You won't believe how flaky, tender, golden, and pillow-soft these gluten-free biscuits are! They're easy to make with 10 ingredients in 1 hour, start to finish, with my streamlined recipe that I've tested to perfection.
The dough is made with a blend of gluten-free flours – almond, sweet rice, tapioca, and potato starch – plus butter, honey, egg, and buttermilk (or yogurt thinned with milk). Dairy-free and vegan options included, plus more ingredient subs.
Top these light & buttery biscuits with honey butter for a treat that anyone – even non-GF eaters – will adore!
Meet my new obsession: gluten-free buttermilk biscuits made with almond flour. These biscuits are:
- tender and buttery
- golden and crisp on the edges
- pillowy and moist inside
- can be split by hand like *real* biscuits
- keep like a dream for days
- perfect topped with honey butter – yum!!
- easy to make with 10 ingredients in 1 hour
If you're a lover of breakfast pastries (see: gluten-free almond flour scones) you're going to *adore* my gluten-free version of classic buttermilk biscuits. These beauties are easy to make with 10 ingredients in 1 hour, start to finish.
I've included a step-by-step tutorial show you how, below, plus lots of ingredient subs in case you need 'em. Read on for biscuit bliss! (Blisscuits??)
Testing, Testing
This recipe came about as an innocent collaboration. One of my dearest readers (hi, Gigi!) asked how she could alter my gluten-free strawberry shortcake biscuits to make them similar to Cappello's almond flour biscuits. The biscuits I use for shortcake are the same recipe as my reader-favorite gluten-free scones which I adapted from a similar recipe in my cookbook, so they're more rich, sweet, and delicate than a buttermilk biscuit.
Based on Cappello's biscuit ingredients, I recommended a few simple ingredient swaps: potato starch for the oat flour, honey for the sugar, and buttermilk for the heavy cream. Gigi tested them out and reported back that they were perfection. I couldn't wait to try the recipe myself.
When I pulled a pan of golden biscuits out of the oven, my mind was blown. I greedily split a warm biscuit in half – they're so flaky, you can actually do that! The crust crunched against the tender center, buttermilk adding a slight tang. It was light and crisp, with a moist, pillowy middle. It was everything I was craving in a gluten-free biscuit – and more.
Reader Gigi likes to sprinkle the tops with everything bagel spice and turn them into breakfast sandwiches – yum! I've been serving them warm, with honey butter, to enjoy with brunch, lunch, and/or dinner.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Ingredients and Substitution Suggestions
Flours
Two flours and two starches make up these biscuits.
- Sweet rice flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1) add mild flavor and structure. Sub cassava flour for grain-free, adding an additional tablespoon of buttermilk.
- Almond flour adds heft and helps these bake up light and floofy. Use blanched almond flour for a light color. Sub almond meal or hazelnut meal.
- Potato starch adds tenderness. I don't recommend swapping this ingredient since it's important for their biscuity texture, but arrowroot flour would be my best guess for a substitute.
- Tapioca starch adds stretch which makes the biscuits easy to shape. Try subbing arrowroot or cornstarch if you need to.
Other Ingredients
- Baking powder lifts the biscuits. Be sure yours is fresh for the best results.
- Butter adds richness. Reader Gigi likes to use half coconut oil and half butter in these, but I went all butter to simplify the recipe. I'm not sure if using all coconut oil would work or not, but you could definitely use a good dairy-free butter such as Miyoko's to make these DF.
- Buttermilk moistens the dough. Kefir can stand in for buttermilk, as can yogurt thinned with milk. For dairy-free, use 1/4 cup plant yogurt thinned with 2 tablespoons plant milk.
- One egg helps the dough hold together and makes the biscuits bake up light and tender. For egg allergies, use a flax egg (see the recipe card notes for instructions).
- Honey adds a touch of sweetness - just 1 teaspoon. Use any sweetener you prefer.
- Salt sharpens the flavors.
See the recipe card below for full quantities and instructions.
Method: How to Make Perfect GF Biscuits Every Time
These biscuits are simple to make in 20 minutes of active time, plus a 30-minute chill, and a 15-minute bake – about 1 hour total.
This recipe makes a small-ish batch of biscuits, or about 6 servings. They keep like a dream so once you've tried the recipe, you might want to double the amount.
Here are few tips to ensure biscuit success:
- Start with cold butter and keep it cold as you work. If it's hot in your kitchen, or if you have warm hands, you can chill your dough for 5-10 minutes if the butter starts to soften.
- Add just as much liquid as needed. If the batter is too dry, the biscuits will bake up dense. If it's too wet, the biscuits will sploosh in the oven and bake up shorter. But either way, they'll still be delicious!
- Use two stacked baking sheets to prevent the bottoms from burning in the oven.
Here's how to make them:
Make-Ahead Options & Storage
These biscuits can be made ahead in several different ways.
- The biscuit dough can be made up to 1 day ahead and shaped, wrapped, and chilled until needed.
- Or freeze the cut dough rounds for longer storage and bake them from frozen at 375ºF, increasing the bake time as needed.
- The baked biscuits keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days. Toast them in a 350ºF oven or toaster oven until warmed through before serving, 5-10 minutes.
- Baked biscuits can also be frozen. Toast them in a 350ºF oven or toaster oven until warmed through before serving, 10-15 minutes.
Troubleshooting
Here are a few common biscuit woes and how to remedy them. I haven't had this happen myself, but putting this here in case it's helpful!
- The biscuits are dry: they could be overbaked, or the dough might have needed more liquid. Try adding another 1-3 teaspoons of buttermilk to the batter next time.
- The biscuits spread too much: there was likely a little too much liquid in the dough, or the dough got warm. Next time, add just as much liquid as needed to bring the dough together, and be sure to keep the butter cold and chill the dough as directed.
- The biscuits are too dark: lower the oven temperature by 25-50ºF, bake the biscuits on a lower rack in the oven, and/or use an external oven thermometer.
- The biscuits are too light: increase the oven temperature by 25-50ºF, and/or bake the biscuits on a higher rack in the oven.
Serving
These biscuits go beautifully with a variety dishes and meals. Here are some favorite ways to enjoy them:
Toppings:
- Smear them with honey butter
- Serve them with homemade lemon curd
- Cover them in gluten-free mushroom gravy for a vegetarian take on biscuits and gravy
Accompaniments:
- Serve them with soup, such as this reader-favorite curried carrot soup with coconut milk, or zucchini basil soup
- Serve them at a summer barbecue or gluten-free holiday dinner
- Enjoy them for brunch with crustless quiche or other egg dishes
However you serve up these GF buttermilk biscuits, I hope you love them.
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Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits with Almond Flour
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You won't believe how flaky, tender, golden, and pillow-soft these gluten-free biscuits are! Made with 10 ingredients, including almond flour, in 1 hour. With dairy-free and vegan options, plus lots of ingredient subs in case you need them.
Serve these warm with honey butter if you like!
Alanna Taylor-Tobin
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Chilling time: 30 minutes minutes
Total: 1 hour hour
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup (84 g) blanched almond flour*
- ⅔ cup (110 g) sweet white rice flour**
- ½ cup (78 g) potato starch***
- 2 tablespoons (15 g) tapioca flour****
- 2 ½ teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) cold unsalted butter, sliced ⅛-inch thick
- 6 tablespoons (99 g) well-shaken cultured buttermilk***** (plus 1 tablespoon for brushing the biscuits; or use yogurt thinned with milk)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon (7 g) runny honey******
Instructions
Make the dough
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, sweet rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour with the baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
Add the butter slices. Blend with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the butter is broken down into the size of small peas. Chill until needed.
Whisk together the 6 tablespoons buttermilk, egg, and honey in a measuring pitcher.
Remove the flour mixture from the refrigerator. Gradually add the cream mixture, working with a flexible silicone spatula until the dough comes together in large, moist clumps and holds together when you give it a squeeze. If the dough is too dry, add a few drops of buttermilk directly to the floury bits. If it's too moist, knead in some additional sweet rice or almond flour.
Shape
Press the dough together with your hands and shape it into a rough ball. Place on a piece of beeswax wrap or plastic wrap and form it into a disk that measures 5 inches across and 1 ¼ inches high. Don't worry about overworking the dough since there isn't any gluten to toughen here!
Wrap and chill the dough disk until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
Prepare things
When ready to bake, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425ºF. Stack a rimmed baking sheet atop a second rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper. This will keep the bottoms from over-browning.
Remove the dough round from the refrigerator, unwrap, and place on a cutting board. Use a 2¼-inch biscuit cutter or glass to cut the dough into 4 biscuits. If the cutter sticks, dip it in a little rice flour first.
Press the scraps together, form into 1¼-inch high oval, and cut out two more biscuits (or more if you have more dough leftover). Shape any remaining dough scraps into a mini-biscuit to bake off – a treat for the chef!
Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops lightly with buttermilk.
Bake
Bake the biscuits at 425ºF until golden on top and cooked through, 12-18 minutes, rotating the pan after 15 minutes to brown them evenly. If they're browning too much, lower the oven temp, or turn the oven off for the last few minutes of baking.
Remove the biscuits from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool to warm or room temperature.
You can split the biscuits by hand and top them with honey butter if you like!
Notes
I use Bob's Red Mill brand flours for these biscuits. See below for substitution suggestions for the individual flours. If you prefer, you can use any all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in place of some or all of the flours by weight.
*Sweet rice: Can sub by weight GF all-purpose flour such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 or cassava flour (note that cassava flour biscuits will need an extra tablespoon of buttermilk as it's more absorbent)
**Blanched almond flour: Can sub by weight almond meal, hazelnut flour, or try millet, sorghum, or tiger nut flour for nut-free
***Potato starch: I don't recommend subbing this out as it's vital for the texture, but sweet potato starch might work in case of nightshade allergies.
****Tapioca flour: Can sub by weight arrowroot or corn starch
*****Buttermilk: Can sub yogurt thinned with milk (dairy or not)
******Honey: Can sub sugar, maple syrup, or other sweetener of your choice, or omit.
Do-Ahead:
- The biscuit dough can be made up to 1 day ahead and shaped, wrapped, and chilled until needed.
- Or freeze the cut dough rounds for longer storage and bake them from frozen at 375ºF, increasing the bake time as needed.
- The baked biscuits keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days. Toast them in a 350ºF oven or toaster oven until warmed through before serving, 5-10 minutes.
- Baked biscuits can also be frozen. Toast them in a 350ºF oven or toaster oven until warmed through before serving, 10-15 minutes.
Allergy-Friendly Variations
Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Biscuits: Use a good vegan butter such as Miyoko's in place of the butter and plant yogurt thinned with plant milk in place of the buttermilk.
Egg-Free Gluten-Free Biscuits: Use a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons hot water, left to thicken and cool 20 minutes) in place of the egg. (I haven't tested this, but it worked well in my gluten-free scones recipe, which is similar, so it should work here too!)
Vegan Gluten-Free Biscuits: Combine the dairy-free and egg-free variations above!
Nutrition
Calories: 325kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 6gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 494mgPotassium: 182mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 414IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 163mgIron: 1mg
Making this? I'd love to see!Tag your snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet!
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