release steam that creates those air pockets that result in flakey layers. I recommend keeping your vegan “buttermilk” cold as well.
Fold the dough onto itself as if you are folding a piece of paper. This method is key to forming those distinct flakey layers that you see in these biscuits. Here’s how you do it - knead the dough just a few times on the counter until smooth. Pat the dough into a rough square or rectangle shape. Lift half of the dough and fold it over on top of itself (just like folding a piece of paper). Pat the dough down into a rectangle again. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat again until the dough has been folded four times. Handle the dough very lightly, you don’t want it to get too stiff.
Keep the dough tall by not patting it down too much. This vegan biscuit recipe calls for both baking powder and baking soda, so it will naturally rise while being baked. However, do not expect this dough to double in size. So the height of the unbaked biscuit dough will be close to the same height as the baked biscuits. If you want tall biscuits, keep the dough tall and do not flatten the dough too much when you cut it.
Refrigerate the biscuits for about 20 minutes before baking. We want to make sure the pastry is still cold (for reasons listed above).
Be sure the biscuit pieces are lightly touching on your baking sheet. As the dough bakes and expands, having this support will help them ise upward and not outward.
Recipe
Active Time: 20 mins / Rest Time: 20 mins / Cook Time: 20 mins / Yield: 4-6 biscuits
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c vegan butter, cold and cubed
1/2 c non-dairy milk, cold
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
melted butter, for brushing
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 F.
Mix the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar together in a small bowl or cup. Store in the fridge. This is your vegan “buttermilk”.
Add all of dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix together with your hands or a whisk.
Add the cold, cubed butter in with the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or just your fingers, quickly work the butter into the dry ingredients until the texture resembles coarse sand. If you’re using your hands, you’ll want to work quickly so that the butter does not warm up.
Add the vegan “buttermilk” to the mixture. Fold it all together using a spoon or your hands. You’ll want to lightly mix it just until the dough forms. It will be shaggy and slightly sticky. Be careful not to mix the dough too much.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough one or two times to bring it together again.
Pat the dough into a rectangle about 1/2” tall. Lift half of the dough and fold it over (just like folding a piece of paper). Pat the dough down into a rectangle again. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat until the dough has been folded four times. This is how you get tall layers. Handle the dough very lightly, you don’t want it to get too stiff.
Cut the dough into squares using a sharp knife, or use a round biscuit cutter to get circles. If using a biscuit cutter, be sure not to twist it as this may prevent the biscuits from rising.
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet, making sure the sides are lightly touching. Place in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Brush the tops butter. Bake the biscuits in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the biscuits are puffy and tops are browned.