Help With Biscuits

[mbrookes]

I have been able to adjust most of my old recipes to gluten-free, but the biscuits just don't make it.Does anyone have a good old fashoned recipe that will make light biscuits? Mine are heavy as a stone.

[love2travel]

This is a good light biscuit recipe. I use buttermilk instead of soy.

Open Original Shared Link

[USF1970]

I just came across this recipe - it sure doesn't look easy but since I'm desperate for biscuits, I'll give it a try. Quick question.......must I use the soy and brown rice flours or can I use a general gluten-free flour mix? Of course, corn starch isn't a problem but I gave up having so many different flours a long time ago. I'm only feeding myself and all those flours would just go bad. Many, many thanks.

[Glutin-Free Man]

These Open Original Shared Link are my favorite so far, but they're still not as good as wheat flour biscuits.

Of course, it probably doesn't help that I can't do dairy either.

[USF1970]

Thanks SO much for your swift reply. This recipe looks easier than the other I found. And I'm like you - I can't do dairy either. But my question remains - can I use an all-purpose gluten-free flour rather than the flours specifically identified in the recipe? Again, many, many thanks. I'm a southern girl..........can't live w/no biscuits.

[Glutin-Free Man]

That's a good question -- I'd have to say no in general, but maybe in some cases.

I use a couple different mixes, depending on what I'm cooking. I have one mix I like for breads, another for "generic baking", and I follow the recipe I linked to for biscuits. The quality of what you make does depend on the mix of flours.

To do gluten free baking properly (meaning developing your own recipes, making your own mixes, etc), you have to know a bit of the chemistry involved in baking. Wheat flour is extremely versatile, which is why it's used in almost every baked good. It can be incredibly elastic in one setting, but light and flaky in another. There's no single gluten free flour that can fill in for wheat flour in all its roles. That's why we mix different flours together. When making a mix, different flours are chosen for different characteristics. A blend of flours is typically good in some roles, but less good in others. No mix is perfect.

A blend of flours that is good for making bread may be too heavy for cookies. A blend that's good for cookies may be too crumbly for bread or biscuits.

With all that in mind, the only honest quick answer I can give is "I don't know". It depends on what the general blend is, and what it was designed to do.

However, let me also add this: "Try it anyway". If you need to eat without gluten, you're going to spend a lot of time cooking your own food. My personal viewpoint is that the only way to learn something new is by making mistakes. If you do it right the first time, you learn nothing new, but by making mistakes, you at least learn what _not_ to do, and those are the lessons that you remember.

The recipe I posted is "good enough" for me. It's not perfect, but a couple weeks ago my wife (who is not on a gluten-free diet) bought a cannister of pre-prepared wheat flour biscuits. I know she misses the ones I used to make, but I'll only make gluten-free foods now.

We cooked both, and our kids preferred the homemade gluten-free biscuits to the store-bought, cannister biscuits.

I have made biscuits with other flour mixes that turned out like rocks. These don't. Is it related to the flour mix? Probably. Is the one I posted the only mix that can make good biscuits? Absolutely not.

Try your flour mix and see what happens. At best, you get good biscuits. At worst, you learn something that doesn't work.

Good luck!

[USF1970]

Thank you for your very detailed message. I am painfully aware that one must be a chemist to bake gluten-free......I've had so many failures w/such costly ingredients that I've just about given up. BUT......my yearning for tasty biscuits will probably override my profound frustration. I'm going to try this w/the Namaste all-purpose flour mix and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, I'll once again, buy the multitude of flours this reciped requires and try again. That's how much I miss biscuits. BTW, does anyone out there know of a tasty biscuit already made? I attended a conference in Richmond, VA several years ago and was served very tasty rolls (can't remember if they were biscuits or not). As far as I know, they never made it to market in either pre-made or mix form. And so it goes. Again, thank you again for your helpful comments.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday.

Linda

[VeggieGal]

Don't know if these are any good for you but they look yummy and easy to make

Open Original Shared Link

and Open Original Shared Link

abit more difficult Open Original Shared Link

[RiceGuy]

Biscuits were actually the first gluten-free baking quest I embarked on. Although I prefer a much different type than the soft, fluffy, "southern" type.

Anyway, for the softest texture, I've found that legume flours are the best. You don't need dairy or eggs to get a soft texture this way. However, xanthan gum will not work anywhere near as well as guar gum for such a recipe. Generally speaking, the higher the percentage of legume flour, the softer the texture, and the sooner they will brown in the oven. Depending on the flours you use, the amount will typically be between 20-50 percent. Too much will work against you. Some legume flours work better than others for soft biscuits though. Some good ones include fava, garbanzo, and yellow pea. By far, soy flour creates the softest texture and quickest browning, but obviously there are issues with soy for many people. Buckwheat flour can work well for a percentage of the flour in soft biscuits too, but most brands are not truly gluten-free. You could make your own from Wolff's or Pocono brand buckwheat groats if you have a blade type coffee or spice grinder, or you can use the only safe buckwheat flour I've ever found, available at www.ployes.com. They apparently have some limited regional distribution, so depending on where you live, you may find it locally.

For most any recipe including biscuits, a blend of flours generally works better than a single flour. A starchy flour, or a plain starch can be used at up to about 40-50 percent. There are numerous combinations which can be used, depending upon your particular preferences of taste/texture. The best of the starchier flours I know of is sweet potato flour (the white one). I suppose some nut flours may also work, but they are generally expensive so I haven't had much experience with them.

Based on my experience, I'd say a stoneware muffin pan will work better than metal, for the texture you're looking for. Forget trying to make them on a flat surface such as a cookie sheet. It will not work. These are not the type of biscuit that you can roll out dough and cut with a glass. Never have I found any gluten-free biscuit to work that way, as the dough in that case is simply too stiff to rise. The dough has to be soft, so you'll need something to put it in to hold the shape. Some folks like to use a shallow cake pan, and essentially make a cake, only without all the sugar and flavorings. Then cut into squares.

If you order your flours over the Internet, you'll have more choices. If you are limited to locally available flours, post what those are, and I may be able to suggest a blend that will work for you. I never use dairy or egg, which can open up more recipe variations for you, if you can have those. If the color is important to you, that will rule out some flours.

[Takala]

You can form Chebe dough variations into shapes, but that's basically tapioca, eggs, and dairy, and she wants dairy- free and lighter texture. And the Chebe dough types work better if you add a small amount of gluten free higher protein type "tasty" flours, such as almond meal, buckwheat, or amaranth, which add taste and browning, and then make an indentation with your finger or a spoon in the middle of the unbaked doughballs, so they cook through. I noticed the original recipe above, some of the commenters there were complaining about baked results being gummy in the middle, and that's how you get around that problem. If you're making a longer, oblong shape, you can crease it down the middle with a spoon or a knife. This trick works for loaves of gluten free bread dough, also.

[DB12]

The buttermilk biscuit recipe from the "Gluten free on a Shoestring" cookbook is great. I don't have the book with me, or I'd post the recipe, but it's pretty basic, I think the secret is in the handling she suggests (chilling dough after mixing, for example). I have made it with King Arthur gluten-free Flour, which was good, and with Cup4Cup gluten-free flour, which was out of this world incredible. I have served the Cup4Cup biscuits to several non-gluten-free groups, and had people ask for my recipe, they are that good. My non-gluten-free husband eats about 4 per sitting. I also use them to top turkey/chicken pot pie. The Cup4Cup flour (from Williams-Sonoma) is not cheap, but I use it for special occasions, as it is fabulous.

[USF1970]

I have been able to adjust most of my old recipes to gluten-free, but the biscuits just don't make it.Does anyone have a good old fashoned recipe that will make light biscuits? Mine are heavy as a stone.

Nope, mine either. Take a look at other responses I rec'd from a similar post last December. I'm going to try DB12's recommendations. Are you from the south? I MISS my biscuits.....

[USF1970]

The buttermilk biscuit recipe from the "Gluten free on a Shoestring" cookbook is great. I don't have the book with me, or I'd post the recipe, but it's pretty basic, I think the secret is in the handling she suggests (chilling dough after mixing, for example). I have made it with King Arthur gluten-free Flour, which was good, and with Cup4Cup gluten-free flour, which was out of this world incredible. I have served the Cup4Cup biscuits to several non-gluten-free groups, and had people ask for my recipe, they are that good. My non-gluten-free husband eats about 4 per sitting. I also use them to top turkey/chicken pot pie. The Cup4Cup flour (from Williams-Sonoma) is not cheap, but I use it for special occasions, as it is fabulous.

Thank you SO much. I'm very sorry it's taken me this long to reply. My granddaughter was born on 12/27 with a RAGING infection (exact quote) and was in NICU for 12 days so I'm just now getting to this. I've seen the Cup4Cup flour and know how expensive it is but I'd pay just about ANYTHING for decent biscuits. So, you think this gluten-free flour is worth the price? A dear friend used it to make me two loaves of bread (I THINK using a regular bread recipe) and the bread was just so-so. CERTAINLY not worth $20 for the bag of flour.....just sayin'. I'll look up the book you suggest. Many, many thanks.

[Lisa]

Thank you SO much. I'm very sorry it's taken me this long to reply. My granddaughter was born on 12/27 with a RAGING infection (exact quote) and was in NICU for 12 days so I'm just now getting to this. I've seen the Cup4Cup flour and know how expensive it is but I'd pay just about ANYTHING for decent biscuits. So, you think this gluten-free flour is worth the price? A dear friend used it to make me two loaves of bread (I THINK using a regular bread recipe) and the bread was just so-so. CERTAINLY not worth $20 for the bag of flour.....just sayin'. I'll look up the book you suggest. Many, many thanks.

I can't comment on the biscuits, but I certainly hope and pray that your grand daughter makes a full recovery....they are so special.

[Wheatfreeleeshy]

I know this is an old thread but if you're still looking for a good biscuit recipe, I use Pamela's Baking Mix and just follow the recipe on the package. I know that sounds too easy but they come out seriously delicious. Crisp & crumbly on the outside, tender, buttery & soft on the inside.

[USF1970]

I know this is an old thread but if you're still looking for a good biscuit recipe, I use Pamela's Baking Mix and just follow the recipe on the package. I know that sounds too easy but they come out seriously delicious. Crisp & crumbly on the outside, tender, buttery & soft on the inside.

YES......I'm still looking for a good biscuit recipe. I'll run right out tomorrow and get the baking mix you recommend. Thanks SO much......

[USF1970]

YES......I'm still looking for a good biscuit recipe. I'll run right out tomorrow and get the baking mix you recommend. Thanks SO much......

GREAT, GREAT, GREAT.  I made these tonight and they were nice and light and EASY.  Thank you.  They still had a bit of an odd taste to them but nothing that would keep me from making them again and again and again.  THANK YOU.....

[USF1970]

BTW, the biscuit recipe was not on the package but I used the recipe I found on Pamela's website - EAZY-PEAZY......

[CommonTater]

We made these and they were VERY good and light.

Open Original Shared Link

We made them with cheese and without. We also left out the bacon grease and used Crisco instead, other than that we followed the recipe and we did use Better batter flour.  They really turned out great.

[Wheatfreeleeshy]

GREAT, GREAT, GREAT.  I made these tonight and they were nice and light and EASY.  Thank you.  They still had a bit of an odd taste to them but nothing that would keep me from making them again and again and again.  THANK YOU.....

Many months later, I JUST saw your post... So glad I could help!! I made the same ones for non-gluten-free friends from North Carolina & they were shocked! Lol :-D

Not sure about the odd taste, hmmm... I've never had a problem with that & I'm pretty sensitive to flavors. The only thing I thought of was to make sure your butter is fresh. I keep mine wrapped up tight and in its box so it doesn't take on odors/flavor from fridge.