Vegan Biscuits

Biscuits are usually rich with butter, eggs, and milk or cream, right? That's why we love them so and why they are so perfect for treats like strawberry shortcake. All that tender, flaky, buttery goodness.

Friends, I'm here to tell you that you don't need any of those things—butter, eggs, or milk—to make a tender and flavorful biscuit! Sacrilege? Maybe, but hear me out.

A Vegan Biscuit Recipe That's a Keeper

This vegan biscuit, made with coconut oil and almond milk, is every bit as good as the classic. In fact, when I offered a taste test to my butter-loving, meat-and-potatoes father, not only did he prefer the coconut oil biscuits, but he also asked for a batch to take home.

How to Make Fluffy, Tender Vegan Biscuits

The tricks to making these vegan biscuits tender?

• Mix some coconut oil with the flour mixture before adding almond milk. The gluten in the flour will strengthen and bind when it comes in contact with liquid, so to help keep that from happening, we whisk some coconut oil into the flour mixture first, before adding the almond milk. This is similar to the way in which you would typically mix butter with flour first, before adding milk, for a standard biscuit recipe.
• Use a light touch when making the dough. The less you handle the dough, the better. The more you handle it, the more opportunity you give the gluten in the flour to strengthen. The dough should be shaggy, not smooth.

How to Use This Recipe for Vegan Scones

You can easily turn these vegan biscuits into scones if you want, just by changing the shape. Instead of dropping six biscuit shapes onto the baking sheet, form one ball of dough, flatten it into a disk, and cut it into wedges like the pieces of a pie. You can even add raisins or dried sweetened cranberries to the dough.

How to Keep Vegan Biscuits Fresh

Like all biscuits, these are best when fresh out of the oven and served warm. That said, they will keep fine for a few hours, especially if you plan on serving them as the biscuit for strawberry shortcake.

How to Freeze and Thaw Vegan Biscuits

If you don't plan on serving the biscuits within a few hours, I recommend letting them cool completely, then freezing them. They can be kept frozen for up to a month.

To thaw, just put one on a paper towel and heat it in the microwave for 30 to 40 seconds, or until warm. Add more time if you are defrosting more than one at a time.