My Mom Makes Amazing Biscuits

I grew up in the deep south. Biscuits were a weekly staple in my house, and my mom makes an amazing buttermilk biscuit, and my grandmother before her did too. Any southern cook worth their salt knows how to make a decent biscuit, thick chunky peppery gravy, and a delicious pot of grits. I’m vegetarian, but my partner is vegan, so I’ve been experimenting with making vegan versions of the foods I grew up with, and this week was all about vegan buttermilk biscuits! I’ve nearly mastered macaroni and cheese, but biscuits are a particular favorite of mine, and necessary for a real southern breakfast or dinner.

But Lard, Butter and Buttermilk Isn’t Vegan

After finally getting mac and cheese just right, I tackled vegan buttermilk biscuits. It turns out this is one of the easier foods to switch to vegan, and the results are nothing short of amazing. I may like these biscuits better than the biscuits I’ve made in the past using real butter and buttermilk, and they aren’t much more work. But, I will mention that in my experimentation, I found that almost any buttermilk biscuit recipe can be replicated by replacing the butter with a vegan butter substitute (I recommend this simple coconut oil vegan butter substitute, though Earth Balance should work OK, too, and I’ve even used straight coconut oil without it significantly hurting the outcome) and a non-dairy milk plus vinegar to make it “buttermilk”. The more protein and fat in the milk, the better for curdling, so almond milk, soy milk, or cashew milk, are probably the best choices. Avoid rice milk for this kind of recipe.

Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits 2015-01-09 22:35:17 Serves 4 A tasty, flaky, easy-to-make, vegan buttermilk biscuit with readily available ingredients. These are simply the best biscuits I've made, and I've made a lot of vegan and non-vegan biscuits. Write a review Save Recipe Print Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 12 min Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 12 min 415 calories 50 g 0 g 22 g 7 g 18 g 153 g 751 g 0 g 0 g 2 g Nutrition Facts Serving Size 153g Servings 4 Amount Per Serving Calories 415 Calories from Fat 181 % Daily Value * Total Fat 22 g 33 % Saturated Fat 18 g 89 % Trans Fat 0 g Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g Monounsaturated Fat 1 g Cholesterol 0 mg 0 % Sodium 751 mg 31 % Total Carbohydrates 50 g 17 % Dietary Fiber 2 g 8 % Sugars 0 g Protein 7 g Vitamin A 0 % Vitamin C 0 % Calcium 28 % Iron 18 % * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Does this look wrong? Ingredients 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, and extra for your flat surface for patting down the dough 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons (~1/3 cup) coconut oil or vegan butter 1 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk) 1 tablespoon vinegar (I use apple cider, but white or rice wine vinegar works fine) Instructions Preheat oven to 425F Prepare your buttermilk by mixing almond milk, or other non-dairy milk, with vinegar. Thoroughly mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture. Cut and mix until the mixture has a coarse texture with small chunks of butter, not larger than a lemon seed. Stir the buttermilk, briefly, and then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix until liquid is absorbed, but not so much that all lumps are removed. Mixture will be quite moist and sticky. Let rest for about a minute. On a clean flat surface sift out a layer of flour about a foot square. Turn the flour mixture out onto the floured work surface. Pat down, by hand, the dough to about 1/2" thick, and fold in half, patting it down again, adding flour to the work surface as needed to avoid sticking to the surface or your hands. Repeat about five or six times; each time you fold and flatten, you're adding a "layer" to the results biscuits, but over-kneading will make the resulting biscuits more dense and less fluffy and flaky. The key to good biscuits is keeping the butter cold and solid until baking, and not overworking the dough. Cut out biscuits using a round glass or biscuit cutter, and place on ungreased cookie sheet. You can re-fold and pat down the dough a couple more times to make use of the remnants after cutting. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes until very lightly browned on top and around the bottom edges. For extra browning, mix up a bit of almond milk and peanut oil and brush lightly on top of the biscuits before baking. Notes Unbaked biscuits can be frozen and baked straight out of the freezer (increase cooking time to 18-20 minutes). beta calories 415 fat 22g protein 7g carbs 50g more Foodcite http://foodcite.org/