These vegan buttermilk biscuits are light and fluffy with layers of buttery goodness. With only a handful of ingredients and 30 minutes, you can enjoy these biscuits in no time with little effort!
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This vegan buttermilk biscuits are super simple to make. You need only a few simple pantry ingredients and a little patience! There are a few steps involved, and you want to follow them closely so that you have a nice, flaky finish.
Buttermilk biscuits are a Southern favorite! Buttermilk is a key ingredient in biscuits for several reasons. It contributes to the biscuit’s texture, flavor, and rise. Luckily, making vegan buttermilk is super simple. All you need is your favorite plant-based milk, and lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. When combined, the milk quickly curdles, creating a tangy finish.
💗 Why You’ll Love Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits
- Uses simple pantry ingredients.
- It’s healthier than the traditional recipe.
- Whole grain flour is used for added fiber.
- Only 30 minutes from start to finish.
- Light, fluffy, flaky, and buttery.
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
All-Purpose Flour: I find that all-purpose flour works the best. If you want to increase the fiber, I recommend using white whole wheat flour.
Cane Sugar: Adds a hint of sweetness to the biscuits. Feel free to leave this ingredient out.
Baking Powder: Contributes to the rise of the biscuits.
Kosher Salt: Helps to meld the flavors together.
Vegan Butter: Use vegan baking sticks. I prefer Earth’s Balance. Make sure that the butter is cold.
Unsweetened Soy Milk: For buttermilk using soy milk works the best, but you can also use other dairy-free milk, just be sure it is unsweetened.
Lemon Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar: Combined with the soy milk to create buttermilk. Either lemon juice of apple cider vinegar works equally well. Use what you have on hand.
Strawberries: Optional for serving.
📖 Variations and Substitutions
Vegan Cheddar and Chive Biscuits: Add 2 tablespoon of nutritional yeast to your dry mixture, and 4 tablespoon of chopped fresh chives after folding the wet and dry ingredients together.
Vanilla Cinnamon: Add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to your dry mixture and 1 ½ teaspoon of vanilla to your soy milk.
Rosemary and Thyme: Fold in fresh herbs such as 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme after you combine the dough.
🔪 Tools and Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Flour Sifter
- Pastry Cutter
- Biscuit Cutter
👩🏻🍳 How to Make Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 500° F. Combine the soy milk with apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Whisk together and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cubed vegan butter. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until it resembles a crumbly mixture.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the vegan buttermilk into the center. Fold the buttermilk into the flour until just combined. Don’t overmix!
- Lightly flour your counter or work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl onto the floured workstation. Lightly flour the top of the dough and your hands. Gently flatten the dough until it’s about 10 inches wide and 1 ½ inches thick.
- Use a 2 ½-inch pastry cutter dusted in flour to cut out six biscuit rounds. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet. Optional: Brush with soy milk and sprinkle with cane sugar.
- Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you have extra dough, carefully flatten it out and cut out additional circles until most of it has been used.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Serve warm!
📝 Expert Tips
- Use cold vegan butter. If your butter is frozen, grate the butter and add it to the flour.
- Freeze your dry ingredients. Freezing your dry ingredients will also help create a flaky biscuit. The flakes result from a cold dough!
- Do not use your hands to mix the butter with the flour! Your hands are warm and will melt the butter causing a flat biscuit.
- Use a cold work surface when rolling out and flattening your biscuits. This will help keep that dough cold. A cold marble surface works best!
- When cutting the biscuits into circles, don’t twist. Just cut straight down. This will help keep the layers.
- Handle the dough carefully. The more you manipulate the dough, the more tough the biscuits will become when baked.
❓ FAQs
There are a few possible causes for why your biscuits don’t rise. First, the most common cause is overmixing and overhandling the dough. This causes the butter in the mixture to melt, which resulsts in a tough flat biscuit. Another common cause is the way that the biscuits are cut. You need to use a sharp biscuit cutter, and avoid twisting. Twisting can compress the edges of the biscuits, preventing proper rising. Instead, press straight down and lift the cutter without twisting. Other possible causes for flat biscuits include, using the incorrect type of flour, using expired leavening agents, inacurately measuring the ingredients, a low oven temperature, or overcrowding the baking sheet.
The acidity in buttermilk creates a tender and flaky dough that helps to create a high-rise with lots of buttery layers. It adds a tangy and slightly acidic flavor to the biscuits that enhances their overall flavor, and creates a golden brown color when baked.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Serve this with strawberry chia jam and a pat of vegan butter. They make a delicious breakfast with a warm cup of coffee like this oat milk latte, or pumpkin spice latte.
This is also delicious to serve around your Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas table as a dairy-free and vegan alternative to crescent rolls.
Use them to create a breakfast sandwich or serve with my favorite silken tofu scramble!
🫙 Storage
Room Temperature: Store the biscuits at room temperature in an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature for 3-4 days, but are best enjoyed warm out of the oven!
Freeze: Wrap each biscuit in plastic wrap and store them in a freezer safe airtight zip-lock bag. Be sure that the biscuits are completely cool before transferring them to the freezer.
🎥 Video
😋 More Vegan Recipes!
If you’ve tried these Dairy Free Biscuits, please rate the recipe and let me know how they turned out. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for more plant-based family recipes your whole family will enjoy!
Recipe
Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoon organic cane sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoon vegan butter cold cut into cubes
Vegan Buttermilk
- ⅔ cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500° Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set the milk aside for 10 minutes to allow time to curdle and become buttermilk.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, cane sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut the cold cubed butter into the flour until it resembles a crumbly mixture.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the vegan buttermilk into the center. Fold the milk into the flour until it is just combined. Don't overmix!
- Lightly flour your counter or work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and place onto the floured workstation. Lightly flour the top of the dough and your hands. Gently flatten the dough until it's about 10 inches wide and ¾ of an inch thick.
- Using a 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter, cut circles of the dough moving straight up and down. Do not twist!
- Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you have extra dough, carefully flatten it out, and cut out additional circles, until most of the dough has been used.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes at 500° F or until lightly browned on top. Serve warm!
Notes
- Use cold vegan butter. If your butter is frozen, grate the butter and add it to the flour.
- Freeze your dry ingredients. Freezing your dry ingredients will also help create a flaky biscuit. The flakes result from a cold dough!
- Do not use your hands to mix the butter with the flour! Your hands are warm and will melt the butter, causing a flat biscuit.
- Use a cold work surface when rolling out and flattening your biscuits. This will help keep that dough cold. A cold marble surface works best!
- When cutting the biscuits into circles, don’t twist. Just cut straight down. This will help keep the layers.
- Handle the dough carefully. The more you manipulate the dough, the more tough the biscuits will become when baked.
- They will keep at room temperature for 3-4 days.
- They freeze for 2-3 months.
Cathleen
No way this is dairy free! These biscuits look amazing! I have got to give them a go 🙂
Andrea Metlika
I think its great that you came up with these because of your husband’s southern roots. They do look scrumptious!
Tara
I love that you made these biscuits dairy free! Such a great texture too. Definitely sounds perfect served warm and paired with jam.
Kathi
Thanks for sharing this awesome non dairy biscuit recipe! It’s so great to have non dairy options for everyday cooking!
Christian Guzman
I’m going to have to agree with your husband on the biscuits and gravy thing. Yum! I look forward to trying your recipe this weekend!