These tender, light, and flaky biscuits have a secret ingredient that makes them softer and easier. They’ll have everyone asking if they’re “really” gluten free!
Your search for the perfect gluten free biscuit is over. I know that sounds like a tall order, but I promise you these biscuits don’t disappoint! Keep on reading to see why.
When we began eating gluten free about 4 years ago, I was making 2 batches of everything: one gluten free, and one with regular wheat flour (anyone been there, done that?). After about a year I realized that just wouldn’t work. It was too time consuming with 3 kids hanging on me while I baked, and it was just too hard to avoid cross contamination with wheat flour in the house. So we gave all our flour away to family and neighbors and set out to make recipes that even the gluten eating kids would love. I perfected this recipe just before we made the switch, and my kids begged me to make these over the gluten-filled kind. We never have leftovers because everyone’s back for seconds, and now that our kids are a little older and we have four of them (geez it’s hard feeding a family of 6!) I often make a double batch.
Just look at that buttery, flakey, biscuit. My mouth is watering!
One more thing. These biscuits are low maintenance, meaning you don’t have to work nearly as hard for them as you should (bonus much???)
If I were to ask you what is your least favorite part of biscuit making, what would you say? I’m going to take a guess and say that cutting in the butter just isn’t your cup o’ tea. No worries, I’m the same way! It’s just one extra step that I’ve always wished could be eliminated. Well, I have great news! The secret to a non-grainy texture is (shhh! don’t tell) melting the butter. That means you whisk up the wet ingredients, add the dry, mix it all together with a fork, fold over a few times, cut, and bake. Easy peasy, right?
Here’s the secret: You’ll notice that the dough will still be fairly sticky, as you can see below. Keeping the dough sticky and coating it in flour instead of mixing it in keeps the gluten free biscuits soft and tender instead of hard and grainy. You’ll notice I use the same technique with my crescent rolls.
Gluten free biscuits are very delicate and require just the right flour, so I strongly recommend using Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Blend, or one reader said that Cup4Cup works as well. The higher starch content in gfJules and Better Batter don’t work well with this recipe (although they’re a favorite of mine for many other recipes).
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If you’re looking for other recipes you can make with Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Blend
*gluten-free *soy-free *oat-free *egg-free
These tender, light, and flaky biscuits have a secret ingredient that makes them softer and easier. They'll have everyone asking if they're "really" gluten free!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 T sugar
- 1 1/2 cups Mama's Almond Blend gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 T baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/3 cup club soda or unflavored, unsweetened, sparkling water
Instructions
- Melt 1/3 cup butter in a medium bowl in the microwave. Begin with 10 seconds, remove and stir. Butter should be barely melted.
- Whisk sour cream and sugar into melted butter until smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar and stir with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add sparkling water and stir until mixture comes together. It should be fairly sticky.
- Lightly flour counter top with about 2 tablespoons more flour mix and turn dough onto counter, turning to fully coat. Be careful not to mix the flour into the dough.
- Flatten with your hands into a circle about 3/4" thick.
- Fold in half to form a half circle, then in half again to form a triangular shape, and pat to 3/4" thickness again.
- Repeat the last step. This folding is what creates the flaky, layered effect.
- Cut into circles with biscuit cutter or large cup and arrange in a round cake pan so the biscuits are so close they are almost touching.
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- When oven is preheated, bake biscuits for 7-10 minutes. Remove biscuits just as edges begin to turn a golden brown and be sure not to overcook or they won't turn out so flaky and soft. Pry biscuit in half horizontally with a fork to see if it's done.
- These are best served warm. Store any leftovers (if you happen to have any!) in a sealed bag at room temp for up to 2 days. You can also freeze. To reheat, wrap in foil and place in 300° oven about 5-10 minutes, or microwave individual biscuits about 25 seconds on 50% power. I've also made a double batch and wrapped half the cooled biscuits in foil to store in the freezer.
Notes
I strongly recommend Mama's Almond Flour blend for this recipe. I also recommend using real, salted butter and full fat sour cream
14 Comments
Leah @ Grain Changer
June 14, 2016 at 11:48 amThese look SO PERFECT! And I can’t believe you were able to get that flakey texture using melted butter. These really are miracle biscuits! I’ve been craving biscuits this whole pregnancy and haven’t gotten around to making a batch yet, but that is going to change ASAP!
Christine @ Gluten-Free-Bread
June 15, 2016 at 8:48 amRecipe looks great – one thing that catches my eye is the fact that there is very little added sugar. Yay! We are a biscuit loving family too, so these will be a delicious new treat.
Thanks!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
June 15, 2016 at 10:00 amThey sure do look perfect!! No one would ever know what they’re “missing”!
thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com
June 15, 2016 at 10:16 amThanks Rebecca! And yes, we’ve served these to many a gluten-eater and they all agree!
Barbara
June 18, 2016 at 10:22 amThese really do look good, Celeste. I’m definitely pinning these. One question. Which flour would be your second choice? My daughter seems to be allergic to almonds and I’d really like to try these. 🙁 Thanks.
thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com
June 18, 2016 at 10:27 amHi Barbara! Thats tricky, but I would try Cup4Cup. Please let me know if that works so I can pass it on to other readers who have nut allergies. Thanks for stopping by!
Lynn
July 20, 2016 at 12:38 pmHi, I know in pie crusts, etc to use ice cold water. Do you use/recommend using cold soda water? Can’t wait to make these, thanks!
thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com
July 20, 2016 at 12:44 pmI just use room temp. Excited for you to try them!
Angie
December 24, 2016 at 7:12 amHi,
We’d love to try making these for tomorrow and were wondering if coconut cream might work for the sour cream? We use it in dips and things like that were we are converting from sourcream to dairy free but I wasn’t sure if it would work in this.
thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com
December 24, 2016 at 9:11 amI think that’s a great idea, Angie! I’ve never tried it so can’t guarantee anything, but please let me know how it turns out and I’m anxious to give it a show next time I make these.
Nancy@Seasonsofjoy
May 7, 2017 at 4:38 pmI used Cup 4 Cup flour, and so I didn’t add xanthan gum (it’s already in there). These are DIVINE! I love the sizzle when you add the club soda! The dough works so well, and I did the folding on floured parchment paper, which made it easier, using the paper to lift it. Thank you for this deliciousness! I’m in heaven! Nobody would know they are gluten-free. Nancy
thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com
May 9, 2017 at 9:43 amNancy I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for the tips, I don’t think I’ve tried it with Cup4Cup yet so I am happy to know that this flour works as well! Happy baking! ~Celeste
Cindy H
June 30, 2017 at 8:37 amHi Celeste. I finally got around to making your biscuits. Sooo yummy. Honestly, I can’t remember what gluten filled biscuits were like but these were so good! I used a homemade gf flour mix since I’m allergic to rice. I’m can’t remember where I got the recipe though. It’s millet, sorghum, white buckwheat, teff, and tapioca starch. They were on the darker side with the teff flour and I think it gave them a really good flavor. I’ve ordered some white teff so will see what that does to it. But regardless, they were tasty! Thank you for the recipe.
thereislifeafterwheat@gmail.com
July 3, 2017 at 12:08 pmI’m glad you got to try them, and I’m so happy they turned out nicely without the rice! Thanks Cindy! -Celeste