I have followed a number of vegan biscuit recipes and have never been able to make biscuits as tall and flaky as these! It turns out… it’s all in the method. I’ll share my secrets with you in this best flaky vegan biscuit recipe!
The flakiest texture
Tall and fluffy
Full of flavour
And you just have to enjoy them warm!
Ingredients For Flaky Vegan Biscuits
This flaky vegan biscuit recipe has just 10 ingredients.
The basic biscuit is made from:
- Plant milk and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice for a vegan “buttermilk”
- White all purpose (or whole wheat) flour
- Baking powder, baking soda, salt
- And vegan butter
I love adding in a bit of extra savoury flavour with:
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- And fresh chives or another fresh herb
Getting Started
To start, a vegan “buttermilk” is made by combining soy milk or your plant milk of choice and an acid. The acid makes the milk thicken and this sour milk adds to the rising power of the biscuits.
While the “buttermilk” thickens, combine the dry ingredients. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and any ground spices you’re using.
Then, cut cold butter into small cubes and drop them into the flour mixture. Working quickly, use a fork or pastry cutter to “cut” the butter into the flour. Keep incorporating the butter until the flour has more of a wet sand appearance. You will still have small pieces of butter intact but you want to make sure there are no large clumps of butter before moving to the next step.
Next, stir in any fresh herbs you are using. For this recipe, I love adding fresh chopped chives.
Now your “buttermilk” has had time to thicken. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the buttermilk into the well. Mix the flour with the buttermilk until the crumbly dough comes together.
The Secret To Flaky Vegan Biscuits
Next, comes part 1 of the method that will ensure your biscuits are tall and flaky!
- Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Gently pat the dough into a rectangular shape. You don’t have to knead the dough and you don’t have to roll it. The dough should be 1 – 1 ½ inches tall.
- Fold the dough in half, bringing the top half down over the bottom half.
- Then fold the dough in half again, bringing one side over the other.
- Now you are left with a small and tall square of dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place it in a clean resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for 15 – 30 minutes.
If you can wait the whole 30 minutes, the butter in the dough will have a chance to firm up again. You can skip the resting time and proceed to baking the biscuits but if the butter has warmed while you have been working, the biscuits may not be as flaky as they could be.
When you are almost ready to remove your dough from the fridge, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and melt a bit of butter for brushing the tops of the biscuits.
- Remove your dough from the fridge and return it to a lightly floured surface.
- Pat the dough into a tall rectangle again. 1 to 1 ½ inches thick.
- Slice the dough in half lengthwise with a sharp knife of bench scraper.
- Then, slice each half into 3 or 4 rectangular biscuits.
- Now, press the sides of each biscuit to squish them into square shapes.
- Transfer the formed biscuits to a baking sheet and brush the tops with melted butter.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes (turning the baking sheet and brushing with more butter at 15 minutes).
The Flaky Biscuit Method
This method of keeping the dough thick and folding it upon itself comes from Erin Jeanne Mcdowell and her biscuit recipe for Food52. Erin has a great video where she demonstrates this method and I love it!
- Folding the dough eliminates overworking it by rolling it or pressing it too thin.
- Cutting rectangular biscuits and pressing them into square shapes eliminates needing to reform excess dough after cutting circular biscuits.
- Overall, this method is quicker and simpler and it is such a great way to ensure the dough is worked as little as possible!
Freezing This Flaky Vegan Biscuit Recipe
Follow the recipe up until you form the individual biscuits, then freeze the formed biscuits! Put some parchment or wax paper between the biscuits so they don’t stick together.
To bake biscuits from frozen:
Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake the biscuits for 30 – 35 minutes.
This flaky vegan biscuit recipe is so good… biscuits made with whole wheat flour are also delicious!
Recipe Cost
This flaky vegan biscuit recipe makes 6-8 biscuits depending on whether you stretch the dough to 8 or make 6 large biscuits. (If you make 8 biscuits, the four that are formed from the centre of the dough will be nicely shaped and you will likely have four smaller biscuits from the ends of the dough).
This recipe costs us approximately CAD $3.04 with the fresh chives and extra seasonings. The basic biscuit recipe costs us $1.91!
Let me know in the comments below if you follow this method and if this flaky vegan biscuit recipe gives you the flakiest biscuits you’ve ever had!
Make sure to take a look at this delicious Kid Approved Vegan Cornbread recipe and my quick Irish Soda Bread!
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Best Flaky Vegan Biscuit Recipe – All In The Method!
- Total Time: 65 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The best flaky vegan biscuit recipe! It’s all in the method. They’re quick, easy, fluffy and so full of flavour! You won’t have just one!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup soy milk (or plant milk of choice)
- ¾ tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
- 2 cups all purpose flour (see notes for using whole wheat)
- ¾ tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp vegan butter, cold (plus more for brushing)
- 1 ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp onion powder*
- ¼ cup chives, sliced (or ¾ -1 teaspoon dried herb of choice)*
*Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Make the buttermilk by combining the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Let stand five minutes while you start the dough.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and any dry spices (like the garlic and onion powders) if using.
- Add 4 tablespoon cold vegan butter by slicing the block of butter in cubes and dropping the cubes into the flour. Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until it resembles wet sand. Some clumps of butter are fine but try to not have any large clumps of butter left. Work quickly so the butter doesn’t get too warm and start to melt.
- If using chives or fresh herbs, stir them in now.
- Make a well in the flour and slowly add the buttermilk mixture. Mix the buttermilk into the flour just until they are combined and no more flour is visible. The dough will be a little crumbly.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently form into a rectangle. Don’t overwork the dough, you don’t need to knead it or flatten it too much. You want the dough to be 1 – 1 ½ inch thick. Once you have your rectangle; fold the dough in half, bringing the top half down over the bottom half. Then, fold the dough in half again by bringing one side over the other. Now you have a tall and small square of dough. *See the photos in the blog post for some help with the folding.
- Gently wrap the dough in plastic wrap or use a clean resealable plastic bag to refrigerate it for ideally 15-30 minutes. (If you are tight on time and the dough has not warmed up too much you can refrigerate for less time). 15 – 30 minutes in the fridge will give the butter a chance to firm up again and help your biscuits be nice and flaky.
- Before removing your biscuit dough from the fridge, make sure your oven is preheated to 400 degrees F and you have melted ½ – 1 tablespoon of vegan butter to brush the tops of the biscuits. You can use a milk wash in place of the extra butter. I find the biscuits don’t get quite as browned with a milk wash but it is certainly an option!
- Take your dough out of the fridge and, working quickly again, very gently flatten the dough with your hands on your lightly floured work surface. Form it into that nice 1 ½ inch rectangle then using a sharp knife or bench scraper slice the dough in half lengthwise. Use quick and precise movements and try not to twist the dough or overwork it. Slice each half into 3 or 4 rectangles (3 will give you 6 biscuits, 4 will stretch your dough to 8 biscuits but you will have a few smaller biscuits).
- With your 6 or 8 rectangular biscuits, put your fingers on each end of the rectangle and gently push the dough into a square shape. Transfer the square biscuits to a lined baking sheet with a little bit of space between each biscuit. *You can freeze the biscuits at this point (when baking from frozen, adjust the oven temp to 375 degrees F and bake for 30-35 minutes).
- Brush the biscuits with melted butter or a bit of plant milk. Bake the biscuits for 20 – 25 minutes. You can check them at 15 minutes, brush them with a bit more melted butter or milk to encourage more browning, turn your pan, and continue baking for 5-10 more minutes. I tend to take my biscuits out at 22 minutes.
- These are best enjoyed warm! Heat up leftover biscuits and consider serving them with gravy to moisten them!
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $3.04 with fresh chives and all the seasonings. $1.91 for the basic biscuit without any seasoning. Making the basic biscuit recipe with dairy butter and real buttermilk would cost us approximately $2.31.
If you prefer to make these biscuits with whole wheat flour, you can leave the recipe as written and simply substitute whole wheat flour for the white flour. The whole wheat biscuits are still delicious!
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
t
this was the most amazing biscuits, they raised so well and it wasn’t dry like previous ones i’ve made. Highly recommend!
Kathryn Alexandre
That’s so great to hear! I’m glad they worked out so well for you and you enjoyed them. Thank you for leaving a review and for the star rating!
Sarai
My Go To Biscuit Recipe!!!
I was getting tired of making sweets for breakfast like muffins, pancakes waffles and wanted savory. I always find it somewhat daunting to make a vegan breakfast but these biscuits are amazing!! I love to add basil for a bit of flavor and they’re so good!!! My family is a fan of these and it’s what I’ll be making for our Christmas Breakfast along with some tofu scramble and breakfast potatoes.
Kathryn Alexandre
Thank you so much for letting me know you all enjoy these. I love that you add basil! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed your breakfast! Have a happy New Year!