November 14, 2008

Gluten and Dairy-Free Drop Biscuits

(After many taste tests with these wonderful biscuits I have made a few revisions to make these just perfect! I have lowered the salt again and added the organic apple cider vinegar which makes them fluffier than before. Here is my revised recipe. Please let me know what you think.)
Love at first bite! Soft and warm biscuits with melting butter. What dream was I having?
No, it was not a dream. It was a "gift" shared by
The Gluten-Free Homemaker, a fellow gluten-free blogger.
I knew when I saw her recipe that it would work for us with a few modifications to make it dairy-free and sugar-free. Last night I made these and they were delicious just like she said. The boys, my husband and I ate them and really thought they were excellent.

While standing in my kitchen measuring out the ingredients for these biscuits and reading the words, Homemaker, I began to reminisce back to 1985, when my husband and I were newlyweds. I was a North Carolina girl, moving to Maryland, so I had to get a Maryland driver's license. When I went to the DMV, I was assisted by a man who reminded me of Louis Gossett Jr.
in the movie, An Officer and a Gentleman. With his erect posture and shiny bald head he spoke rather curtly to me and asked my "occupation." I hesitated to answer because I didn't have an occupation, or had even given it much thought as to what title I had. So I said I did not have one. He answered speaking every syllable drawn out with emphasis "Hooommmee-MA-Ker". I shyly agreed to his suggestion. I was feeling very intimidated and wondered if this was the way of the North. Well, I'm glad to see that there are still homemakers like Linda, the gluten-free homemaker, who live in Maryland!

Our Version Gluten and Dairy Free Drop Biscuits

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (revised to 1/8 teaspoon sea salt)

1/4 cup Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, softened
1 squirt of agave nectar (about 1 teaspoon) (revised to 1 Tablespoon agave nectar)
1 large egg
3/4 cup coconut milk, Light (I used Whole Foods Brand) (See note*)
(1 teaspoon organic apple cider vinegar)

Whisk the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside.
In the mixer bowl, beat the butter, agave, egg and coconut milk.
Add the dry ingredients and beat on high about 30 seconds.
Scrape down the sides and mix well.

Using a serving spoon coated with olive oil drop the biscuits onto a baking pan coated with olive oil.
Bake at 400 degrees F about 12 minutes or until golden brown.


*Note: I'm finding that the sodium content varies in different brands of coconut milk and greatly changes the taste of this recipe. Here are my test results:

1. The 365 Whole Food's brand, Organic Coconut Milk Light, contains 0 grams of sodium and works best for this recipe.
I've made slight adjustments in blue above that make this recipe even better than my original post.

2. The 365 Whole Food's brand, Organic Coconut Milk, contains 35 grams per 1/4 cup, had a salty aftertaste that I did not like.
I would advise against using this unless you are interested in making adjustments with the salt. Please let me know if you do.









11 comments:

  1. Thanks for featuring my recipe! What I kind post. I'm glad your substitutions worked well and that you all enjoyed the biscuits.

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  2. I've GOT to try these! I have an open can of coconut milk that I really don't want to waste!!

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  3. Just saw your blog (through karina's kitchen). Great site! I just added the PVC-free guide to my blog! www.glutenfreewholefoods.blogspot.com, you can also find us at www.wholelifenutrition.net.

    Thanks! Your recipes look wonderful! -Ali :)

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  4. Thanks so much for these - we too are dairy/gluten and soy free and its hard to find yummy recipes that are free of all of these things! These look delicious - I will try using butter (we can do butter) instead of the earth balance. I love that the recipe calls for coconut milk! Great idea,
    thanks a lot,
    sarah

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  5. HI! I tried these on Monday night with our dinner because I needed to use up a can of coconut milk. i thought they were very good for being casein free! I didn't like them the next day cold, but they were fabulous hot from the oven!! ;-) Nice job!!

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  6. Thanks so much for your feedback. Just wondering was your coconut milk the lite or regular fat? I tried them this morning with the full fat coconut milk and my boys liked them even better. Seems like I may need more acid to activate the baking soda to alleviate
    the salty taste. Would agave be acid enough?
    Anyone know about this please let me know.

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  7. I used full fat coconut milk. I think what might help the biscuits to rise is to whip up the egg white separately. The crazy thing about using buttermilk (which I know you can't) is that is reacts to the baking soda and helps the little biscuits rise up high and pretty! I don't know how to recreate that reaction using coconut milk. You could try adding 1/2 teaspoon - 1 teaspoon lemon juice to the coconut milk! That would probably help with the acidic taste! ;-)

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  8. Oh, how nice to have a gluten-free advisor
    and others who understand what it's like to
    deal with the challenges we face cooking.

    Thanks so much for your help. I've made a few changes to the recipe that got rid of the salty taste.
    I liked them cold, but also warmed them in the toaster oven. I wonder if vinegar would help?
    I'm sure I'll keep experimenting just for fun.

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  9. These are awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Wow!!! These look fantastic!! I miss biscuits (over 3 years since I've had a "glutenous" one!). Can't wait to try your GF recipe.

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  11. Used your recipe to make biscuits for strawberry shortcake tonight and it was fantastic!! The biscuits were moist, fluffy and light. We had friends over (who don't eat gluten, dairy, sugar free) and they loved them too! ...As an alternative to whipped cream, I used slightly softened Purely Decadent Vanilla Bean ice cream. It's made out of coconut milk (dairy, gluten and soy free) and sweetened with agave nectar. It was absolutely delish!

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