These Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits will become the lightest, most tender biscuits you'll ever have, gluten free or not!
Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits were originally posted on May 29, 2020 and have been updated with new pictures, a new video, and new tips and tricks for success!
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I have a serious problem...I can't stop buying cookbooks! Is there such a thing as Cookbooks Anonymous? Believe it or not, I usually buy cookbooks that AREN'T gluten free. I want to be able to experience ALL the cookbooks, especially those with pastries and such that aren't ever supposed to be gluten free. I suppose you could call it a hobby of mine, trying to convert gluten-filled recipes into gluten free.
A while ago I purchased Joanna Gaines' first cookbook, Magnolia Table. Many of the recipes in her book sound fabulous, but the one that really caught my eye was her biscuit recipe. When I first found out I had celiac, I attempted to make a gluten free biscuit recipe. To say it was horrible was actually doing it more justice than it deserved. I could barely stomach them, nor could my husband or anyone else in my family. When Joanna described testing her biscuit recipe for over a year, I knew it had to be THE one to try. And boy, oh boy, was I right. With a little tweaking for gluten free, the softest, most tender, fluffy biscuits were born, gluten free or NOT!
ingredients for buttermilk biscuits
- Kim's all purpose gluten free flour blend - a store bought blend may be substituted, but hasn't been tested.
- Baking powder - hear me out on this one. There is a hefty amount of baking powder in these biscuits. Joanna Gaines' recipe calls for self-rising flour. Since there is no known gluten free self-rising flour, we have to make our own. Baking powder and salt are added to regular (all purpose) gluten free flour and blended. This mimics self-rising flour.
- Butter - there's a LOT of butter in these biscuits and I'm not apologizing for it at all!
- Buttermilk - you can't very well make buttermilk biscuits without buttermilk. Go for the full fat stuff if you can get it. We'll talk more about substitutions down below.
how to make gluten free biscuits
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until well incorporated. Add butter and cut in using two forks, a pastry blender, or your clean fingers until the size of small peas.
Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk in a medium measuring cup. Pour into flour mixture and stir until a sticky, wet dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
Bring dough together on lightly floured surface, kneading lightly until smooth. Roll out until nearly one inch thick. Cut straight down with floured biscuit cutter, only turning the cutter after the dough has been fully cut through.
Place biscuits on greased baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush biscuits with melted butter and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and very well risen.
Prefer to Watch?
how to serve biscuits
- plain
- with butter
- with butter and jam
- with clotted cream and jam
- as a sandwich with sausage
- as a sandwich with bacon, egg, and cheese
- as a sandwich with boneless fried chicken
- alongside fried chicken
- split open and smothered with sausage gravy
- any other way you can think of!
Tips for Best Biscuit Making
To ensure the lightest and softest biscuits ever, follow these tips for the best biscuit making:
- Make sure to use the coldest ingredients possible--cold butter, cold eggs, and cold buttermilk
- After chilling the biscuit dough initially, knead it just a few times to smooth it out.
- Roll or pat the dough out to ONE INCH tall. You'll get less biscuits, but the highest and fluffiest biscuits you'll ever have!
- After cutting out the biscuits, place them in the fridge for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven. This will allow the butter to firm up again.
- For a golden brown, slightly salty, biscuit top, brush them with melted salted butter before and after baking.
more gluten free breakfast quick breads
- Gluten Free Lemon Loaf
- The BEST Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Fluffy Gluten Free Buttermilk Pancakes
- Gluten Free Banana Bread
- Gluten Free Dairy Free Zucchini Bread
- Gluten Free Bakery Style Blueberry Muffins
- Gluten Free English Scones
- Gluten Free Basil Cream Biscuits
- Gluten Free Yeast Free Cinnamon Rolls
These biscuits are so light and airy! If you haven't already purchased Magnolia Table cookbook, check it out here. It's one of my favorites, and that's saying a lot (you know, with my cookbook addiction and all).
Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 cups (560g) Kim's all purpose gluten free flour blend (a store bought blend may be substituted, but hasn't been tested)
- 4 tbsp (45g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (6g) salt
- 1 tsp (4g) baking soda
- 3 sticks (339g) butter, cold and cut into ¼-inch thick slices
- 2 large eggs, cold
- 1¾ cups (420g) buttermilk, cold (I prefer to use full fat buttermilk. If you use a reduced fat/fat free buttermilk, you will need to reduce the amount used just until a sticky dough forms)
- 2 tbsp (28g) butter, melted
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the butter pieces and using either a pastry cutter or your hands (I like to use my fingers), cut (rub and flatten) each piece of butter into the flour mixture until small pea-sized pieces remain.
- Mix together buttermilk and eggs in a measuring cup and pour this into the flour mixture. Stir with a spoon until a sticky, wet dough forms.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough briefly just to bring it together. Roll or pat out the dough to about 1 inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter.
- Place the biscuits side by side (touching) in a ¼ sheet pan (9 by 13-inch) or similar size baking pan. Chill while preheating the oven to 400° F.
- Brush the biscuits with melted butter.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until lightly browned and very well risen.
- Cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Magnolia Table cookbook.
Baby says
I discovered an alternative to your flour blend that worked PERFECTLY! I made 4 cups of flour using your linked recipe, but instead of using 268 g of white rice flour, I used 113 g brown rice flour, 155 g glutinous rice flour, and maybe 1/2 cup better batter. I also added a splash of lemon juice to my rehydrated powdered buttermilk and an extra pinch of salt to the recipe as well as on top of the biscuits before putting it in the oven. After getting it out I put more butter on top and they were so good I would’ve returned these if I’d gotten them in a restaurant. I would insist they are not gluten free. I can tell you I’ve NEVER had biscuits homemade this good in my life! Thank you for this!!! I am saving this one!
Shirley says
Hi, I was wondering if you just changed the flour but still added the rest of the recipe. Could you. Share your exact. Alternative with me please. Thanks
Meghan says
Hi Kim! Have you ever made these biscuits sourdough? And if so, what conversion did you use? I’ve made your recipe before and they were delicious but I’d love to try them with sourdough… thanks 🙂
Kim says
I haven't, but that's a good question. I've honestly never tried converting anything that's not yeast based into sourdough. Maybe another site, such as The Clever Carrot, has some ideas for how to convert regular (non gf) biscuits to sourdough and you could start there.
Juliette says
Made these for the first time this morning. I have to say, of all the GF biscuit recipes I've tried, this one is hands down the best! I usually end up with crumbly hockey pucks, but these biscuits fluffed up, tasted great and held together perfectly. Thank you for sharing and doing all of the trial and error so I didn't have to! This recipe is a keeper. (I also did your sausage and bacon gravy! Delish!)
Kim says
Thanks so much, Juliette 🥰
Paulette MacKay says
Made these biscuits yesterday. I used Robin Hood gluten free flour with xanthan gum. The biscuits were very tasty but did not rise!! What could I have done wrong? Love your site and recipes!
Kim says
I'm not familiar with Robin Hood gf flour so maybe that's why they didn't rise? They usually rise very tall. What are the ingredients in the gf flour blend?
Sarah says
I used this recipe for the biscuit part of making Nova Scotia Blueberry Grunt! It was SO GOOD! The biscuit part was so soft and moist and fluffy. We all smiled with ugly, blueberry-stained teeth. It was worth it. 😀
Ocllo Robinson says
Incredible! We made ours in the air fryer and they were perfectly brown and crispy on the outside while being soft and buttery on the inside. I found you on YouTube a month ago and love that you do videos with your recipes. Used your gluten free flour blend, and it is my first time baking something gluten free that didn’t have a grainy texture or a raw flour taste. I can tell how much effort you put into perfecting your flour blend and appreciate you sharing it with all of us. Excited to try more of your recipes!!
Kim says
Thanks so much! I love the idea of using the air fryer, especially when it gets too hot to turn on the oven 🥰
Rachel Dunn says
Just wondering if you have a substitute for potato starch as I have a potato intolerance.
Thanks
Kim says
I just recently had someone comment that she uses a combination (equal parts) of cornstarch and arrowroot as a substitute for the potato starch because she is nightshade intolerant. She said it works great! Hope this helps 😊
Laurel says
If I use a glass pan, do I butter or grease the pan before putting in the biscuits? Also, would I lower the temperature using a glass pan?
Thank you so much!!
Kim says
Most glass pans these days can handle the higher temps, but check with yours, especially if it's older. If it can't handle the higher heat, I might consider switching to a different pan as these need that higher temp to fully rise. I don't think you'd need to grease the pan if you're using glass.
Anonymous says
These were awful... Followed the recipe exactly. They didn't rise, they were crumbly, brown, burnt, dense and awfully salty. Will not make again.
Silverseale says
I did look askance at the amount of butter stated in the recipe, but I always make a recipe exactly as stated the first time I try it. Sadly, my biscuits too were swimming in a liquid layer of melted butter at the bottom of my baking pan. Gluten-free flours simply cannot absorb the same amount of fat that wheat flour can. It also seemed like awful lot of baking powder, but that part was okay. 2 stars because they’re edible, though I regret wasting so much butter. I’m gonna have to experiment with this recipe, but I still think your g/f flour blends are the best ones out there.
Kim says
I've made these biscuits more times than I can count and they're never swimming in butter. My husband says they are the BEST biscuits he's ever had, and he is sometimes my harshest critic and will tell me exactly what he thinks, whether he thinks it or not. The rest of my family also agrees and I'm told I must make them every year for Christmas morning. So my guess is that something somewhere went awry, and if I were to take an educated guess, it would be that the butter wasn't worked into the flour mixture well enough. I hope you get a chance to try them again as when they bake the way they're supposed to, they are amazing!
Silverseale says
My *whatever/shrug *was widely directed to Joanna Gaines, not you. I'm not really a fan of hers. I'll definitely try your recipe again--I've found your other recipes I've tried to be so consistent and well done!
Kim says
No worries 🙂 Thank you!! If you're looking for something a little easier, look up my basil cream biscuits. They can be made without the basil and black pepper to be just "cream" biscuits and there's no worry of incorporating butter into the dough.
Silverseale says
I had wondered if you meant to say 1-1/2 *sticks* of butter instead of 1-1/2 *cups.* But I looked up Joanna Gaines's recipe, and hers does call for 1-1/2 cups. I think that's too much butter even for a wheat biscuit dough, but whatever. *shrug*
Mwininge says
OH MY! This dough- these biscuits are the most miraculous thing ever!
I used your All Purpose Flour blend exactly, and the only thing I changed in the Biscuit recipe, is I used Raw Whole Milk from a local farm instead of Buttermilk.
I'm currently testing your blend in different recipes, to see if this is the one I want to make in bulk. I had to tweak your Pancake recipe a bit to get it to our taste, but these biscuits are PERFECT. If your Pie Crust is anywhere near as good, I'm sold for life haha Thanks a million!
-Rosa
Kim says
Awe, thanks so much and I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the biscuits!!! I hope you like the pie crust, as well (it's a family favorite and my husband, who isn't gluten free, tells me it's the best pie crust he's ever had) 😍
Sylvia L Ranjel says
Hi Kim, these came out great, their the best I've ever made. They taste even better than regular biscuits. I used parchment paper since others mentioned browning and I also needed to rotate my pan because the back row of biscuits was browning more. I am so glad I found your website. I've made a few of your recipes so far and they are so good, so much better than store bought. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes and techniques.
Dorinda says
I get a bit skeptical when I make a gluten-free bread product for the first time. Usually bread products will come out dense or not rise or taste badly. These came out great! In my opinion they could’ve used a little more salt and I will salt the butter to brush on top of the biscuits prior to baking next time. I did use a round Pyrex plate placing each biscuit next to each other. They did spread. So two questions regarding the process. The dough was really sticky to work with. Any tricks on how to minimize this? I used gloves, saran wrap, extra flour and it was still sticky. If I were to place the cut biscuits onto a baking sheet, how do you minimize spreading?
I would love making these again with your tips. Thank you!
Kim says
Hmmm, I've never had sticky dough or spreading at all. Did you use my flour blend or a store bought one? That could be the reason if you used a store bought ones. Unfortunately, they're all not created equal.
It also could be overworking the dough, or more particularly overworking the butter in the dough, that is causing stickiness. Are you able to watch the video? I like to leave the butter in large chunks and then use a method called "fraisage" in which I scrape the dough across the counter using the heel of my hand (you'll see it in the video). It creates layers and brings the dough together. You'll see in the video that my dough isn't sticky at all, so if the biscuits are made correctly you should be able to place them on a baking sheet with no spreading. Oh, and I use salted butter in all my recipes for a good amount of salty flavor 🙂
Tamar M says
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I found out a year ago that I am severely allergic to gluten (can't even touch it) and life has been bland and boring. I stumbled across your page on pinterest and my life has been forever changed! Yesterday I baked 2 loaves of bread using your bread flour blend and this morning I made your biscuits and gravy recipes and my family is all smiles! Thank you for doing all the leg work and giving us good tasting, not prepackaged food back. I am full and loving this valentines treat! My kiddos and hubby wanted me to tell you thank you from them for coming up with such tasty recipes. Many blessings on you and your family for sharing!!!
Kim says
Awe, thank you so very much, Tamar!! It means the world to me to hear stories like yours of being able to have wonderful food again, and I LOVE to share my recipes with anyone who wants them 😍😍😍
Erik says
I must be missing something - is there a link to the video? I see the video mentioned, but I don't see a link to a video in the recipe above. I'd like to see the video before trying this recipe. Thank you.
Kim says
Hi, Erik! The video should automatically play right in the post for the recipe. I just checked it on my phone and laptop and it autoplayed for me. Ad blockers will sometimes not allow videos on websites to play, so make sure you don't have an ad blocker. Otherwise, everything is working properly on this end 🙂
Candice says
Hi Kim,
Does altitude affect cooking temperature and time for baking?
Thank you so much for sharing your talent in baking Gluten Free.
Have a terrific rest of your day.
Kim says
Hi, Candice! Yes, I'm sure it does. I've had a few readers who have asked about high altitude and since I'm at sea level, I'll leave it up to someone who might know more about this subject. Here's an article from King Arthur Flour: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Candice says
Kim,
O’ my! O’ my! Sooo good. I made this with your sausage gravy recipe. To my excitement it all turned out soo good. My Husband and I thoughtally enjoyed the biscuit and sausage gravy.
At first look at the recipe I was worried to make it but then I seen your video on how to make and read your blog and felt I could do it. I got all the ingredients to make your special flour mix and then followed your well written instructions. And it worked! I was so thrilled. I have tried alot of recipes. Partly succeeding and mostly failing. Your recipe worked. They actually look, feel and taste like a biscuits.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Candice
P.S Do you have cookbook? And nutrition values.
I’m going to make raviolis next, using your GF pasta recipe. Oh ya! You rock!
Kim says
Thanks so much, Candice!! You're too kind 🙂
I don't have a cookbook, yet, but hopefully in the future I will be offered a cookbook deal!
The nutritional values package for my website is costly, but I'm looking into it.
Cynthia says
I cannot thank you enough for this recipe!
I only had Grandpas Kitchens flour and it worked perfectly, I also made buttermilk from vinegar, cream and whole milk since I was out and I’m telling you since I’ve got celiac and some pesky thyroid issues, The one thing I’ve truly missed is a really good biscuit and I’ll never use another recipe again! I’ve shared it with all my sisters too! - Cynthia
Kim says
Awe, that's wonderful Cynthia!! Thank you so much, and I'm so glad you like them 🙂