GLUTEN-FREE SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS - THE REAL DEAL!
Ok. We are mostly gluten free around here and that is mostly awesome….mostly. There are just some things that don’t really cut it being gluten free and most homemade bread products land in that category. We hate to even THINK about the amount of time, money, and energy we put into trying to master a great bread product that is also gluten free. We can nail most every other baked good, but true bread products have kicked our tails!
However, we FINALLY cracked the code on gluten free biscuits! Success! It makes sense in that it is not a yeast based dough and gluten free yeast doughs struggle to rise due to the lack of gluten protein. That stated, a lot of trials for biscuits have still been too crumbly, dense or dry.
We think the magic to these is making sure you follow the technique and also ensure that you use buttermilk - if you are dairy free, you could sub the butter for oil and the buttermilk for almond milk base, but I make no promises on the outcome! Adding the dairy to the buttermilk smooths the grittiness that is often found with gluten free products, so it really makes these work!
Also, like with any gluten free product, your flour blend can change the texture. We used VITACOST baking flour which already has xantham gum in it. If your blend includes xantham gum already, you should be good to go. If not, make sure to add about 1 tsp to the recipe.
Additionally, it is a great base - you can add a twist and use them for strawberry shortcakes too! Are you ready for that? Ummmm…yum.
Alright, let’s cut to the chase! Happy baking!
GLUTEN-FREE SOUTHERN BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
2 c. gluten-free flour blend
1/2 t. salt
1 T. baking powder (prefer aluminum free)
2 T. sugar
1 c. chilled buttermilk (can use 1 T. lemon juice and 1 c. milk - sit for 10 min first)
1 egg, whisked
6 T. cold butter (if you only have unsalted butter, then increase salt to 3/4 tsp)
Preheat convection oven to 425 degrees or regular oven to 450 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Slowly cut in cold butter (can use a food processor with dough blade) until the butter is pea like texture. Separate the buttermilk into two parts. To the first part, add the egg and then slowly pulse in the egg/buttermilk mixture. As the dough starts coming together, slowly start pulsing in more of the buttermilk until you have a sticky dough. You may or may not use all the rest of the buttermilk. Gluten-free flour is a thirsty flour and sometimes it will soak up more or less, depending on your blend. You don’t want a soupy dough.
Put some parchment paper on the counter and dust with flour. Dump your dough on the counter, and fold on itself twice (if a little more flour is needed, that is fine). Press into a 7-8 inch round - Do NOT roll out the dough with a roller - you will lose the rise and air pockets we’ve created. Cut 2 inch circles, pressing straight down and lifting them up. Place into a greased cast iron skillet and bake for about 15-20 min. Remove when the tops are golden brown and then brush tops with butter.
TRY to resist eating them…but good luck!
Need ideas? We love:
Making Spicy chicken Sandwiches with them
Adding sausage patties or bacon and eggs
Adding Kerrygold Irish butter and smiling!
Making strawberry jam spreading in on thick! We just went strawberry picking, so we are making strawberry everything!
Making them into strawberry shortcakes - you can sweeten them up with doubling the sugar in the recipe, and then brushing the tops with a little milk and raw cane sugar on the top before baking. They might not rise quite as high, but they are a little sweeter and OH MAN!!
Hope it works for you - enjoy!!
-The Benander Crew