Cut-out Biscuits
Mmmm these are absolutely as delicious as they look AND the dough is really fun to play with- like “real” dough!
They are a tad bit more crumbly than biscuits that contain gluten, but VERY satisfying! We have been making these for a few months now, and each time I change a thing or two, but they always turn out great. Lil Pea loves helping me with these, and plays with the leftover scrap dough, if there is any. (We try to purposefully leave a bit, since she’ll play with it for hours!)
I have frozen both the un-baked, cut-out dough, and the baked biscuits with great success, so you might want to double the batch and freeze some for some quick breakfasts.
Cut-out Biscuits:
makes about 8
1/2 c millet flour
1/2 c arrowroot powder (flour and starch are the same thing)
3/4 c potato flour (NOT starch)
1 tbs sweet rice flour (add a little more, about 1/2 tsp at a time if your dough ends up too sticky)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 stick of COLD butter (1/4 c), cut up
1 large egg
3/4 c heavy cream (I have used full-fat plain yogurt w/great success also)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional, and if used, remove 1 tsp of cream/yogurt)
Preheat oven to 375* and line a cookie sheet with parchment or silpat. In stand mixer, mix together dry ingredients and then cut in butter until you get a crumbly mixture. Add cream/yogurt, and egg and mix until it comes together into a dough. Using a silicone spatula, scrape dough off of mixer and bowl and onto surface (parchment, silpat, cutting board, pastry board, etc) sprinkled with a bit more potato flour.
Using your hands, form a ball and smash it flat, keeping in mind the thickness you would like your cut biscuits to be. Use cutter or drinking glass and cut biscuits, placing them on cookie sheet about 1″ apart. When dough is full of holes from cutting out the biscuits, smoosh the dough back together and start cutting again. I left mine rather thick, and it made 9 biscuits.
*TRY not to twist your cutter because that seals the edges of the dough and prevents the best rise. Lil Pea is my cutter, so the ones in the photo are a bit thinner than I would like, but I love that she helps me and am not going to complain! *
Bake for 13-15 minutes on the middle oven rack, and serve warm with cream cheese, butter, jam, honey… the sky’s the limit.
NOTES:
Do keep in mind, when baking (especially gf), that a lot depends on the brands of flours you are using. I typically use Bob’s Red Mill, but not always. Some grinds are going to be softer, which is why a lot of gluten-free bakers are starting to give measurements with weight, rather than in cups. It is VERY time-consuming for me to measure by weight with the girls salivating for a finished product, so (for now) I will continue to measure in cups.
Do try and try again if a recipe doesn’t work for you- it sometimes takes me several tries for a baking recipe to work. Another thing that can affect your outcome is the humidity in your kitchen. This dough is supposed to look and feel like gluten dough. If it doesn’t then please toss in a little more sweet rice flour and knead it until it is smooth and you can roll/cut it. Some doughs or batters when making gluten-free baked goods are VERY sticky and meant to be that way. It’s best to always read through a recipe first and see what the author is telling you the batter/dough should look and feel like before tweaking it. Some of the runniest batters for pizza crust, bread, etc. often turn out the best products!
The vinegar is supposed to help with flakiness- try it both ways and see what you like best. Another tip to make a flaky biscuit is to use 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening. Spectrum makes an organic vegetable shortening that would probably work for this, but I have not tried it. I did try making them with 1/2 lard once, but they had less rise and seemed more crumbly than usual.
This recipe is a proud participant in Simple Lives Thursday.
I really want to make some of these biscuits, but just not sure about the necessary substitutes. Gonna think on it though! These look sooooooo gooooood.