Gluten Free Biscuits Recipe
Gluten-free baking can be complicated, fraught with trial and error (emphasis on the error) and frustrating. However I am happy to report that making gluten-free biscuits need not be as difficult as some would have you believe.
There are those that will tell you the only way to get perfect baking results is to weigh your flours, measure very carefully, calibrate your oven and what not. While this may be true for some things, I have found that biscuits are very forgiving. Think about it, pioneer women mixed up their biscuits on the “road” in the back of a covered wagon and “baked” them over a campfire. Probably while making sure their children weren’t bitten by snakes and fending off hostile natives not too happy with the intrusion, all the while wearing a corset. Seriously, how much time did they have for carefully weighing their flour?
I have found that gums such as xanthan and guar are not necessary in gluten free biscuits, just some type of gluten-free flour and a starch mixed with baking powder and salt. I like my biscuits white and fluffy so I prefer superfine white or brown rice flour but if you want to use another type of gluten free flour such as millet, sorghum, quinoa, etc. or any combination thereof, then go right ahead. For starch I prefer to use either tapioca or potato starch but you could also use cornstarch or arrowroot powder. Again, you can also use a combination of starches if you prefer.
After you pick the type of flour and starch you want to use, it is simply a matter of adding some fat and liquid. The type depends on your taste and dietary needs. Personally I like to use butter for my fat and milk for my liquid but Earth Balance, shortening or even bacon fat and any type of dairy-free milk works really well for dairy free biscuits. Just make sure your fat and liquid are cold.
Once you have made all your decisions the thing to keep in mind is to use a light hand, don’t overwork the dough. The less you work it, the lighter and flakier the biscuit. And when you add the fat to the flour make sure you keep some larger chunks in there, this is also important for flakiness.
When it comes to adding the liquid, start with less than the recipe calls for and add just enough to form the mixture into a dough, various factors such as humidity can affect how much is needed. You may even need a tad more than the recipe calls for.
You can roll and cut out your biscuits or drop them by spoons onto a baking sheet. I prefer to pat out my dough rather than rolling it out with a rolling pin. It is easier and there is one less thing to wash.
I guess the most important thing to keep in mind is not to be intimidated. Really, what’s the worst that could happen? You bake little hockey pucks and try again. The best that could happen? You have flaky, light biscuits warm from the oven ready for a slathering of jam – a little piece of heaven.
Gluten Free Biscuits Recipe
Ingredients
- 1½ cups superfine white or brown rice flour (plus more for rolling)
- ¾ cup tapioca or potato starch (not potato flour)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons cold fat (such as butter, Earth Balance, or shortening) cut into small pieces
- ¾ cup milk (any kind, including dairy free)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Whisk together the flour, starch, baking powder and salt. Cut the fat into the flour either with a pastry cutter, two knives, or by rubbing the fat into the flour with your fingers. Make sure you leave some larger pieces of fat.
- Add the liquid, starting with ½ a cup and gradually adding a little more at a time, mixing until the dough comes together.
- Put a little flour on a work surface and dump out the dough. Knead 3 or 4 times then either roll or pat it out to about ½ inch thick. Cut into biscuits using a 2½-inch cookie cutter. You can gently reform the dough to cut more biscuits.
- Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe? Give it a star rating and let us know your thoughts in the Ratings & Reviews section below.
Those are some fabulous looking biscuits, Carol! Thanks for sharing. I saw them in your blueberry jam post, and thought…hmm…wonder where that recipe is. ;)
Thanks Jeanine! Happy baking :)
Can I use your GF flour as a subsitute for the rice flour? If not, where is a good source for Superfine flour? I just see regular in the stores. These look great and I can’t wait to try them!
Yes, you can use my flour!
Such lovely biscuits, Carol! I can just imagine how good they taste, too. :-) So many of our fears about baking (and gluten-free baking especially) are sort of ridiculous. Like you say, what’s the worst that could happen? Love your pioneer woman musings, too. Yeah, we don’t have nearly that many issues to deal with, do we? ;-) I’ve had great success with all kinds of biscuits. :-) Now I want to make yours!
xoxo,
Shirley
Thanks Shirley, I think the best thing is just jump in and start baking :)
Oh my goodness. Kurt literally just told me that he has been CRAVING biscuits. I am going to earn like a million and two brownie points when I make these for him this weekend. You must have read my mind that I was looking for a perfect biscuit recipe! ;) I guess that i will have to also now go and make your blueberry jam to accompany these!
Hugs!
xo
k
Always happy to help a friend make brownie points!!!
xo,
c
Gorgeous biscuits, they’re just calling for homemade jam! My kids love biscuits and this recipe fits our bill! Yeah!
Thank you Maggie! I must say I am a bit of a biscuit lover myself – especially lathered with homemade jam!
Wow Carol! I just love biscuits with jam and/or jelly (seriously, what is the difference?). I have been experimenting making them with a blend of blanched almond flour and coconut flour, yet it requires eggs. Yours look fantastic!
Thanks Brandon – don’t see why eggs would be required. My grandmother never put eggs in her biscuits. Anyway, these are seriously good with jam or jelly :)
So right not to be intimidated. I’m convinced baked goods can smell fear!
I could not agree more! LOL!
I don’t tend to think of making biscuits except around the holidays. This last year I purchased canned biscuits for my family (Trader Joe’s brand doesn’t have yucky ingredients) and I went without. I did try a gf crescent roll once and it came out too heavy so I gave up. I used to love putting cinnamon sugar on top of biscuits before baking for breakfast once in a while for my kids. They loved them.
I wear a corset everyday.. don’t you? lol
Haha Jeri! LOL! I think I sent my corset to the cleaners and forgot to pick it up :)
Love the tutorial on making biscuits! I am so bad about following recipes…I always want to change things around, so I love that you gave us guidelines so that we can do that!
Thanks Iris, I am not much of a recipe follower myself, I like guidelines.
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There are no eggs!! Hooray! So many gf recipes have eggs, but I’m allergic to eggs as well so thank you for a great recipe!
Thanks Kathryn! Yes lots of gluten free baked goods have eggs because when you take the protein out (the gluten) you usually need to add it back in for structure – but there are ways to get around it! Enjoy!
We LOVED these! Thanks so much for this recipe. Nice to have one that’s fast and easy, without xantham/ guar gums, and yet have it work so well! This gave me a little more hope about living gluten-free! Thanks so much!
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I’m so excited to have found your website! My daughter has celiac and we are discovering new ways to eat. She has really missed light and fluffy breads and biscuits…can’t wait to try out your recipes!
Thanks Jodie! Let me know if I can be of any help in your transition.
These biscuits lobe lovely, and so fluffy. Def. have to try them out one morning. Especially since I’m allergic to yeast:)
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MF’N BISCUITS!!!! YAY!! I am new to being gluten intolerant. I sooo ready for a biscuit!!!
Enjoy!!!
i tried your gluten free biscuits today, exactly as you said, however, when I went to pick one up they crumbled in my hand. Any suggestions of what i did wrong? I am new to this gluten free program and not sure what happened.
Hmmm, my thought is that you may have overworked the dough but tell me what were the exact ingredients you used? Brands if you know.
I tried your recipe for gluten free biscuits this morning, and they were pretty good! I’ve been working on going gluten free for the past few months and I have tested out a lot of recipes. I didn’t have the rice flour or potato starch, but I had some Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free baking mix so I decided to give it a shot. I can honestly say this is a recipe I will make again. And next time I will try it with rice flour and potato starch like you suggested, I’m hoping they will be even better!
I am happy you liked them Samantha! Good luck on your journey to gluten free!
Hi, I was just diagnosed with Celiac’s the other day and so happy I came across this recipe to try ! I’ve been anxious about the lifestyle change, but have been comforted by your website! Many thks !
Carole
Thank you Carole. I know it seems challenging at first but it does get better!
Any idea how many carbs are in one of these biscuits?
I looked it up on an on-line calculatore and of course it depends on what type of fat, liquid, etc you use but about 26 grams per biscuit.
I love the way you describe things, so practical and easy-going! You’ve given me the courage to give it a try. Some of the other gluten-free biscuit recipes look so complicated.
Thank you Joan, going gluten free does not have to be hard! Enjoy!
I made these for my four year old today and he LOVED them! Even my oldest and his girlfriend were wolfin’ them down! These will become a staple around here, thank you so much!
I made these this morning with an AP mix of Bobs Red Mill white rice flour, tapioca, and Ener G potato starch, rice milk, and Spectrum vegetable shortening. They came out flat and had the consistency of a chewy sugar cookie- I didn’t forget the baking powder or salt so I’m wondering what I did wrong- they look so beautiful in your picture!
I never use Bob’s AP flour because I don’t like the taste or texture of the baked good that come from it but is your baking powder still active? It looses freshness after a time and that is the first thing I would check.
I made these and they ended up spreading terribly (my own fault, I think, since I both rolled them too thin and didn’t have the butter cold enough). But they were also way too salty. I like salt, as a rule, but these tasted almost like salt with a little bit of biscuit. Next time, I’m going to have to cut back to 1/2 tsp.
Good to know – did you use unsalted butter and kosher salt? The other kind of salt is saltier – I should probably say this somewhere, thanks for bringing to my attention. I usually just pat out my dough for buiscuits to keep from rolling it too thin. Thank you for checking back in!
I didn’t use unsalted, I usually buy regular unless I’ve got a recipe in mind that specifically calls for unsalted; and regular’s what I had when I felt the urge to make biscuits. :-) I didn’t realize that there was a difference in saltiness between the salts, but I used fine sea salt.
There is quite a bit of salt in regular butter – I always use unsalted that way I can control the saltiness. Personally I love salt but still, I want to control it. It is easier to add than take away :)
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These are soooo yummy. What a wonderful treat. I used King Arthur’s flour mix and grated the butter and they came out soft and flakey. I didn’t wait for them to brown on the top because thehfelt
these are wonderful biscuits…and i dont need to find a second job to pay for a bunch of special flours or xanthan gum! i’ve tried countless other recipes online for gluten free biscuits, most of which, or i should say, all of which were a lot more complicated, and these are hands down the best! biscuits and strawberry preserves were a comfort food of mine before my celiac diagnosis…now I can have em again! thanks so much for posting this.
Oh YAY! It is my pleasure. Thanks for letting me know!
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My daughter just had her 2nd reaction to wheat and running! In the ER for 3 hours and trip to allergist today. Do you think she can have these biscuits – he said she can have unbleached white flour – not whole wheat flour- we are so scared but would love to try these
Oh man, that’s scary! I really do not understand why someone could eat bleached wheat flour and not whole wheat but I am no doctor. Can you tell me more about the recipe for bread you used so I can help? Good luck with your daughter, I will keep her in my thoughts!
I plan on buying your flour for her! I tried to make bread for her yesterday but I guess I need the anthem or guar gum because the dough didn’t rise – any suggestions??
These were soo good!! Thank you so much for this recipe! They taste better than regular biscuits! This has satisfied my craving for bread/biscuits that Ive had for the past 3 months! Amazing :)
Aww thanks Miheala and I am so happy you enjoyed them!
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I just made these with tapioca starch, white rice flour, butter and coconut milk and they are so incredibly good. I was pleasantly surprised to see how crispy the edges are, they came out like a perfectly toasted biscuit. Thanks for making this so easy, this is the first gluten free biscuit I’ve ever made.
Yay! Thanks for letting me know Hannah and I am so happy you liked them!
I don’t know what I did wrong, but my dough is not coming together! I tried adding more milk, and it helped SOME, but it’s still weird and I’ve tripled the milk. I suck at biscuits. When I make the regular ones, I “drown the miller,” but these don’t seem moist enough!
Hi Misty – ok goive me some more info and I will try to help you out here. What kind of flour did you use? Anything else you can tell me that will help? Walk me through exactly what you did.
I made these biscuits exactly as written, and they turned out very dense and crunchy. They looked just like the picture, FYI, and I double-checked that I followed all of the instructions, including the baking time. They were fairly similar to an overcooked croissant, but very not biscuit-like. My 3-year-old said “Dada, these make crunchy sound like chips.” My old biscuit recipe before my wife went gluten-free was very good with a soft inside and very slight crisp on the outside. I think next time I’ll just try that with white rice flour (and cut back or eliminate the sugar) in place of the regular flour and see how they turn out. I have found that people who have gone gluten-free seem to have a lower standard for baked goods, probably because there are so many horrible recipes out there and it’s so hard to duplicate gluten-containing baked goods. These aren’t horrible, and if you don’t have an alternative recipe and are craving biscuits these might hit the spot, but this recipe by no means makes great biscuits.
Hi Carl – not sure why yours turned out dense and crumbly, mine don’t – they are mosit and soft on the inside with just a bit of crunch on the outside. It could be the flours you are using. I find they are best made with superfine or Asian white rice flour and tapioca starch, they come out the lightest that way but some people prefer brwon rice flour so I like to offer that option. Just as a note, most of the rice flours from the natural foods stores are not milled finely enough to produce really good baked products which is why I alwyas recommend supoerine (from Authentic Foods) or Asian (Erawan Brand) flours. Erawan flours will be about a third the cost of Authentic Foods and in my opinion, better. You just can’t get brown rice flour from Erawan so…
Also it is always a good idea when baking to make sure your oven is at the correct temperature, an oven thermometer helps a lot.
In any case, sorry they didn’t turn out they way you wanted them.
I too made these biscuits. I used superfine asian white rice flower and superfine potato starch. My baking power is new also. My biscuits tasted like a biscuit, but never rose or got fluffy. They looked beautiful in color, texture was dense and heavy. I did use Soy milk in place of regular milk. They were tasty but very dense.
Hmmm. My busiciuts are not really high but not dense. It seems different people get different results with this recipe. I may have to go back to the drawing board to fina a more fool proof recipe. I do know that it is importnmat not to overwork your dough.
My biscuits came out slightly bitter, although the consistency was perfect. I’m just wondering if the bitterness was from the baking powder. 1 TBSP seems like a lot. Would 1 tsp suffice?
Hi Carol – I am not sure how much rise you will get with just one tsp. You could try it, 2 would be better. I would also check your baking powder. If it is not fresh it can give a metalic, bitter taste to baked goods.
I loved this recipe! I used 1/2 cup sorgham flour and 1 cup white rice flour and followed the rest exactly. I found cooking about 15 minutes was just enough!
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Thanks for the gf recipe. Learning alot here about the basics of gf baking. Just found out my daughter is allergic. Its been fun trying new things and seeing how to make the recipes work. I am a cook by nature and this has been an adventure with some interesting culinary creations, LOL. I really like cooking by guidelines not by boring formulas. Thanks :-) the dough is in the oven now wrapped around a gf cheddar type brat. She will be happy.
Thanks for the gf recipe. Learning alot here about the basics of gf baking. Just found out my daughter is allergic. Its been fun trying new things and seeing how to make the recipes work. I am a cook by nature and this has been an adventure with some interesting culinary creations, LOL. I really like cooking by guidelines not by boring formulas. Thanks :-) the dough is in the oven now wrapped around a gf cheddar type brat. She will be happy.
Hi Heather – you have the right attitude! It is fun learning a new way of cooking and baking and we approach it as an adventure instead of with dread, life is much nicer! Love the idea of wrapping around a brat!
Awesome! These were just stupendous! Yay! I used 1 cup of brown rice flour and 1/2 cup of sorghum flour since I ran out of the rice flour. I also used buttermilk. These were the best and the recipe was so easy! Melted butter and honey… Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Aww, thank you Kathrine for your kind words. So happy you enjoyed them!
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Hello Carol! Thanks for posting this recipe. I’ve tried making these twice now and both times they have come out not soft, crumbly and salty. I took your advice and bought new ingredients all according to your recommendations (just in case) and still no luck. Any advice?
Hmmm, first, cut bak on the salt. I learned how to make biscuiots from a Southerner and we like our biscuits a little saltier than some. If they are crumbly then you need to add more liquid. Things like humidity and such can effect baking. I live in the South where it is very humid. Just add more liquid a bit at a time until you have a soft dough.
Thanks Carol. I’ll try that!
Report back!
Made these for my family. Only my daughter is gluten free. We all devoured them! They were tasty.
So happy they loved them!
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Thank you for chasing away my fear of trying something new. I got my nerves up so much that I made a double batch. What can happen, right? Secretly I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to send it to the compost bin. I always just followed the directions whatever came on the packages that I bought because someone said flours cannot be substituted with success. That’s not very flexible. Well I had brown flour and corn flour that I wasn’t sure I was ever going to use without any recipe. I mixed them 1-1 and I also mixed in a few handfuls of milk free and soy free ‘cheese’. They are still hot out of the oven and now I can’t stop eating. I will have to or my kids won’t have any left by the morning ;0). It is delicious. Thanks for the encouragement and the great recipe.
Thank you, I am so happy they were a success!!!
here’s some constructive criticism, hope you won’t run from it… “fending off hostile natives” is a racist way to start your recipe. good luck!
Thanks for the constructive critism. Obviously I did not intend any racist remark, so thanks for pointing that out, I appreciate your point of view. Carol
I was wondering if I could roll this dough out and use it like a pie crust. My family has a traditional Christmas meat pie recipe that uses biscuit dough for the pie crust… I know it would be delicate…
I think you could and that sounds delicious!
I made these this morning and they didn’t turn out so well. I must have done something wrong, maybe over mixed?? They came out tasting pasty and gross. Any suggestions?
I need more info – what kind of flour did you use, etc. Then I can help you.
I made these today and was disappointed. They didn’t rise at all in the oven and came out looking like white little hockey pucks. Rats! I used brown rice flour and tapioca starch (both Bob’s Red Mill brand) and followed the recipe exactly. I took care to mix only enough milk to bind the mix together and was careful not to overwork the fat. I had to take them out at 15 minutes even though the tops weren’t brown because the bottoms were already turning golden and crispy. Any thoughts?
My guess is that it was the Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flour. I have never had any luck baking with it. I always use superfine flours in baking. Also I would try lowering the temp on your oven a bit. All ovens are different. You can also use two baking sheets, one on top of the other to keep the bottoms from browning too quickly. They work out best when the dough is not patted out too thin also. And if they didn’t rise then I would make sure your baking powder is fresh. Sorry these didn’t work out well for you.
I’m trying to make a g free/vegan monkey bread for Christmas Day and was wondering if you’ve ever tried these bisquits for something like that! Should I double the batter to make sure I get enough to fit a bundt pan? Thanks!
I have never tried it but my guess is it could work. Yes, double it and I would use the stick Earth Balance instead of the kind you get in the tub or else shortening. Let me know how it turns out!
Thanks so much for responding! I do have some shortening that I could try. Not many recipes out there for monkey bread that fits my allergies. And the one I did find used bob’s bisquit mix which was not sold at my wholefoods. I’ll try this and get back to you!!
Great, I would love to know how it comes out!
Sorry if this has already been asked, but I didn’t have time to read through all the comments. Can white rice flour be substituted for brown rice flour in any recipe? I have several recipes that call for brown rice flour, which is like $7 here for a pound and a half. The white rice flour I get is only $3 per pound. So I would rather use the white. Does it make a difference in baking, or is it just for nutritional value? Thanks!
H Bridgett. For the most part the the only difference is nutritional. There may be some recipes where brown rice is so much better but I can’t think of one off the top of my head. Here’s a little tip for you that will save you even more money; buy Asian white rice flour. It is about 1/3 less than other white rices flours you get in the health food stores and it is much more finely milled which gives you a better result. The brand I like is Erawan.
Sorry, I meant $3 for a pound and a half. $4 savings is a big one when it’s something you use so often!
I agree!
just found this tonight after a recipe i tried off another site failed. will bookmark these and try again. i have a marvelous old weightwatcher’s recipe that is like chicken pot pie w/ biscuits on top. the ones i made tonight were not horrible on top of the chicken stuff but a made 4 leftovers and the were horrendous. the husband hated the ones on the pot pie too. i never give up – i just keep tring something else. for most things i’ve found good recipes with several failed attempts. i like all the positive reviews for these!! thanks!
Good luck Linda, I hope you like them.
I tried these, but they didn’t rise. It could be I over worked the dough or maybe the butter. All I have was unsalted butter. Do you think unsatled butter is ok to use. Tasty, I’ll try again. Thanks.
Hi Joe, ulsalted butter is fine. I would be suspicous of your baking powder. Is it really fresh? Also, they don’t rise a whole bunch so don’t pat the dough too thin before cutting them out and yes, try to work the dough as little as possible.
I just love your writing! Since I have had to change my diet, I am now looking for ideas, but to be entertained at the same time? Too wonderful! Thanks!
Thnak you so much Cheri. Good luck with your diet change, it gets easier – I promise!!!
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Hi Carol,
I’m dying for some biscuits. I want to use the white rice flour. Is Bob’s Red Mill OK? Also, I would like to use coconut oil. Can I just cut that into the mix like I would butter?
Looking forward to trying these. I’ve tried for 2 weeks to use white rice flour and all I end up with is hard on outside and goo on the inside?
Any possibility of making a pumpkin biscuit? I’d like to try and use kabocha squash.
Thanks for your wonderful blog. I can’t wait to spend some time here.
Debby:)
Hi Debby – I have found that Bob’s will not rise as well and have a different texture. You can try and see if you like. I am not sure about coconut oil, but it should work. Can you get the coconut oil cold and cut it in in solid form?
HI Carol,
I tried them with Bob’s before I heard back, and you’re right, no rise. I’m finding that a lot with what I’m making. I used white rice flour. I found a great Korean market here in Oakland, ca, and I’ll make sure to get some white rice flour there. how do I know that the rice flour at the Asian store is fine enough, or should I just assume it is. I have tons of coconut butter. It’s the only oil I use!! I cut it in in solid form last time but I find it melts. Is this OK? I didn’t get very much of a crumb.
Is it possible to use less fat in the recipe or will it only work with the 6 TBSP. Have you tried with less fat? Once a week I’m on a high carb diet for sports performance and fat loss(although I don’t have any fat to lose but it’s for maintaining purposes; I’m a fitness trainer and fat loss coach) and the program is high starchy carbs, low fat one NIGHT a week. It’s super fun, and I’ve been craving biscuits.
Also, I’ve been trying to find a recipe for the Korean sesame breads. The little balls that are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. THey are similar to the Brazillian cheese breads made with tapioca flour. Again, I’m trying to find low fat and mostly starchy things. These Korean breads look so yummy. I did find a Chebe style recipe and made it and it was delish. I may just use that one. But if you can come up with the Korean one it would be great. THe Asian store sells it in a box, as most of the videos and websites show, but when reading the package it’s not the tapioca flour but it also uses wheat and sugar. I stay away from sugar.
Thanks for all your help. I’ll let you know how they come out. I also have a fitnesss (and now a food blog starting for gluten free, both low and high carb) and will be posting once I get my Nikon charged! I’d like to try your flour!!
Cheers!
DebbyK
Enjoying this GF recipe in China…and planning to share it with other Celiac expats I know here. Thanks for posting it (and telling us where we can take short cuts and where we can’t…)
My pleasure Lisa. I had such a fabulous time in China! Hope you enjoy it too.
Carol,
I thought you might like this variation I found: http://www.junecleaverinyogapants.com/2013/01/anti-recipe-58-homemade-yogurt-and.html. I tried these and they were super yummy and easy, though I admit I did not make my own yogurt. But nice to get more protein into the biscuits. Thanks for making living GF so much easier!
Steve
Thank you Steve!
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For super fine can I just put it in like a majic bullet? Or is it still the same problem? Thanks and thank you for the recipe were going to try it tonight!
I have tried grinding up my flour and I do not think it is the same as superfine but it is better. Thank YOU Jenna :)
Just found these tonight and made them promptly!! I used my favorite flour mix (6 cups white rice flour to 3 cups tapioca starch) and just measured out the proper total of flour, everything else as you called for. I have been gluten-free for almost 10 years now and your recipe is the only one I have ever tried that I liked and would be willing to try again. YUMM!!! Now a question, what do you think about mixing and cutting them out and then freezing the individual biscuits before baking? That way I could just pull out a few at a time. Have you tried that, do you think it would work? And do you think you’d have to defrost first or cook from frozen and just add a bit more time? I’d love to know what you think. Thanks!!
Hi Catherine. So glad you liked the recipe. I have not tried freezing the bbisciuts (we gobble them up too fast!) but I think it should work just fine. I would defroat before baking them off or par-bake and then warm then up (after defrosting) in the oven for a few mintes. Let me know how it turns out!
I have tried many of your recipes and loved them. This one didn’t work for me..hockey puck would be best to descrbe them. Maybe some tips of what might of gone wrong..i followed the recipe to the T.
Hmm, what flour did you use? That’s the first place I would start.
I used this recipe to make “Chicken Cupcakes” tonight. It’s basically a chicken potpie made in a cupcake tray. Veeerrryyy good. My wife has been gluten free for about a year, and this recipe is amazing. My only question, is that the dough tasted rather salty, and I had to add sugar to balance the flavors. Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi9 Dabid, what a nice hubby you are! Did you use kosher salt or regular table salt? If using table salt then you need to cut the amount in half.
Thanks! It was great to get encouragement from a real cook. The hockey puck comment was what did it for me. Who cares? They are just biscuits; try again.
I didn’t measure a thing and used the flours I had which was chickpea and tapioca, a bit of cornstarch.
I also used a food processor to cut the cold butter into the flour. Turned out delightful!
Thanks Scott. Glad they worked for you!
Wish I had read all the reviews, but I was in a hurry to get something made to go with Easter dinner. Bad time to experiment, though! The “biscuits” (even though they looked like puffy sugar cookies) rose OK, but they were impossible to even pick up off the baking sheet without them crumbling. I had to take the whole baking sheet to the table. Worse than that, though, they were exceptionally gritty – like eating sand – and were extremely salty. Given that so many people had similar problems, I’m thinking the recipe needs to be tweaked. I think I’ll look for another one to try… the other two I found had more ingredients (xanthan gum, eggs or egg whites). I’m thinking those things are absolutely necessary to hold these together as biscuits. Usually when I try a new recipe, we might not care for it completely – but these were absolutely impossible. Just thought I’d add my two cents in case someone else reads through the reviews to find out what people say who actually tried making them.
Hi Cat. Sorry about that! It really does depend on what type of flour you were using. But not to worry – I have been working on a more foolproof recipe for biscuits that are tender and anyone can make. It seems that this recipe works for some and not for others. I will have the recipe for the new biscut recipe up soon!
for those of us who don’t eat a lot of salt you mat wanna cut the salt in half… great add to my gluten free kitchen thank you .
My pleasure and regarding the salt, I always use Kosher salt – it is about half the “saltiness” than table salt. But you can always cut back more if needed.
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My first time making rice-based biscuits. I substituted half the butter with half a cup or so if applesauce and for milk, I used almond milk with a teaspoon of vinegar which I let set for a few minutes before using. Instead of rolling out and cutting into biscuits, I spooned them onto the cookie sheet and sort of patted them into shape. I will make these again. Thank you, Carol.
Thanks for letting us know your sunbstitutions and I am glad it worked out!
I’m interested in using evaporated milk to keep the fat-carbohydrate ratio high, do think that substitution could work? Thanks in advance for this recipe, I will try it and report if I don’t hear back.
Hi there, I see no reason why evaporated milk would not work but I am curious to hear how it went!
I was wondering if you’ve tried dropping these biscuits over a pot pie filling? Sorry if you’ve been asked this, to many comments to go through. Do you think they would still bake up nice?
Hi Danielle, yes I have – sort of like a dumpling. It works just fine.
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Hello, i tried these tonight on top of a chicken pot pie filling. These were the best biscuits i have made so far in my gf baking. I used asian white flour,1 1/2 and potato starch, 3/4. they rose, had a great crust and tender on the inside. I used cream with a cap of vinegar in it for my liquid, and did end up using 8tsp butter and a little more reg. milk to make it a good consistency, I have been doing this long enough to know dry gluten free batter makes a crumbly finished product. My question is, even though these were the best gf biscuits i have made, i still felt that they were starchier than i would have liked. Do you know if i cut back on the potato starch to see if would make them more palatable to me, would the recipe still work the same? and do you know, am a getting a starchy consistency with the asian white flour?or does it have to be the potato starch causing this?
Hi Heidi, I undertsand what you are saying – this recipe does have a high percentage of starch. You could try swapping out 1/4 cup of starch for flour and see if that takes care of it for you. Also you could try throwing in some sorghum flour in place of some of the Asian white rice flour, it will give you a “wheatier” taste. Maybe replace 1/2 up of the Asian white rice flour with sorghum. I am sort of shooting from the hip here but I think both solutions will help. Good luck!
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I made these last night using Teff flour in my mix. It is the first time I used Teff, I loved the flavor. Your folding technique was great and I look forward to pefecting my outcome with this recipe. Much btter than the hockey puck recipe I tried previously.
Hi Kitty – so happy to know you liked the recipe and that it worked well with teff flour. Thanks for letting us know!
I found this recipe tonight and tried it immediately. They smell delicious, but are so crumbly. I picked one up and it turned to powder. I know I had exactly what the recipe called for and didn’t leave any out. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
Hi Mysie – I would try this recipe instead, it seems to be more foolproof – http://glutenfreeandmore.com/blog/2013/04/gluten-free-mile-high-biscuits-recipe.html My thoughts on yours falling apart are that possibly the flours you used. This one is a little harder for some people beacuse of the lack of xanthan gum.
The biscuits look great but after following the recipe they were a diaster :( I used rice flour and potato starch. They didn’t rise and taste terrible. Can you offer any suggestions?
What kind (brands) of flour and starch did you use? Also was your baking soda fresh? Did you test it? The terrible taste came from the type of flour you used and not rising is probably because of not fresh baking powder.
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Maybe I’m missing something. We just baked these EXACTLY as your recipe calls. They are disgusting. They are gritty, and it’s like they just crumble in your hands.
Oh I used Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour and Arrowhead Mills Organic Brown Rice Flour, earth balance butter (soy free) and Hemp Milk.
Hi Robyn, I am nnot a fan of either of thoise brands of flours, too gritty. I suggest you use either superfine brown rice flour or Asian white rice flour and Asian tapioca starch. The one you used sometimes has a weird taste to it. And if they seem to dry when mixing, add in a few drops more liquid. Or you can try this recipe in stead – http://glutenfreeandmore.com/blog/2013/04/gluten-free-mile-high-biscuits-recipe.html Good luck.
Hi,
Just found your site and printing recipes like crazy. My mom is gluten sensitive and we are both hypothyroid. I read that gluten can really aggravate that condition so have given it up and cooking for us both. I have tried a few gluten free biscuit recipes and have been really disappointed. Was wanting to experiment with an old family recipe from my grandma. You say all you need is the gluten free flour and starch plus the baking powder etc. Do the flour and starch need to be in any certain proportion? May just try your recipe in the meantime!! Thanks
Hi Lynn,
The proportions for the biscuits are in the recipe. And perhaps you would like this recipe even better – http://glutenfreeandmore.com/blog/2013/04/gluten-free-mile-high-biscuits-recipe.html
Good luck!
I used white rice flour, potato starch, hemp milk and 6 tablespoons of coconut oil. I left them 15 minutes at 400 F, and they came out pretty hard and flat (didn’t rise), hardening even more as they turned cold. They look golden, not white and fluffy like yours. Could this be because of the coconut oil which melts instantly and completely on skin contact (during mixing) ? Isn’t the temperature too high? What should I do different? Thanks. Otherwise they taste good to me, but I doubt my 18 year old would eat them.
Coconut oil does seem to react differently in baking than other fats, that could be the problem. ALso what kind of white rice flour? I always prefer to use either super fine or Asian rice flours, the results are so much better.
Thanks for replying. My son is allergic to wheat, eggs, diary and soy so I cannot use butter or other fats (which contain soy). I used Bob’s Red Mill white flour (stone ground).
You may be interested in this product. It behaves much better in biscuits and cookies than coconut oil and it has no soy. Spectrum organic shortening made from Palm oil. I hope this helps.
Thanks – I love that shortening!
So I tried this and they didn’t raise. Did I do something wrong? I followed it to a tee! Not sure why they stayed flat.
Rebecca,
Hmm, a few people said that so I came up with this other one try this one http://glutenfreeandmore.com/blog/2013/04/gluten-free-mile-high-biscuits-recipe.html
Let me know if that works better!
xo,
Carol
Well, I just used your recipe to make an old family recipe from my childhood. I only had a flour blend on hand (King Arthur Flour Brand multi-purpose flour which consists of rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch & whole grain brown rice flour). Basically you roll out your biscuit dough and then jelly roll it with grated cheddar cheese. You place the pinwheels on top of a homemade chicken noodle soup/tuna/cream mixture that is thickened with a rue. It’s baking right now. I am hopeful that it will be close to what I remember as a child (my grandma used Bisquick back then). My only concern is that it might come out gooey. I will bake it extra long to make up for that possibility. If it does end up gooey, I was thinking maybe next time, it would make sense to cook the biscuits seperately and then add them to the mixture towards the end of baking. At any rate, I will let you know how it comes out!
Rolling out the biscuit dough and then rolling into the jelly roll was somewhat tricky, but I found that rolling it on floured parchment and then using the parchment to guide and hold the roll together worked great. Also, I chilled the roll for 10 or so minutes. I think this helped keep it together.
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I made these tonight, following the basic recipe, but used a mix of whole grain flours instead of the rice (sorghum, oat, and corn), using real butter and goat milk. I didn’t even use cookie cutters – just cut them in squares. I thought they were great, and my 3 year old said “i love biscuits!”. Thanks for the recipe. I hope you’ll check out my site some time too – I frequently post GF recipes! http://www.eathappynow.com.
Thank you Alissa. I will checkout your site. So happy you and your 3 year old liked the biscuits!
I ,m new to useing Gluten Flour .SO if you can Help me making biscuits and other baking good would
be a good step inthe right dirction .
Yes it can be tricky at first! Follow the directions in this post or use this one it might be a bit easier http://glutenfreeandmore.com/blog/2013/04/gluten-free-mile-high-biscuits-recipe.html Enjoy!
I used asian rice flour and asian tapioca flour. These were incredible. My husband ate four in one sitting! They were so buttery and delcious with a nice, crunchy crust all over. I am no longer sad that I cannot eat my used-to-be-favorite gluten biscuits recipe. These are my number 1 go to biscuit recipe now! I made then again the second the first batch was gone. They even heat up wonderfully. Thanks for sharing the love!!!
Thank you so much Holly. Really happy you enjoy the recipe.
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I’ve been gluten free for almost six months now and haven’t had biscuits because 1) I’m too cheap to buy the ready-made ones, and 2) all the recipes are so ridiculous. Just made these, they’re cooking. if the finished product tastes anything like the dough, there’s going to be a lot of smiles at my house tonight. Thank you!
Hi Amanda,
haha well, I hope you and your family enjoyed them!
xo,
Carol
Hmm it looks like your blog ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so
I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’mthoroughly enjoying your blog.
I as well am an aspiring blog bloigger but I’m
still new to the whole thing. Do you have any helpful hints for newbie blog writers?
I’d really appreciate it.
I actually do! I will be sure to email some to you today.
Thanks so much.
xo,
Carol
As a woman Indigenous to the Nicola Valley, I am used to reading racist remarks when searching through history books or sites. Seeing your “hostile natives” remark here is shocking. It’s good to know about baking, but maybe you need to spend a bit of time researching the reality of the wild frontier. The number of Indigenous people – including Elders and children – who reached a violent end at the hands of white settlers outweighs the reverse exponentially. I suggest Thomas King’s The Incvonvenient Indian as a start. He’s a California-born Cherokee who now resides in Ontario. I certainly don’t blame him for heading north if it was folks like you he was dealing with, day to day. Indigenous people are alive and well, and have the internet in their homes. We’re not fabled animals of the wild west. Get educated and have some compassion.
Hi Tara,
Thank you for your sensitive reply. I was talking about my family – not native Americans of which I am a descendant. Sorry for having offended you! I assure you, it never crossed my that I was insulting anyone.
Hi Carol;
Thanks for the recipe. I made these biscuits with Trader Joe’s Gluten-free flour, and added butter, a bit of crisco shortening, a 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum, and later brushed the tops with some milk. I found the taste excellent, just like a “very good non-gluten free biscuit” like the one’s grandmas used to make. The height of the rising of the biscuits needs to be tweaked somewhat, since what I found was they looked exactly like the ones in your posting pic, however, they should have risen much more. The baking soda I purchased has a 3 year expiration date and I bought it last week. I froze the butter then grated it into the very well sifted flour and dry ingredient mix. I did not over work the flour, although I felt it was too sticky to roll out, so I did drop biscuits then flattened them slightly with the bottom of the drinking glass right on the parchment paper in the tray. I do think the fact that the biscuits, although exquisite tasting(the butter smelled and tasted so homelike) and nice texture, did not rise enough as conventional biscuits is due to the lack of real gluten in the flours… that is very hard to mimic with any sort of flours I ever tried. I was wondering if we could use a similar recipe for gluten free flaky pie crust? I bet if there were a bit more flour and time for it to rest in fridge it would work wonders for this recipe…I felt it was way to sticky to roll out, and maybe I will try it again and work the dough a bit differently. But the tastes is hands down great! Thanks for your website and this posting!
~Francine
Thank you so much Francine!
I just made these with rice flour and tapioca flour from the oriental store. I did have to use a little more soy milk and used cold coconut oil because my kids can’t have dairy but these turned out really great. They were so good. We ate them with strawberries for strawberry shortcake. I also made a batch using the Betty Crocker rice flour baking mix but that didn’t turn out as good.
I googled gf biscuits and am so glad that I got your site and your recipe. My family LOVED these biscuits and thought they had more biscuit flavor than my old gluten filled biscuits had and I agree!!! Thank you so much for sharing this. I really can not thank you enough. I love to bake and was so concerned when I linked my recent digestive issues to gluten. I love to bake for my family and thought that that was a forgone conclusion upon my gluten discovery. But now I have lots and lots of hope for good tasting, healthier, gf baking. Thank you!!!
Thank you Stephanie! So happy you and your family loved the recipe!
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do these rise well, they don’t look as if they did ib the picture.
Hi RoseAnne,
No they’re not super high, the mile high ones come up bigger, I would try those – https://glutenfreeandmore.com/blog/2013/04/gluten-free-mile-high-biscuits-recipe.html – Enjoy!
xo, Carol
Can these be frozen (before baking) for later use? Like if I want to make a large batch but only need one biscuit with a meal?
Hi Marcia,
I think so, I haven’t ever tried it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
xo, Carol
Made these for Thanksgiving and the family loved them. I used Bob’s Mill sorghum flour, rice flour from local Asian store and bit of buckwheat flour. No other changes. Biscuit rose perfectly but was a bit crumbly. I don’t mind but will experiment to see if I can get softer texture next time. Thanks so much for the super simple recipe! I put your cookbook on my Christmas “want” list!
Kat, I’m so happy you liked the recipe!
xo,
Carol
WOAH! Real biscuits! So glad I found this recipe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Just me and my husband and superfine rice four is expensive so I took a chance and made one quarter recipe. Reducing or increasing a recipe doesn’t always work but I got it right the first time. Yay me! …oh … and you too. I used Authentic foods Multi purpose blend which also contains corn starch and Grantham gum
Um …xantham gum. (Durn predictive text). And some how I hit post . Sorry.
Anyway, I didn’t let it cook the full time. 15 minutes worked for me. I also used a little more liquid but was careful not to let it get too sticky. I let the formed biscuits “rest” on the countertop while the oven warmed as you would do with traditional biscuits.
Those that had trouble with biscuits not rising may have over worked the dough a bit. It is a hazard with wheat biscuits as well. I have tried several GF biscuit recipes. This is the best one by far.
haha You’re so welcome Hilda! I’m happy you enjoyed them!
xo,
Carol
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YUM! I have Hashimoto’s so I’ve had to go gluten free to get relief from some of my symptoms. However, in doing so, I have found that the gums (especially xanthan gum) upset my stomach as much as gluten, if not more so. Trying to find a biscuit recipe that doesn’t fall apart has been impossible. That is, until now. Even so, this recipe did crumble the last time due to not paying attention and over cooking. I added chia seeds which worked to keep it together even better! These are delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
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Oh’-my-word…
This is awesome! I was even able to add half a cup of almond meal, successfully.
‘Am thankful that there is a decent simple recipe that does not contain tha sugars…
I just made these biscuits for breakfast. Unfortunately, these did not work for me. They were very crumbly and fell apart when picked up. I have been making gluten-free bread, muffins, pizza dough, etc. The best recipes need a bit more variety of flour, yeast, perhaps xanthan gum.
Bonnie,
Yeah, these are for people who are trying to avoid xanthan gum. I have other biscuits like the Mile High recipe, the Soft Dinner Rolls or the biscuits recipe in the Biscuits and Gravy recipe that might be more to your taste. Hope those help!
xo,
Carol
These turned out lovely…until I took a bite and realized I’d used Baking Soda instead of Powder~!
They were terrible (my fault) but I still ate a bunch (desparate for biscuits, here!) smothered in butter and jam to hide the soda taste : )
Can’t wait to make again with Baking Powder because otherwise they were perfect! Thanks for the recipe – Lisa
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I have made countless GF biscuits with little to no success using a variety of recipes, flours and techniques over the years. About the only thing I haven’t done is calibrate my oven – LOL. I stumbled across this recipe and was so intrigued with the author’s dialogue about how to make a good biscuit through basic selection process of ingredients, that I thought I’d give it a try. I used the GF flours I had on hand in the cupboard and – WOW – it’s literally the BEST GF biscuit I’ve every made or eaten. My family ate happily and only after the meal did I announce the biscuits were GF. Such a pleasant and welcome surprise. I can already see how this basic recipe can ben tweaked for additional flavors – add sugar for a sweet biscuit to top a cobbler or use for old-fashioned shortcakes; add spices, cheese, etc. for limitless flavors and used. Thank you – thank you – thank you!
Wow Shella, It makes me so happy to hear that you and your family enjoyed this recipe! I hope you are able to find even more recipes you like on my blog to make. :)
xo, Carol
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You are right about biscuits being very forgiving! I started making these & was interrupted, so my son took over. Not realizing salt & baking soda were already added, he added those ingredients again. My DH LOVED them. He commented on how soft they were & the saltiness went well with the chicken stew we had. I won’t repeat the error, but wanted to encourage new bakers to go ahead and try! More than likely it will turn out just fine!
Thanks for your feed back Penny and I am so happy you all enjoyed the biscuits!
It says oven on 400 degrees. Is that right?
Yes, that’s correct!
These are wonderful! No gums and they came out fluffy. I used Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flour and potato starch. I had to add a bit more milk. They came out great! I will make this my go to biscuit recipe for my coeliac spouse. Thank you so much for sharing this.
So happy you like them! :)
Made this last night. These are the gluten-free biscuit of my dreams: flaky, buttery, with a perfect rise. I didn’t know it could be done… You are my hero.
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