It’s national buttermilk biscuit day! Who doesn’t love a biscuit?! Especially a warm, soft, pillowy biscuit slathered with vegan butter. I’m going to show you how to make an easy vegan buttermilk biscuit! To be honest, I was never a fan of buttermilk when I was not vegan. It had a strange taste to me, but there’s a chemical reaction due to the acid that gives incredible lift to a biscuit so we’re going to make the easiest vegan buttermilk for this recipe.
This recipe starts with a boxed all purpose baking mix. I am big box vegan after all! I used Bisquick brand but there are others out there just read the ingredients to make sure they don’t contain any scary dairy. Making the standard recipe on the box is fine, but with a few other ingredients and some tricks and tips regarding the method, you’ll have sky high biscuits that taste homemade. Plus they’re vegan and I guarantee no one would ever know!
To make the “buttermilk” were just going to add an acid to plain vegan milk. I say plain. Unsweetened plain is the best but make sure you don’t use anything too sweet or that has a vanilla flavoring. I used lemon juice, but you could use plain white or apple cider vinegar as well. You need to then mix it together and let it sit for a few minutes to curdle. Should look a little chunky like the picture above.
Next we need to talk about keeping things cold. Keep the vegan butter cold until you need it an ideally, cold milk and having the baking mix cold helps too. I’ve seen some recipes calling for room temperature butter but they didn’t look as high and mighty as mine so I say keep it cold. I used a food processor to make quick work of the whole process but you can certainly do this all by hand.
Making good biscuits is a very tactile process. You need just enough moisture to hold the dough together without it being too sticky but you don’t want to overwork it either. You also may need to add up to three to four more tablespoons of the baking mix to get it to the right consistency. The pic above is a good example of what it should look like before you start shaping it.
Once you get the dough out of the bowl you’re going to flour your board then the top of the dough and fold it over itself at least 5 times to create those flaky layers. You can do more, but five is the minimum. Other tips for success are if you’re using a biscuit cutter to press right in and don’t twist the cutter. It’s tempting to do, but it will seal the edges preventing a good rise. If you don’t have a biscuit or cookie cutter, use a sharp knife to cut square biscuits from the patted down dough. Placing the biscuits close together allows them to climb on each other as they bake creating an even better rising biscuit so don’t space them too far apart. I like using a baking dish versus a pan. I find it easier to cover with a piece of foil if they start to brown too much before the insides are cooked. I find biscuits baked on a sheet too dry for my liking. A skillet would also work too. Whatever baking vessel you choose, make sure to grease it well.
A tip to know if the biscuits are fully cooked is to test with a toothpick or cake tester in the center of one of them. If it comes out with dough stuck to it, they’re not done. Cook them just until the toothpick comes out clean and no more. Every oven is different so watch them closely after the minimum cooking time. My oven is convection so things tend to brown first on top. This is why I cover with a small piece of foil after they start to brown to prevent them from burning.
Biscuits are perfect on their own, but here are some other ways to enjoy them.
- Make a vegan sausage and cheese biscuit sammie!
- Make a simple cinnamon butter by adding some cinnamon, powdered sugar and agave to some softened butter!
- Make a hot chicken sammie! Dip a breaded chicken pattie into hot sauce and add it to a warm biscuit with a creamy vegan ranch dressing!
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Better Boxed Buttermilk Biscuits (but vegan!)
8
servings10
minutes15
minutesStart with a boxed mix but end up with homemade style biscuits!
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups Bisquick (or other boxed all purpose baking mix) plus more to flour the board and mix in as needed
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vegan cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons cold vegan butter
1 cup cold plain unsweetened vegan milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk the lemon juice or vinegar into the vegan milk and let stand for five minutes.
- Mix all the dry ingredients together with a whisk until well combined or you can pulse to combine in a food processor.
- Add the cold vegan butter and pulse a few times if using a food processor or using two large forks cut it into the flour mixture until you see it’s the consistency of small pebbles.
- Add the milk and pulse until almost combined if using a food processor (you don’t want it to completely come together) or stir with a spoon until just combined. At this point, you need to gauge the mixture and if it’s too soft or too dry. If really sticky and soft, add a few tablespoons at a time of additional baking mix up to 1/4 cup if needed. See the pix above for how it should look. If really dry looking, add a tablespoon of additional milk a little at a time until it gets to the right consistency which is neither too wet or too dry. You should be able to handle it without your hands getting too sticky.
- Tumble the dough out into a clean surface that’s been sprinkled with a bit of your boxed baking mix and sprinkle some more on top of the mounded dough. Push the dough out into a small rectangle and fold it over itself and repeat this process four more times adding a little more baking mix if needed. Pat out into a final rectangle about 3/4 of an inch high. Using a sharp round or square biscuit cutter cut out by pushing straight down (don’t twist! twisting will seal edges preventing a good rise) and place on a greased baking sheet (or parchment lined), in a greased baking dish (my preference) or a cast iron skillet. You want them to touch slightly as they’ll hold onto each other and rise even more. You can brush the tops with some vegan cream and a sprinkle of salt if desired before baking or brush them with melted butter after they’ve baked.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes (ovens vary and if using convection they may bake more quickly) until just golden brown on top. Don’t over bake these. If the tops start to brown too quickly, cover lightly with a piece of aluminum foil.
Notes
- I used Bisquick Smart Heart brand boxed mix which is vegan by ingredients. There are other brands out there so use your favorite!
- I did not try making these using a gluten-free baking mix, but I think it would work!
- I used a vegan stick butter but you can use other types just make sure it’s cold.
- If you don’t have biscuit cutters, you can cut even squares with a sharp knife out of the patted dough to make square biscuits. I don’t suggest the drop style for these as they won’t rise as well.
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Great, easy recipe with terrific results. Used them to make breakfast sandwiches with JUST egg and vegan cheese. Of course tasty plain with little vegan butter.
So glad you enjoyed them! Nothing better than a fresh biscuit sammie!
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This turned out way too wet and I had a difficult time getting it together. I added a lot more baking mix to get it to work. This being said my family thought they were delicious!
Thanks for the feedback! Can I ask what type of boxes mix you used? Was it Bisquik?
Yes it was Bisquick.
I made this again and adjusted the bisquick to 3 cups and the “milk” to 3/4 cup- they were perfect!
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Delicious. My grandson loved it. It was very tender and hard to keep from crumbling but otherwise perfect.
Thanks for the review!
I agree with Wendy’s comment. They were way too wet with these measurements. I added at least an extra 1/2 c of Bisquick. They tasted great but are incredibly crumbly. First time making vegan biscuits in at least 5 years but I’ll try them again and make adjustments.
Yes, baking can vary for many reasons including altitude, measuring, humidity and the mix. I recently made these again following my recipe and they were perfect but it’s a feel thing and you may need to add more mix like I mention to get to the right consistency. Same goes for pie dough and other types of baked goods. Sorry they weren’t perfect out of the gate!