Best Vegan Biscuit Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Are biscuits better made with butter or Crisco? ›

Crisco may be beneficial for other baking applications, but for biscuit making, butter is the ultimate champion!

Use Cold Butter for Biscuits

When the biscuit bakes, the butter will melt, releasing steam and creating pockets of air. This makes the biscuits airy and flaky on the inside. We default to our Land O Lakes® Salted Butter when baking biscuits.

As it turns out, adding hard-boiled egg yolks to your biscuit dough is a way to ward off an overworked, tough dough that can be the downfall of a butter-based pastry. When the trick is employed, the pastry shatters and then dissolves in your mouth quickly, tasting like a knob of flaky butter.

Heavy cream provides rich butterfat that gives the biscuits tenderness and flavor, as well as moisture from its water content. The formula requires minimal mixing, reducing the risk of too much gluten development.

White wheat in general is around 9-12% protein, while the hard reds are 11-15%. As far as brands of flour, White Lily “all-purpose” flour has been my go-to for biscuit making. It's a soft red winter wheat, and the low protein and low gluten content keep biscuits from becoming too dense.

The two keys to success in making the best biscuits are handling the dough as little as possible as well as using very cold solid fat (butter, shortening, or lard) and cold liquid. When the biscuits hit the oven, the cold liquid will start to evaporate creating steam which will help our biscuits get very tall.

They're Taller. Put on your science hat—things are about to get nerdy up in here! Southern biscuits made using flour made from soft red winter wheat are taller because of the lower protein content of the flour. According to Science Direct, the amount of protein is inversely proportional to the volume of the baked good.

While biscuits receive some leavening power from chemical sources — baking powder and baking soda — the difference between serviceable and greatness comes from the extra rise that steam provides. In order to generate steam, the oven must be set at a minimum of 425 degrees for at least 10 minutes prior to baking.

What does adding sugar to biscuits do? ›

It rounds off the flavour of biscuits with its sweetness. Not only does sugar add flavour, it also has other important properties. During baking, the sugar in the dough makes the biscuit go slightly brown. This also produces roasted flavours, which are important for the taste of our biscuits.

Milk is an important and versatile ingredient in baking and pastry-making. It adds flavor, moisture, protein, and fat to the final product, and can be used in a variety of ways to achieve different results.

Cookies Made with Butter vs Shortening

Those made with only shortening bake higher and spread less during baking. The butter cookie provides better flavor and a crispier exterior with browning around edges and a chewy interior; the shortening cookie spreads less, holding its shape better while baking.

High-fat butter, such as Kerrygold Butter, is best. The rich fat from the butter releases water when the biscuits are baking which is what contributes to the beautiful layers and flakiness that we love about biscuits.

Use good butter and dairy

Because biscuit recipes call for so few ingredients, it's important that every one is high quality—you'll really taste the difference. Catherine recommends splurging a bit on a grass-fed butter or European-style butter (now's the time to reach for Kerrygold!).

Baked goods made with shortening are typically softer and more tender than those made with butter. They also tend to be slightly taller, as it has a higher melting point and doesn't spread as much.