Southern Style Vegan Biscuits

It's easy to make buttery, flaky, and downright delicious southern-style vegan biscuits at home using 6 ingredients in just over 30 minutes! These biscuits are dairy-free and are made with 2-ingredient vegan buttermilk.

Biscuits are as much a part of southern culture as Coke and hot, humid summer days. You can find fluffy, flaky biscuits at many gas stations and at pretty much any breakfast spot.

When I lived in Portland I really, really missed Georgia biscuits. Naturally, I took it upon myself to learn the art of the southern biscuit.

I cannot claim to be an expert in biscuit-making, but I have learned a thing or two from early mornings spent trying to make the perfect biscuit.

Because of that, these vegan biscuits are essentially an adaption of a traditional southern biscuit recipe. Nothing is swapped to make it "healthier" or "lighter", we're simply talking about good, southern-style vegan biscuits.

The kind you find a gas station or on the menu at your favorite restaurant, just dairy-free.

Recipe features

• Quick & easy: Ready in just over 30 minutes using 6 pantry staples.
• Makes light, fluffy, tender and flaky vegan biscuits.
• Made with a 2-ingredient vegan "buttermilk".

These vegan biscuits are just like the Southern-style biscuits I love getting at my local restaurants, just without the dairy! They are perfect for biscuits and gravy, in biscuit sandwiches, or on their own with a slather of vegan butter.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Flour: Choose an all-purpose flour. If you live in the South, or in an area that has access to this brand, choose White Lily all-purpose flour . This is the southern biscuit making flour. It's soft and light as air, allowing the biscuits their classic fluffy rise. This article breaks down the history of southern biscuits and White Lily flour. 
• Vegan butter: My favorite vegan butter for baking is Earth Balance buttery spread. Miyoko's cultured butter is also a good option for baking. 
• Vegan buttermilk: Make vegan buttermilk (AKA sour milk) by combining 1 cup of soy milk with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until lumpy and thickened. 
• Baking powder: Baking powder helps these biscuits rise to their full potential. Any standard baking powder will do.
• Salt: Choose regular table salt for biscuit making.

Step by step instructions

Making the biscuit dough

Step one: In a large mixing bowl, use a spoon to mix together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder. 

Step two: Use a knife to cut the vegan butter into smaller chunks (no need to be exact about the size of chunks). Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter (this is the one that I use), forks, or your fingers.

The goal is to break the butter into pea-sized pieces so that it is evenly distributed through the biscuits.

Step three: Use a large spoon to stir vegan buttermilk into the dry mixture. The vegan "buttermilk" should be thick and lumpy.

Step four: Stir until the dough holds to the spoon. You want the dough to be slightly sticky still, but not so much so that it sticks to your hands. It will be a delicate dough.

Cutting the biscuits

Step five: Turn the biscuit dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your hands to gently flatten it to half an inch thick. Fold the dough over on itself, then pat back down to ½ inch thick. Repeat 2-3 times - this is how you form the flaky biscuit layers. 

Do not roll the dough with a rolling pin!

Step six: Cut the biscuits into ~3-inch rounds using biscuit cutters. Place biscuits 2 inches apart on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-18 minutes in a 425-degree oven. They are ready when golden brown.

Expert biscuit making tips

• Keep your ingredients cold. In fact, I like to chill diced butter for at least 10 minutes before using. Vegan butter melts quite quickly, so starting with almost-frozen butter will slow the melting process. You can even chill your mixing bowl and utensils before using. 
• To make pull-apart vegan biscuits with soft sides, line cut biscuit dough up on the baking sheet so that the edges are almost touching. 
• Spoon and level flour: For a consistent measure, spoon flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping the measuring cup into the flour. Use the back edge of a knife to sweep off excess flour. 
• For golden vegan biscuits, brush the biscuit tops with melted vegan butter before baking.
• Have fun! Making biscuits is messy, and it can take a while to get them "perfect". But every biscuit-maker has their own style, so have some fun with it. 
• Serving: Enjoy this recipe with my favorite Vegan Sausage Gravy and a side of 15-Minute Tofu Scramble. They are also perfect for biscuit sandwiches with homemade vegan sausage.
• Serving size: This recipe makes six 3-inch biscuits or four 4-inch biscuits, depending on the size of the biscuit cutter used.

Recipe FAQ

Recommended biscuit making tools

It is possible and common to make vegan biscuits with just a bowl, your hands, and a hard surface. But there are tools you can use to make the biscuit-making process a little easier. These are the tools that I use with my own biscuits.

• Biscuit cutters. These cut perfectly circular biscuits, which allows biscuits to spring up higher. If you cut with something like an upside down glass or a ball jar, your biscuits will likely not inflate as high because the edges have been pressed down. 
• Pastry cutter. Use this to cut butter into flour. Alternatively, use your fingers or two forks. 
• Baking mat or parchment paper. I love my baking mat. It makes clean up so much easier; no hard-to-clean flour-coated counters here! You can also use the baking mat in your oven, but make sure to check the max recommended temperature for your mat before using it with biscuits. 
• Large mixing bowl and wooden spoon. For mixing, of course!

Looking for more southern classics?

If you liked this guide you may also enjoy learning how to make a perfect oil pie crust.

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