Cheesy & Charming Vegan Southern Style Biscuits

So, I’m newly plantbased, with the exception of seafood, due to my health. The transition has been remarkably fun and easy, I was completely blown away by the quality of plant based products currently on the market! That being said, in my near two months of dairy and meat free life, I have yet to test out my vegan baking skills - which was in part due to the fact that my little family had to leave our little home in Studio City, CA and venture back East thanks to a multitude of factors all revolving around the pandemic, and moving is so exhausting and time consuming.

Now, however, I found the time and the occasion to try out a new take on an old favorite. These, like other recipes I’ve shared, are made in commemoration of my amazing late grandma, whose love of food was deeply profound despite her incredibly petite stature. Being from the south, a tiny corner in very rural southern North Carolina, you better believe she made fantastic biscuits. While I’ll never believe that my cooking can truly touch some of the delicious goodness she was able to seemingly throw together with ease, I think she would have loved how these little guys turned out.

Now for the recipe.

Ingredients

cups all-purpose flour more as needed

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup vegan butter to start (you’ll need a bit more when you begin to fold)

• 1 cup soy or oat milk

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar

• 1/3 cup vegan parmesan

• 1/4 cup vegan cheddar

  (I used the Follow Your Heart brand parm and Daiya cheddar, but anything you like best will do! You can even use non vegan cheese if you aren’t dairy-free/plant based. :) )

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

• Stir together the oat/soy milk and vinegar in a small mixing bowl to create your buttermilk. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before using.

• In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix together your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt.

• Using a knife, slice the vegan butter into smaller chunks. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, forks, or your fingers. The butter crumbles should be pea-sized.

• Using a wooden spoon, stir the buttermilk into the dry mixture. Stir until the dough holds to the wooden spoon. You want the dough to be slightly sticky, but not so much so that it sticks to your hands. I ended up sprinkling in about an additional 1/3 - 1/4 cup flour to ensure it didn’t stick to my hands.

• Turn the biscuit dough onto a well-floured surface. Use your hands to flatten it to about half an inch thick. Fold the dough over on itself, then pat back down to half an inch thick. Add in a few more slices of butter to your once folded dough, I’d say about 5 pea sized chunks should be perfect. Repeat 2-3 times, making sure not to overwork the dough.

• If you re-roll and fold the dough to use your scraps for additional biscuits, be sure to put a few chilled pea sized pieces of butter into the fold again to ensure you get those nice flaky layers.

• Use a biscuit cutter or turn over a glass with a circumference size you like for your biscuits, to cut the biscuits into rounds. Place biscuits 2” apart on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. I opted for mini biscuits that are about 2” in diameter, please feel free to make yours as large as you like.

• Not necessary, but if you’d like to increase the cheesiness of your biscuits, sprinkle a little mix of your cheese on top.

• Bake at 425 F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

I hope if you give these tasty little guys a try that you love them as much as we did! After you’re finished, the biscuits will keep for 2-3 days at room temp but of course are the best when they’re fresh the day of baking. :)

Enjoy my friends! :)