Whole Grain Gluten-Free Biscuits

Ali Segersten May 25, 2010 20 comments

We like to make biscuits around here. I grew up making biscuits with my mother and on occasion with my grandmother who never measured a single ingredient. She went by the way the dough looked and felt between her fingertips. That's the way to make biscuits. The art of making biscuits may take some practice but the results are worth it! The following recipe is one of a few I have created. This one is a spin-off of a recipe in my cookbook using sorghum flour in place of the brown rice flour with a few other minor changes.
Tips for making Gluten-Free Biscuits:

Be sure your butter, palm shortening, or coconut oil is cold!
Real butter gives the best flavor and texture and is what I used in the gluten-free biscuits pictured here. Be sure to use organic butter! :)
I always make sure the milk I am using has been chilled for at least 2-3 hours.
Handle the dough as little as possible! Even though there is no gluten in the dough to over-develop, working with the dough too much causes it to become dense.
If your kitchen is too hot and your fat begins to melt as you work it into the flour, place the whole bowl into the fridge to chill and reconvene when the fat has chilled.
Instead of cutting the dough into circles, simply form dough into a rectangle and cut into 16 squares with a large knife. This creates much less handling of the dough.

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About the Author

Ali Segersten

Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.

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Comments

Any suggestion to sub sorghum flour for another flour??? I have a ton of different ones but don't have sorghum.

Thanks!

Wendi

I am new to the gluten-free world of baking and feel so thankful to have found your website and cookbook early on. I was so glad to find a website that used gluten free whole grain ingredients. After years of cooking with whole grains and now making the switch to gluten free cooking many of the the recipes out there seemed fake and void of much nutrition. Thank you for a healthy options!! We loved this biscuit recipe!! It was very good!!

Ali, these made the BEST strawberry shortcakes. I think this is the most "gluten-full" gluten-free recipe I've tried. EXACTLY like the Tassajara biscuits I used to make with 1/2 whole wheat flour and an egg. This tops all your other recipes, IMHO.
Barb

Made these biscuits last night so delicious both with jam and alone. Can not wait to try more of your recipes.

Just in time for strawberry shortcake!
Barb

wow - these were so fast and easy (under 10 minutes to assemble, 11 to bake) and absolutely delicious!!! After having baked the worst gluten free cake ever (different site) which I threw in the trash, it was refreshing to make something gluten free which was just as good as regular ;-)

I love you guys. Straight up, Love you. Thank you.

Hi Ali,

I sent you an email with a question about the elimination diet, but thought I'd post it here as well.

I was wondering why some of the foods are restricted during Phase I of the elimination diet. Is it to purify/cleanse or is it only to find out if we it causes any dietary issues? Specifically, I am thinking of tomatoes and peppers. I really would like to do the diet now. I just got your book and am anxious to get started, but I also have fresh tomatoes and peppers coming in my garden right now and don't want to waste them.

I'm fairly certain I have no issues with either of those foods. I do believe that I have problems with both gluten and dairy though, which is why I want to do the diet.

Thanks for any input!

Scones and/or biscuits are definitely one of my all-time favorite breakfast foods. These look like a winning recipe--especially slathered with some of that jam. Can't wait to give them a try! :)

These biscuits look great! I actually came to your site today to look for a biscuit recipe, funny that it was the first thing I saw. I would love it if you had a recipe for the blueberry jam! I will be making my dad jam with biscuits for fathers day.

Yum these look delicious! We call them scones in New Zealand, and I've been looking for a gf recipe for these for ages - definitely going to give them a try - thanks!!!
Michelle :)

Oh yes, Jennifer - the biscuits are fine the next day, just not hot and fresh out of the oven! My daughter packed one in her lunch today and the boys ate the rest for breakfast. Enjoy! :)

Thanks for your comments! I actually don't use a recipe when making jam, it is more of an intuitive process for me. I can tell you that when I began making it, I loosely followed the directions that come in the Pomona pectin packages - this is the type of natural pectin to use when making sugar-free jam. The ingredients are fresh fruit, lemon juice, honey, and pectin (also calcium water which comes with it). I buy the Pomona pectin at our local co-op. Then the rest is the canning process. Last year I made quite a bit of jam - peach, blueberry, plum, cherry, blackberry + lots of applesauce!

This summer I will do a blog post on it and give accurate measures and indicators of how to know if you are on the right path, doneness, etc. Of course with plenty of photos! You can view the post I did on making applesauce for more info on canning:

http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2009/10/how-to-make-and-can-applesauce.html

Enjoy the biscuits! -Ali :)

These sound great! And with that jam? I'm swooning. I just ordered your book, so I can't wait until it arrives!

Will you post your recipe for blueberry honey jam? It sounds delicious! I'm not sure how to make jam without granulated sugar. Thanks : )

Biscuits look great...any chance you can post your recipe for sugar free jam?? Thanks!!

Although these biscuits look wonderful, that jam looks absolutely mazing and I'm imagining you made that as well. I also loved the photos of the boys with Ben's homemade soup. If you get kids involved in cooking, they have a blast with it and will almost always eat what they make. Great bunch of stuff from Whole Life Nutrition this morning! Thanks Ali, Tom and gang.
Melissa

Even though these taste best right out of the oven (as most baked goods do!), will they reheat and taste okay in the toaster oven the next day? Maybe I'll whip some up some night when we have guests since I am not currently eating any flour and they sound yummy! They'll definitely last us more than a day though which is why I'd like to know if they reheat or even freeze well.

These look delicious, Ali! They would be so tasty with some of our honey, too. I'm all for cutting into squares. Much easier and tastier as you said because of less handling. And, it's hip to be square sometimes. ;-)

Love that the WLN Cookbook is getting all this wonderful praise--well deserved! :-)

Shirley

Wow, these look incredible! I'm thinking about using garlic and rosemary with this recipe to go with dinner sometime soon! Thanks for the recipe :) :)