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Life changing.
Those are words I don’t typically believe in when it comes to food. It seems to be overused, and maybe a “cried wolf again” term, when one recipe after the otheris declaredto be the best.
But this gluten free biscuit recipe is just that: life changing. Tender, tall, and flaky. Little nooks inside, waiting for a slather of butter. Made with whole grains, ricotta (in place of more traditional buttermilk, providing an airy texture), and no gums.
The technique is simple, the results are spectacular, and I owe it all to The Bojon Gourmet‘s cookbook, “Alternative Baker” {I barely adapted the recipe to make them savory instead of the lightly sweet lemon version in the book}. It’s my new baking bible, and I’d surely take one of these biscuits to heaven, no joke.
What is the best gluten free flour for baking?
Truth is, it all depends on the recipe and desired texture. For these biscuits, oat flour provides softness, millet flour provides structure, and starches keep them light and airy.
How much xanthan gum do you put in your biscuits?
These have none! The combination of flours and starches provides the right texture without the use of xanthan gum.
Can you make gluten free biscuits and gravy with these?
I highly recommend it. These biscuits are the perfect vehicle for creamy sausage gravy. I love this recipe!
Now back to Alanna, and the origin of these biscuits….
I was Alanna’s friend before she even knew it. Her blog was one of the first I followed when I learned I had to let gluten go for auto-immune reasons. Drawn in by her beautiful photography, but captivated by the way she made gluten-free seem not gluten-free.
Using ingredients like buckwheat, millet, sorghum, teff flour…… she opened my eyes to alternative grains that had different flavors, textures, and colors. Things that all-purpose actually couldn’t match. Instead of missing classics, I became excited to try new things.
Recipe after recipe was incredible. Why were people telling me going gluten-free was going to be such a tragedy? Alanna was a former pastry chef, so it didn’t surprise me thather recipes and technique were perfected. And flavor always came first.As I read along, and baked along with her blog, I felt like we bonded.
When my book came out, I shyly asked if she’d like a copy, as her work had inspired my own. The day she posted about it Smitten with Squash on her blog, making theSpaghetti Squash Fritters with Harissa and Poached Egg, tears streamed down my face, in awe of how beautiful she had captured the work I had put my heart and soul into. And even more than that, she didn’t have to spend the time and energy on some relatively young blogger’s cookbook. But she did. And it meant the absolute world to me.
Time passed and I took a trip to meet Alanna in person in San Francisco. I stayed with Sarah, and the three of us cooked one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in Alanna’s relatively tiny kitchen in the Mission District. Played out by me spatchco*cking a chicken, a rutabaga parsnip mash, seasonal salad, and berries with whipped coconut cream for dessert. Three cooks in the kitchen, lots of giggles, and talks about how much we loved our cats. And food.
You’d be silly not to purchase the Alternative Baker Cookbook. Besides these biscuits (which I slightly adapted to be savory, instead of the lemon kissed version in the book), I’ve also made the Teff Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies, and this tart is up next.
One more thing about these golden, life changing beauties. They’re best straight out of the oven, slathered with butter, or even extra ricotta. The homiest of all bread-y things.
Put them on your Thanksgiving table this year,let them outshine the bird. Share the recipe with your guests, and pass on the reinvention of baking through alternative grains.
If you make this gluten free biscuit recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram with hashtag #heartbeetkitchen or @heartbeetkitchen!
Life Changing Gluten-Free Biscuits {gum-free}
Fluffy gluten-free biscuits made with lots of flaky layers.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time :15 minutes minutes
Cook Time :20 minutes minutes
Additional Time :20 minutes minutes
Total Time :55 minutes minutes
Yield: 6 biscuits
Author: Amanda Paa
SCALE:
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 55 grams oat flour
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons 50 grams millet flour
- 2 tablespoons 13 grams tapioca starch
- 2 tablespoons 15 grams cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon fine table salt
- 3 tablespoons 42 grams cold, unsalted butter, diced
- 1/2 cup 120 grams whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 3 1/2 tablespoons cold heavy cream
Instructions
In a large bowl, whisk the oat, millet, tapioca, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Add the butter pieces and work with your fingertips or pastry blender until butter is size of peas. Chill the mixture for 20 minutes.
Position rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Stacked a rimmed baking sheet atop a second rimmed baking sheet (prevents over-browning of bottoms) and line the top on with parchment.
Remove chilled flour mixture and add ricotta and cream. Stir and gently knead with your hands until dough comes together in a rough ball. Dough should feel fairly firm, but evenly moistened. If you need to, you can add 1/2 tablespoon of cream, but just know it doesn't need to be real wet, just stick together.
Turn the dough out onto a light dusted surface with oat flour and form into a disk, keeping the height of the biscuit in mind, so don't make it too flat. Use a biscuit cutter to make into squares, reshaping the disk to cut more squares. You can also cut the disk into squares with a knife, but a biscuit cutter does do something to help the biscuits rise straight and tall.
Freeze the biscuits for 10 minutes on the sheet pan, then brush with a little extra cream
Bake on the upper rack of the oven until golden on top, 15-20 minutes. Do not overbake, because they will continue baking after removed from oven. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Notes
lightly adapted from The Alternative Baker Cookbook.
These are best eaten straight out of the oven. For best results, I highly recommend using the weighted amounts, in grams. I adapted to make these savory, but you can also take out the pepper, and add 2 tablespoons sugar and lemon zest to the batter to make them lightly sweet.
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