Biscuits are one of my favorite comfort foods. But finding the right balance of ingredients to make gluten-free rolled biscuits was a challenge. Gluten-free baking is definitely a tricky thing, but the result was worth all the trial and error. A warm flaky biscuit with butter and jam or some gluten-free gravy . . . heavenly!
Gluten-Free Flour Blends
In most of my gluten-free baking recipes, I use my favorite gluten-free flour mix that includes sorghum, millet and brown rice flours. It works well for my cakes, cookies and quick breads. This blend did not work for these biscuits. In order to get that lighter, fluffier texture, a more starchy blend is necessary. So I mixed up a different blend.
This is the same as when working with wheat flour. Soft wheat, lower gluten and lower protein wheat flours are the preference for biscuits. If you’d like to mix up your own blend for these gluten-free biscuits, here is the blend I used:
- 1 c brown rice flour
- 1 c white rice flour
- 2/3 c potato starch
- 1/3 c tapioca starch
Whisk these ingredients together thoroughly to assure that they are evenly distributed. This blend is suitable for many other gluten-free recipes.
Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends will work for this recipe because they are mostly white rice flour-based. King Arthur Flour’s gluten-free all purpose flour, King Arthur Measure for Measure Flour and Trader Joe’s gluten-free flour are both good options for these biscuits.
If you are not sure if your flour blend will work, check the ingredients. If white rice flour and starches like potato, tapioca and corn are in the first few ingredients, it should be a good option.
For an even lighter, flakier texture, I include 2 tablespoons of potato starch in the recipe. If you don’t have potato starch, tapioca or corn starch will work too.
How to Make Gluten-Free Biscuits
Making gluten-free biscuits does not exactly follow the method of making biscuits with traditional wheat flour. Large chunks of butter are ok in wheat biscuits but don’t work as well in gluten-free biscuits. So when working the butter into the flour, break down most of the chunks of butter into crumbs so that it is more evenly distributed (see photo below). This can be done with a pastry blender, with 2 forks or in the food processor – see the exact recipe and instructions in the recipe card below.
The dough is relatively wet and sticky, so when preparing it to cut out the biscuits, I use a large silicone mat to help manipulate it. I also keep it covered with plastic wrap to keep the roller clean without adding extra flour. Here’s how I do it, step-by-step.
Lightly flour the surface.
Remove the dough from the plastic wrap, place it on the surface and lay the plastic back over the top. Use your hands or a rolling pin to flatten it to 1″ thick.
Remove the plastic wrap and fold the dough in half left to right. The silicone mat makes this task much easier.
Put the plastic wrap back on top and roll or flatten to 1″ thick again.
Now fold the dough in half, pulling the top over the bottom half.
Repeat this process, flattening and folding the dough in opposite directions, at least 4 more times. This is what will create the flakey layers.
Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and flip it over. Smooth out the top.
Prepare a small bowl with some flour in it, to dip the biscuit cutter. This will prevent the dough from getting stuck, Dip the cutter in the flour before cutting out each biscuit.
Cut out biscuits using a 2 1/4″ (approximate) cutter. Press straight down, (do not twist) lift and gently drop on to the pan. Drop it right in the spot where you want it to stay. The less you handle them once cut out, the better.
Keep them close, about 1/4″ apart. Brush these with melted butter and they are ready to bake!
Be sure to check out more of my gluten-free breakfast and brunch recipes including my gluten-free waffles and gluten-free peanut butter pancakes and my gluten-free quick bread recipes with my favorite sweet, fluffy, gluten-free cornbread recipe
Gluten-Free Biscuits
These gluten-free rolled biscuits are buttery, flaky and perfect with sweet or savory dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 c gluten-free flour blend*
- 2 Tbsp potato starch
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ xanthan gum
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ c (1 stick) unsalted, cold butter
- ¾ c sour cream or full fat plain yogurt
- 1 egg white
- 2 tsps apple cider vinegar
- small bowl with 2 Tbsps flour
- 2 tbsps melted butter (for brushing the tops of the biscuits)
Instructions
- Beat the egg white with the sour cream and vinegar in a small mixing bowl.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a food processor.
Food processor
- Pulse a few times to combine the dry ingredients.
- Cut the butter into 12 pieces. and place in the food processor with the flour mix. Pulse about 20 times or until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the sour cream mixture and pulse until the mixture starts to come together. It does not need to come completely together, some crumbs are okay.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, working it into a rectangle and using the plastic wrap to help push it together.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes only. If refrigerated too long, the dough will be very crumbly and difficult to work with.
Mix by hand
- Cut the butter into 12 pieces. and place in the bowl with the flour mix. Use 2 forks or a pastry blender to blend the butter into the flour. Continue until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the sour cream mixture and mix with a wood spoon or spatula until the mixture starts to come together. It does not need to pull all the way together, some crumbs are okay.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, working it into a rectangle and using the plastic wrap to help push it together.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes. If refrigerated too long, the dough will be very crumbly and difficult to work with.
Form and bake the biscuits
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. I use a silicone mat.
- I like to keep the plastic wrap laying on top of the dough to keep my hands from getting sticky. Use your hands to flatten the dough to around 1" thick, keeping the rectangular shape. You can also use a rolling pin, but I prefer my hands. One less item to wash!
- Remove the plastic and fold the dough in half pulling the left side over the right and flatten back to 1" thick.
- Now fold in half pulling the top half over the bottom and flatten as before.
- Continue folding in opposite directions and flattening out 6 more times. This is what will create the flakey layers in the biscuit.
- Flatten the dough to 1" thick and use a 2 1/4" (approximately) cutter dipped in flour. Press straight down, do not twist the cutter.
- Place the formed biscuits on the baking sheet leaving 1/4" in between.
- Once you have cut out as many biscuits as you can, gather the scraps and pat the dough back to 1" thickness a second and third time to finish cutting out all of the biscuits.
- Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter.
- Bake for 12 minutes. If you want to get a darker golden brown on the top. turn the oven to broil (keeping the pan on the center rack) and watch closely. They will be golden and cooked through in 2-3 minutes.
- If you are not concerned about the color just bake for 15 -17 minutes total, without turning the oven to broil.
Notes
*If using a gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan gum, omit it from the recipe.
For an easy DIY gluten-free flour blend, combine:
1 c white rice flour
1 c brown rice flour
2/3 c potato starch
1/3 c tapioca starch
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