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These dairy free biscuits are buttery, with perfect flaky layers, and so easy to make! They are made in one bowl, with no mixer, 6 simple ingredients, and ready in under 30 minutes!
Is there anything better than a freshly baked biscuit smothered in butter? I think not. If you've never made homemade biscuits, you are in for a treat. They are so easy to make and go well with everything!
These dairy free biscuits are perfect to serve for breakfast or brunch, and they are also perfect for making vegan strawberry shortcake! Simply top with whipped cream (I use this recipe) and fresh strawberries and voila - these vegan biscuits are transformed from breakfast into dessert!
Why These Dairy Free Biscuits Work
- These biscuits are made with homemade vegan buttermilk, which takes just minutes to make and makes these biscuits taste just like classic buttermilk biscuits!
- This recipe makes 6 tall biscuits with flakey, buttery layers or 8 slightly shorter biscuits.
- The recipe is egg free, vegan, nut free, and soy free if you use soy free butter and a soy free milk!
- These biscuits are so easy to make so this recipe is perfect for beginners.
Ingredient Notes
- Milk: Since the milk will be combined with vinegar to make vegan buttermilk, I recommend soy milk, as it tends to work best for homemade buttermilk. However, any dairy free milk will work with this recipe!
- Vinegar: White vinegar is used to curdle to milk and make buttermilk from scratch! If you don't have vinegar you can replace this with lemon juice.
- Butter: Dairy free butter can vary in texture. Some are soft right out of the fridge (like a margarine consistency), where as others are more firm and take time to soften to room temperature. Since we want the butter to be as cold as possible, the best dairy free butter to use for this recipe is the firm butter (like Earth Balance brand)
Step By Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
STEP ONE: Make the dairy free buttermilk by adding the vinegar to a measuring cup, then fill the cup the rest of the way with non dairy milk until you have ¾ cup total. Set it aside for roughly 10 minutes.
STEP TWO: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the cold butter into the dough and use a pastry cutter or two forks to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumbly mixture forms.
STEP THREE: Pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and use a wooden spoon to combine it until a dough forms. Don't over-mix.
STEP FOUR: On a floured surface, form the dough into a rectangle, around 1 inch thick. Fold one side of the rectangle into the middle, then fold the other side over top. Flatten the dough a bit more to create another rectangle and repeat this 2 more times (3 times in total).
STEP FIVE: After you've folded the dough 4 times, form it into a rectangle again (¾ to 1 inch thick) and use a biscuit cutter or a cup to cut circles out of the dough, around 2 ¾ - 3 inches inches in diameter.
STEP SIX: Place the biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet. Arrange them so that they are all touching, then lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with more vegan milk. Bake for 13-17 minutes or until golden brown.
FAQS and Expert Tips
Most of the time I like to eat mine fresh out of the oven slathered in butter, but sometimes I even like to make berry shortcake! You can reduce the salt to ½ teaspoon, top with dairy free whipped cream, a sprinkle of sugar, and fresh or frozen berries.
These biscuits also are delicious topped with butter, eggs, gravy, jam, or served with chili or soup! Here are a few great dairy free and vegan spreads to serve with the biscuits:
1. Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
2. 3-Ingredient Berry Jam
2. Homemade Coconut Almond Butter
3. Pineapple Jam
4. Honey (or if vegan, you can make your own vegan honey)
5. Gravy (regular or homemade vegan gravy)
6. Homemade Walnut Butter
7. Homemade Olive Tapenade
I haven't tested this recipe with gluten free flour so I can't say for sure how they'll turn out. If you want to try it out I would suggest using gluten free 1-1 baking flour.
It's so easy! An acid like white vinegar or lemon juice will curdle the non dairy milk (which is what buttermilk is - curdled milk). Simply combine the vinegar and the milk and let it sit for around 10 minutes until it looks a bit chunky/curdled.
I like to use soy milk for dairy free buttermilk, and I find that oat milk doesn't curdle as well, and that it also depends on the brand you are using. That being said, if all you have is oat milk, I've made these using it and they were still delicious! So don't stress about which milk to use!
Yes! A biscuit cutter will work best to sharply cut the dough and help create tall layers, but you can also use a cup that is about the same size (2 ¾ inches in diametre). Just remember not to twist the cup as you remove it from the dough.
Expert Tips
- Measure the flour properly - the proper way to measure flour is to either way it using a kitchen scale, or to fluff the flour up in the bag, then scoop it out into the measuring cup and level it off. You can read more on this here.
- Use cold butter - leave the butter in the freezer right up until it's time to add it to the dry ingredients. I recommend using a dairy free butter that gets fairly firm, instead of the kind that has the soft consistency of margarine. If that's all you have it will still work, but the type of butter used will slightly affect the structure of the biscuits.
- Try to work quickly so that you handle the dough as little as possible. The more you handle the dough, the warmer the butter will be. We want the butter to be as cold as possible when the biscuits go into the oven to help create those flaky layers!
- Do NOT twist the biscuit cutter or cup when you are cutting out the biscuits, as it will seal the side of the biscuits and can prevent them from rising!
- If the dough is too sticky as you work with it, you can add in a little bit more flour.
- Flouring your hands makes it much easier to work with the dough!
Storage and Freezing Instructions
These biscuits taste best when they are warm and fresh out of the oven. Biscuits dry out quickly but you can cut them in half then heat them in the toaster or toaster oven the next day (you can store at room temperature in an air tight ziploc bag).
To freeze the biscuits, you can wrap them tightly in plastic wrap then put them in a freezer ziploc bag or air tight container for up to 2 months.
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MORE DAIRY FREE RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Dairy Free Biscuits
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- ¾ cup soy milk (or other dairy free milk of choice)
- ½ tablespoon white vinegar
- 2¼ cup all-purpose flour SEE NOTES
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup very cold dairy free/vegan butter SEE NOTES
Instructions
- Chop the vegan butter into small cubes or chunks and place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Add ½ tablespoon of white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup and fill with milk up to the ¾ cup mark. You should have ¾ cup total of buttermilk. Set aside until it looks curdled.
- Preheat oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to a large bowl and whisk until combined. Add in the cold butter, then use a pastry cutter or two forks to cut it into the dry mixture (photos are in post above for reference), until the mixture resembles sand.
- Pour in the buttermilk and use a wooden spoon to mix until combined. Do not over-mix. The dough will be fluffy and slightly sticky.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Dust your hands with flour then form the dough into a rectangle, around 1 inch thick (SEE NOTES if making 8 shorter biscuits instead of 6 tall biscuits).
- Take one short side of the rectangle of dough and fold it in towards the middle, then fold the other side in (so you have a square). Gently flatten the log again, around 1 inch thick, then repeat two more times (3 times total). Try to work quickly so that you handle the dough as little as possible.
- After the final fold, gently form the dough into a 1 inch thick rectangle and use a biscuit cutter to cut circles in the dough (do not twist the biscuit cutter to remove it. Either pull the dough away from the sides or lift straight up - see notes).
- Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet, making sure they are touching each other. Brush the tops with more vegan milk then bake until golden brown, around 13-17 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
Sam
How does rice milk work for this recipe?
Gabby
Hi Sam! I haven't tested this with rice milk, but I know that rice milk does have a more watery consistency than other creamier dairy free milks. I think it would still work fine though!
Kayma
I will need to make these again because I didn’t weigh my flour or use the technique so the dough was dry. The biscuits still turned out amazing despite that! My family loved them too!
Gabby
Hi Kayma! Too much flour would definitely lead to a drier dough, you're right! But I'm so happy to hear that the biscuits turned out great anyway and that they were a hit! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Jill
Great tip to freeze the butter! Flakey texture turnout out perfectly and they were gone before they had a chance to cool down!
Gabby
Hi Jill! I'm so happy to hear that you loved the biscuits! They disappear fast in our house too 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a review!