Get ready for the best “buttery” flaky, deliciously soft and tender vegan biscuits ever! These vegan buttermilk biscuits are so easy to make, easily made gluten free, and taste just as good as the classic. Everyone will love them, vegan or not!

vegan biscuits on parchment paper

Which biscuits are vegan?

You’d be surprised to learn that some of the grocery store biscuit options are potentially vegan, including popular brands, like Pillsbury! Here are a few biscuits that are *accidentally* vegan to be purchased in stores (see disclaimer below):

  • Pillsbury Southern Homestyle Buttermilk Biscuit (and other varieties of their biscuits- be sure to check the label!)
  • Annie’s Organic Flaky Biscuits
  • Immaculate Organic Flaky Biscuits

Please note: These products are not marketed as vegan and may be cross contaminated with dairy/milk products. 

On another note, the ingredients list is quite lengthy:

ENRICHED FLOUR BLEACHED (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, PALM AND SOYBEAN OIL, SUGAR, PALM KERNEL OIL, BAKING POWDER (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, BAKING SODA, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE). CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: DEXTROSE, SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, XANTHAN GUM, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR.

From Pillsbury’s website.

I personally recommend making your own vegan biscuits because it’s honestly quicker than running to the store! These vegan biscuits are ready in just under 30 minutes and tastes as good as the classic!

stacked biscuits on parchment paper

Ingredients + Substitutions

  • Vegan buttermilk: We’ll make our own vegan buttermilk here using either soy milk or almond milk if using store bought. Coconut milk will not curdle, as it is fat, but it still is a viable option. Oat milk will curdle less so than almond milk and soy milk. However, the acidity from the apple cider vinegar or lemon juice is still there and will react with the baking powder. You can also use homemade oat milk, as homemade oat milk has a better chance of curdling over store bought oat milk.
  • Flour: You can use all purpose flour, gluten free 1:1 baking flour, or my favorite gluten-free flour: oat flour. 
  • Baking powder: We’re only using baking powder here over baking soda. 
  • Sugar: You can use coconut sugar for refined sugar free. 
  • Vegan butter: I used Miyoko’s vegan butter here. It’s my absolute favorite for vegan baking! However, it does contain cashews, so for nut-free, I recommend using Flora Plant Butter or Earth BalanceBaking Sticks (NOT the tub of butter).
vegan biscuit ingredients

Overview: How to make vegan biscuits

The full recipe with measurements for the ingredients is found down below. However, we’ll go over the steps briefly, along with providing visuals to help you better understand what’s going on! But trust me, these biscuits are really easy!

  1. Make the dough: To start, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add in the vegan butter, and cut the butter into the dough until the flour mixture resembles small peas or sand. Add in the vegan buttermilk, and mix JUST until you form a shaggy dough. 
  2. Shape the biscuits: Lightly flour a clean surface (you’ll flour it more for oat flour though- it gets sticky!), and shape the dough into a rectangle. I recommend using your hands rather than using a rolling pin so as to avoid overworking the dough. Then fold the dough like a letter and press into a rectangle again. This creates the lamination for the dough and that beautiful tall rise in the biscuits. Laminate the dough once more, then use a 3″ or 4″ round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out your biscuits.
  3. Bake the biscuits: Place the vegan biscuit dough onto a baking sheet, brush with more vegan buttermilk, and bake!
dry ingredients whisked together
vegan butter in flour mixture
mixed vegan biscuit dough
vegan biscuit dough on marble
making vegan biscuits
laminating the dough
how to laminate biscuit dough
shaping biscuit dough
vegan biscuits before baking
baked vegan biscuits
baked vegan biscuits

Can I make these vegan biscuits gluten free?

You can absolutely make these vegan buttermilk biscuits gluten-free as well! For gluten free, you have two options:

Gluten-free 1:1 baking flour: I recommend using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour in the blue bag, or King Arthur’s gluten free 1:1 baking flour. Namaste flour, I’ve found, does not work with many of these recipes and I absolutely would not recommend it here. 

Oat flour: If you’d like to make gluten free vegan biscuits using oat flour, you can use store bought oat flour or homemade oat flour. The measurements are slightly different, so please refer to the notes section in the recipe card below.

How to store and freeze biscuits

Refrigerator: If you have any leftover biscuits, you can place them into an airtight bag or container and store them in the fridge for up to 4-5 days, depending on how cold your fridge is.

Freezer: To freeze the vegan buttermilk biscuits for up to 3 months, place them into an airtight container or bag and into the freezer.

Reheat: To reheat frozen or cold biscuits, place them into a toaster sliced or into the oven at 350F on a baking tray lined with parchment or tinfoil. Heat for 5-10 minutes, depending on whether the biscuits are cold or frozen.

How to serve vegan biscuits

Once your buttery vegan biscuits have been baked, it’s time to enjoy them! Here are a few of my favorite ways that you’ll love for how to serve biscuits:

Final Tips for the best vegan biscuits

I recommend using Miyoko’s vegan butter or Miyoko’s vegan oat butter for nut free. You can also use Earth balance sticks, but be sure to not use the tub of Earth Balance or vegan margarine. That will not work for this recipe!

You need really cold butter. Freezing the butter is a must!

Knead the dough *just enough.* Even the gluten free version! When we over knead the dough, the flour becomes tough, resulting in really gluey and dense vegan biscuits. Not fun!

Aim for baking the biscuits just until they’re lightly golden brown. This will ensure that the vegan biscuits are not underbaked nor over baked!

You’re just going to absolutely love these buttery vegan biscuits! If you want something quicker than classic vegan dinner rolls but to go alongside vegan cornbread at Thanksgiving. 

Everyone will just love these deliciously tall vegan biscuits, whether or not they’re vegan or gluten free!

sliced open vegan biscuits

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

vegan biscuits pinterest pin

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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vegan biscuits on parchment paper

Best “Buttery” Vegan Biscuits (Gluten Free Option!)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 8 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

Get ready for the best “buttery” flaky, deliciously soft and tender vegan biscuits ever! These vegan buttermilk biscuits are so easy to make, easily made gluten free, and taste just as good as the classic. Everyone will love them, vegan or not!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3/4 cup (177 mL) vegan buttermilk, plus 2 tbsp for brushing, cold
  • 2 cups (250 grams) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour*
  • 2 tbsp organic granulated sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) salted vegan butter, cubed + frozen*

Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Weigh and measure all biscuit ingredients. Make the vegan buttermilk if you haven’t already.
  2. Make the biscuit dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, arrowroot starch, and baking powder. Add in the cubed vegan butter, and use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter into the flour mixture until you achieve a sand-like texture. Then add in the vegan buttermilk (dairy free milk and apple cider vinegarmixture), and use a rubber spatula to fold the vegan buttermilk into the flour mixture until you achieve a thick dough. Be careful not to over mix the dough. You’ll mix it until the buttermilk has just mixed into the flour.
  3. Shape the biscuits:  flour a clean surface and shape the dough into rectangle that’s about 2″ thick. Laminate the dough by folding it in half then pressing the dough back out into a rectangle. Laminate the dough once more by folding the dough in half, and pressing the dough once more into a rectangle that’s 1 1/2″ to 2″ thick again. Use a round 3-4″ cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, and cut out 6-8 biscuits from the dough. You can re-roll the scraps by gathering them and re-rolling the dough into a 2″ thick rectangle. Alternatively, you can also cut the dough into square biscuits.
  4. Bake the biscuits: Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet, and brush the tops with the remaining vegan buttermilk. Place the baking sheet into the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops of the biscuits are lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven once baked, and allow the biscuits to cool for 10 minutes.

Notes

Gluten-free all purpose flour: Not every gluten-free 1:1 baking flour will work here. I only use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour in the blue bag and occasionally King Arthur’s GF 1:1 baking flour. Namaste 1:1 flour will not work here.

Gluten free oat flour biscuits: Swap out the flour for 300 grams oat flour (about 3 cups spoon & leveled).

Salted vegan butter: If you can’t find salted vegan butter, use unsalted vegan butter and add 1/4 tsp sea salt.