Gluten Free Copycat Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Cheddar Bay Biscuits are WILDLY Popular and for good reason!! I am so excited to share with you my gluten free variation. These biscuits are bursting with flavor & you really cant beat the texture.
You’ll notice I have labeled them as Dairy Free, Egg Free & Vegan! The good news here is that you can make them with real milk, butter & cheese. Or will have just as much success making them with Dairy Free Butter (I prefer earth balance buttery sticks) Any Dairy Free Milk will do (I would just stick with a milk that is not overly sweet!) AND honestly just about any shredded vegan cheese will work too. My preference is always violife as I find it behaves the most like real cheese. A lot of brands of vegan cheese get funky in the oven when they are placed next to direct heat. BUT, in the case of this recipe the cheese is INSIDE of the biscuits so therefore all it needs to do it melt a little inside of the dough. Most brands of vegan cheese will have no issue doing that. You will notice in the recipe that I call for optional additional ingredients to sprinkle on top of the biscuits before baking.. if you opt to make them vegan I would just skip adding more cheese to the top. They will taste just as good & will look prettier (because as I just mentioned the vegan cheese could get funky/burn if its sitting on top & in contact with direct heat!).
Some people simple do not like ANY Vegan Cheese. If that is you- feel free to skip the cheese entirely . They biscuits will still have a fantastic flavor and texture from the garlic, cayenne, fresh parsley and salt!
This recipe is particularly easy to make as the dough is just scooped then placed directly on the pan! You can have these beauties on the table piping hot in. a matter of 30 minutes from start to finish!
If you are not familiar with making biscuits they are all pretty much made the same way. The process is simple & quick. You wont even need a mixer. The main key being not to ever over mix. You start with adding all of the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl. Giving them a stir. Then cutting in your cold butter- straight out of the fridge or freezer. You can do this right in the bowl with the flour using two knifes or a pastry cutter tool. I prefer to just give it a quick chop on a cutting board using a knife. I cut the pieces into about the size of a pea. A little bigger than that is ok too. Don’t over work it- you do not want it to melt. Stir it in with the flour. Then you want to mix together the milk and lemon juice. Pour them into the bowl and using a spatula stir JUST until the dough comes together. Stop yourself abruptly as soon as this happens. Over mixing is the #1 cause of mediocre biscuits. Then you just scoop them onto your parchment lined baking sheet- sprinkle with the optional additional toppings & bake!
I like to brush them with hot melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven too!! BUT this is completely optional.
For the vegan Butter I suggest using Earth Balance Butter Sticks. You may try other brands but know that there is a lot of variety brand to brand and they don’t all perform the same. Earth balance is the best when it comes to mimicking how real butter works.
Of course you can just use regular salted butter too if making them dairy free isn’t a concern.
To make the biscuits Corn Free
Just use a brand of corn free baking soda or powder. Check to make sure your butter is corn free as well if you are making them with a vegan butter.
Using other gluten free all purpose flour blends
The bad news is that there isn’t truly a gluten free measure for measure flour or cup for cup. Its a marketing ploy. There are blends that work decent in place but never exactly. Each and every blend is totally different. For example I LOVE better batter - but in this recipe it would make the scones too chewy and less tender. It has too much xanthan gum for this recipe.
So of course you are welcome to experiment. But please keep in mind that there are no guarantees. Any change means the recipe will change.
What Cookie Scoop to use:
Its tricky for me to tell you what scoop to purchase as every brand seems to be labeled with different numbers. The best explanation I can give is to look for a scoop that holds roughly 1/3 cup of dough! It is perfectly fine if your scoop is a little smaller or bigger. You may end up with a slightly different quantity but the baking time should be roughly the same. If you use a significantly smaller scoop your baking time may need to be adjusted more. (My guess is less time vs. more). Just keep an eye on them. Once they are firm to touch and golden brown they are done!
Gluten Free Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Frozen Blueberries will work too but I don't recommend them! They don't yield as pretty of a result. Though they taste JUST as good. The key to working with frozen blueberries is to make sure you don't over mix or they will make the dough become too wet & will change the texture. If the dough becomes blue/purple you have mixed too much and the scones wont be quite as tender. If this happens it is still very much worth baking them though- just chalk it up to learning. You will need extra flour when patting the dough into a mound as if the blueberries break down the dough will become extra wet and sticky.