Simpler Living Blog

BAKING, RECIPES

Gluten-Free Biscuits: The Most Versatile Recipe

Lehman's
0 Comments

I’ve written before about baking love into what you make. When you are baking for a friend, your family, or even for yourself, you are putting your love via your time and effort into what you’re making. It doesn’t have to be fancy, perfect, or even on a fancy plate, though those things are sometimes nice. It just comes from the heart. When I was a new mom, I found myself being a “new lots of things.” I had been married for a few years, had a few little children (3 and 1) and was new to the homemaking gig. I wanted to cook for my family but didn’t even know how to cut up a chicken. I remember having a book propped up against the wall on my kitchen counter, a raw chicken on my cutting board, a pair of kitchen scissors in my hand, and - I’m certain - a very perplexed look on my face. I’m sure that first cut-up chicken was far from pretty, but it felt like a really big step in the direction of cooking for my family. I hadn’t gotten much farther in my journey from that first chicken when I discovered that my littlest one had celiac and needed to be completely off gluten. I didn’t even know what gluten was used in other than bread (hint everything!) and I felt like what little knowledge I had gained in the last few years wasn’t going to serve me anymore, and I had to start all over. Back then (about 15 years ago), things weren’t labeled like they were today. Going to a restaurant was challenging and required me to call ahead to ask if they even knew what was in their food. I had to look at every label that came off the grocery shelves because I once even found tea with gluten in it! Thankfully we had an extended family member who had dealt with this when one of her own children was small, so she was able to give me some tips and “safe” foods at the beginning, and over time, both product labeling and I got better at knowing how to manage it. I watched my little one heal from the food that had been hurting her, and our family learned a lot about cooking from scratch. Now that she’s older, she has a solid handle on what she can have and what she can’t, as well as what happens if she does have something with gluten in it. As a family, we know what amount of “cross contamination” she can handle and what we can have in the house. For example, we can use one set of pots and pans, but we use separate utensils for serving. I know not to put a piece of bread in my brown sugar to keep it moist (the gluten in the bread contaminates the brown sugar), and I’ve found Worcestershire sauce that is gluten free! Baked goods are always a hard one. As a lover of baking bread, I’ve been hard pressed to find an easy - and edible - gluten free bread. That makes things like pizza, pies, sandwiches, and the like more of a challenge. However, I did modify and perfect some recipes over the years and want to share one of the most versatile recipes with you today. This is a recipe for drop biscuits and I want to invite you to think outside the box. While this is a great option for a dinner side dish, it’s also amazing for biscuit topped chicken pot “pie”. If you add cheese and pepperoni to the dough, you can serve it with marinara sauce for pizza biscuits. With a gluten free gravy, you can make biscuits and gravy. I also love that this recipe can be made with butter and milk, or with coconut oil and nut milk for a dairy free option. It’s, of course, best served warm….and with love.

How to Make Gluten-Free Biscuits

(You can find the full print-friendly recipe below.) Steps: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, mix flour mix, xanthan gum if adding, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until all incorporated. Mixing dry ingredients in bowl

Add melted coconut oil. Mix well. Add milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix. Mixing all ingredients in bowl

If you are creating any of the variations below, add those additions now. Drop spoonfuls on to prepared baking sheet. You can use your hands to form, but do not handle too much as the coconut oil will melt. Biscuits on baking sheet