Learn how to make the most delicious and soft Vegan Biscuits recipe oil-free! These require just 6 ingredients are so easy to make and have no butter and no oil in them, yet they are so fluffy and perfectly flavored. With tangy yogurt and a touch of maple syrup, they have amazing flavor! The perfect vegan breakfast to spread jam or vegan butter on or vegan sausages!
VEGAN BISCUITS OIL-FREE
These vegan biscuits are so delicious and soft, it doesn’t even matter that they are healthy and oil-free! Because they are delicious. The flavor is so amazing thanks to using plant-based dairy-free yogurt in them! That combined with coconut milk and a tiny touch of maple syrup, gives the most delicious flavor without the need of butter or oil.
They are so good and we all fell in love with them.
If you are looking for healthy vegan biscuits recipe and a lower-fat option, this recipe is it! But of course, you can spread vegan butter on them! I must admit, that was one of the most delicious things I used to love growing up was biscuits my mom made spread with butter. Therefore, I did have a couple with vegan butter and that tiny amount was so worth. But you can totally add a fruit jam or spread and even vegan sausage. Biscuits, in my opinion, need something on them though to really enhance them. I never liked just plain biscuits, as they taste a bit dry plain.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- Regular all-purpose flour (not gluten-free blends)
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Lite canned coconut milk: Biscuits rely on fat for them to be soft and fluffy. Coconut milk is a much different kind of fat than any other fat. It is buttery, it is richer. It is also low-protein, which means it creates a better, softer, fluffier texture. Do not sub this with soy milk (which is high protein) or low-fat milk or you will end up with a dry or chewy biscuit. I like Thai Kitchen and Taste of Thai brands for the coconut milk, both work great here. DO NOT use the Polar brand, it is all stabilizers and additives and not pure coconut milk.
- Dairy-free plain, unflavored high fat yogurt: Do not use a low-fat yogurt here, or you will get a dry biscuit! I used Kite Hill almond yogurt that is high fat, super thick and creamy.
- Pure maple syrup: A small amount enhances the overall flavor of the biscuits, but they are not sweet and you do not taste syrup.
- salt
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN BISCUITS
Step 1: To a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk very well.
Step 2: Add the room temperature lite coconut milk (shake that can well first), room temperature yogurt and syrup. Gently stir it with a large wooden spoon just until it is combined and looks like a rough, shaggy dough as pictured. You do not need to stress about it all looking cohesive and perfect. I’m talking, like about 8-10 seconds of mixing for it to come together. Overmixing biscuit dough will result in tough biscuits.
The dough should look like this.
Step 3: Now, once it’s mixed roughly, lightly flour a work surface. Only a bit of flour is needed. Dump the dough out onto the surface, and use your hands (do not overknead the dough!) to flip it over a couple of times, adding just a little flour to your hands as needed if sticky, and shape it into a round disc. Again, you are only forming it into the shape, not kneading it like you would with pizza dough. You don’t want to overwork the dough or add too much flour, or they will be dry.
Form the disc to where it is about 3/4 inch high evenly across. You are using your hands here, do not roll the dough out with a rolling pin, as that flattens out the lightness and air! Do not worry about any messy seams or creases, as long as it’s stuck together.
Step 4: Use a 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter and press down into the dough and slightly twist it and lift up. You should get 4 biscuits the first time.
Step 5: Piece back the excess dough together gently and any loose pieces, just press/pinch back together. Pat it back down to 3/4 inch and you should get 6 biscuits total.
Step 6: Place each biscuit on the pan, just touching each other. This helps them to rise better.
Step 7: For the tops: mix the milk and yogurt together in a small bowl from the “Brush the tops” ingredients until smooth. Use a brush to lightly brush the tops of each biscuit. Alternatively, if you like, you could use vegan butter here, up to you!
Step 8: Bake for 15 minutes until risen and have a light golden brown color on top. Cool 5 minutes before serving.
Spread vegan butter, jam or eat with vegan sausages on these vegan biscuits. OR, these would be delicious served with soups or stews as well! Biscuits are best eaten warm and fresh, as they really start to dry out hours later. Of course, you can bring them back to life a bit by slightly warming them in the microwave and adding whatever topping you like.
MORE VEGAN BREAKFAST RECIPES
- Best Vegan Fluffy Pancakes
- Vegan Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing
- Fluffy Vegan Blueberry Pancakes
- Vegan Vanilla Cake Waffles
- Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Waffles
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If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Biscuits Recipe (Oil-free!)
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (224g) regular all-purpose flour (not gluten-free blends)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) room temperature canned lite coconut milk (shaken well first)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons (53g) room temperature dairy-free plain, unflavored high fat yogurt Do not use a low-fat yogurt here, or you will get a dry biscuit. I used Kite Hill almond yogurt that is high fat, super thick and creamy.
- 2 teaspoons (12g) pure maple syrup OR agave
TO BRUSH THE TOPS
- 1 tablespoon lite coconut milk
- 1/2 teaspoon yogurt
NOTE
- I always recommend to use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed, since we all measure differently. This is especially important here so that your dough is the right moisture level, etc. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessons room for error. You never need cups or to compare them to the weights, just use the scale and bowl and make sure to zero out in between each ingredient. My recipes are 100% tested specifically using my exact weights.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk very well.
- Add the room temperature coconut milk, yogurt and syrup to the same bowl and very gently mix with a wooden spoon until just mixed into a rough, shaggy-looking dough, as pictured. You do not need to stress about it all looking cohesive and perfect. I'm talking, like about 8-10 seconds of mixing for it to come together. Overmixing biscuit dough will result in tough biscuits.
- Now, once it's mixed roughly, lightly flour a work surface. Only a bit of flour is needed. Dump the dough out onto the surface, and use your hands (do not overwork the dough!) Overmixing biscuit dough will result in tough biscuits. You are using your hands here, do not roll the dough out with a rolling pin, as that flattens out the lightness and air. Again, you are only forming it into the shape, not kneading it like you would with pizza dough. You don't want to overwork the dough or add too much flour, or they will be dry. Form the disc to where it is about 3/4 inch to 1 inch high evenly across.
- Use a 2 3/4 inch biscuit cutter and press down into the dough and slightly twist it and lift up. You should get 4 biscuits the first time. Piece back the excess dough together gently and any loose pieces, just press/pinch back together. Pat it back down to 3/4 to 1 inch to get 6 biscuits total and place the biscuits onto the lined pan. If you make more than 6 biscuits, that means you flattened the dough too much and your biscuits will be thinner. I used a ruler just to make sure my dough was thick enough before cutting. You may have a slightly bit of extra dough. (1 to 2 tbsp worth)
- Place each biscuit on the pan, just touching each other, as pictured.
- For the tops: mix the milk and yogurt together in a small bowl from the "Brush the tops" ingredients until smooth. Use a brush to lightly brush the tops of each biscuit. Alternatively, if you like, you could use vegan butter here, up to you!
- Bake for 15 minutes or until risen and have a light golden brown color on top.
- Cool 5 minutes and then serve immediately. Spread vegan butter, jam or eat with vegan sausages or gravy. OR, these would be delicious served with soups or stews as well! Biscuits are best eaten warm and fresh, as they really start to dry out hours later. Of course, you can bring them back to life a bit by slightly warming them in the microwave and adding whatever topping you like. As with traditional biscuits, these are best with a topping of sorts, as I've always found plain biscuits to be a bit dry or boring, so don't skip whatever topping you like. These are of course not going to be as rich as traditional butter-filled biscuits, so keep that in mind, but they are still very delicious, especially for being much lower fat and oil-free.
these look GORGEOUS!! Can’t wait to try:)
thank you so much Mary!
As a vegan I do not use any dairy. What can I use as a substitute for yogurt? Is the yogurt you use in the biscuit vegan.
I’m vegan, as my blog is and has been for years (The Vegan 8). I don’t use dairy either. This is why the ingredients list “dairy-free plain, unflavored high fat yogurt” and that I used almond.
Sometimes I wonder how Brandi keeps her cool. If you even bother to read the recipe, it says “dairy free almond yogurt” and her website is only vegan food. Duh!!! Use your brains Charlotte!
Do they taste like coconut?
No coconut taste whatsoever. The lite coconut milk leaves zero coconut taste. They just taste like biscuits, with a buttermilk flavor.
Will cashew milk work for the replacement of the coconut milk? I use your technique to make that milk. Thanks
You can try it, but I’ve not tried it personally, therefore cannot vouch how it will change the recipe. I would make cashew cream though, not the runnier version of the milk I share. Blend up 1/2 cup (70g) raw cashews with 1/2 cup (120g) filtered water in a vitamix until completely smooth, then measure out 1/2 cup (120g) of milk. You can use the extra for soups, coffee, oatmeal, smoothies, etc.
Can I use regular fat coconut milk?! Rather ban the lite kind?!
Hi Akenia, I haven’t tried this personally, but I think it should work. But two things to consider first. First, the regular coconut milk has 3 times the amount of fat, therefore tends to separate in the can, so to ensure you get a smooth milk before measuring, empty the container in a blender and blend until smooth and then measure. It is also thicker than lite, so you “might” need another tablespoon of milk, not sure. Let me know if you try it!
I used regular fat coconut milk, still turned out great. I made sure to cut through the solid part at the top, then just used a spoon to mix it in the can and then poured into a measuring cup! If I found solid chunks from it in the dough I just made sure to take them out while I was pressing out the dough.
Is there any gluten free flour that could be substituted? They look great but I am gf 😕
These are absolutely delicious. Better than I even expected! I used Greek yogurt instead of non dairy because it was all I had, but they turned out amazing!
Yay! So very happy to hear that!! I believe greek yogurt is super thick, so glad to hear it worked well!
BREAKFAST FOR DINNER
I served them with the gravy from her book. I added some sausage to make it a sausage gravy.
OMG I’m making these biscuits weekly. They are so freaking amazing and so freaking easy too.
Thank you Brandi for this through the roof recipe. Can’t wait to make it with jam. 😘😘😘
Thank you so much Estee! They looked so amazing with the gravy and sausage!
Excellent, made them tonight and they really are delicious. I followed your recipe exactly and they were light and fluffy and to be honest, one batch isn’t enough! Thank you for a great recipe.
That is amazing feedback, thank you Suzanne!
I totally forgot star rating. 10 stars!!
I’m southern so that makes me a biscuit expert, right? I cant believe how great these turned out! Great job as always. Brandi’s recipes never disappoint!
So so happy to hear that, thank you Atalie!
Really? These biscuits just look delicious! I’ll give it a try this weekend! 🙂
Do you think white whole wheat flour would work? 🤞
You might be able to sub up to half of it, but you will end up with tough and dry biscuits trying to do all white wheat here. It’s higher protein.
These are so good! My picky hubby even said he would be happy with these as a substitute to the really bad for you buttery and non vegan kind. I had a tiny bit left and made a mini biscuit. When I cooked that tiny thing for the same amount of time, it almost tasted like a baguette! I’m so happy to have a healthier biscuit in my life…. oh and you can’t beat that prep time!!!!
That is so awesome to hear Janessa, thank you for the wonderful review!
Hi this recipe looks delicious! I was wondering if you had a recipe for a gluten free version?
Hi Sarah, I’m working on a gluten-free version and will post it once I perfect it!
Yes! I cannot wait. You just made my day 🙂
This was my question too. I’d loooove to try a biscuit again but I’m GF also. I am so proud of you for figuring out an oil free biscuit option—impressive!!
I do not have non-dairy yogurt where I live. Could you suggest a substitute?
That is tough, yogurt is a big part of the recipe. I guess you could try solid coconut cream in place of it, but it won’t have the same flavor that the yogurt provides.
Brandi — you are truly a kitchen ROCKSTAR! Every time I think, “I wish Brandi had a recipe for ____” you make it! Maybe you’re a mind reader among your many other talents — HA! These biscuits were devoured by my family and in-between bites, I heard, “Brandi (yes, like Madonna or Cher, we refer to you by your 1st name in our house) created another winner.” Quarantine has been challenging for so many, but you are certainly making the most of it with your amazing new recipes and videos. THANK YOU!
Lol! Aww thank you so much Renee, what a wonderful comment to read! I’m so happy to hear how much you and your family loved these and my recipes in general, that means so very much to hear!!
Tbh, the first time I made these they were way too dry (lots of flour still on the bottom of the bowl). But, today I made these for Father’s Day brunch (slathered in vegan gravy)! I added a SPLASH of almond milk, and they turned out PERFECT!!! My husband didn’t know I swapped those recipe for my “old usual” biscuit recipe and said, “These are the best your biscuits have turned out!” I let him in on the secret and he said DON’T LOSE THAT RECIPE!!! Hahahaha!!!!🎉🎉🎉
I’m so glad y’all loved them, yay! As far as the first time you had trouble, that’s odd you had extra flour as the batter is quite moist and sticky like in the photos. Did you weigh the ingredients? Because measuring with cups can really alter the result. Thanks Kelley!
These were amazing! My family loved them.
So awesome to hear that, thank you Christine!
Holy heavens Brandi! These are so delicious and amazing! So easy to make and they came out perfectly light, airy and moist
Thank you 🙂
Yay, so very happy to hear that Megan, thanks for making them!
These are great 🙂 Hopefully what I write here will be helpful with flour substitution questions; I’ve tried them 3 ways. The five stars are for the way the recipe is written, no changes to the recipe card.
Since I knew the texture I was looking for in the dough after making the original recipe, I tried two other batches. In one batch I used only white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour, and in the other batch I used half white whole wheat flour/half spelt flour.
The batch with white whole wheat flour only needed more liquid – I added about 50g (a little over 3 Tbsp) more lite coconut milk. They turned out great, but as Brandi predicted they are drier than the original recipe.
So with that in mind, the third batch (half white whole wheat flour and half spelt flour), I initially used less flour (90g each flour), trying not to dry it out. The dough was too sticky, so I wound up adding about 35g more spelt flour. I got 6 biscuits out of the dough and they also turned out great – just drier than the original. These were definitely the most crumbly – meaning there were scraps of dry dough left in the bowl.
For anyone looking for a GF biscuit, there’s one in the Blissful Basil cookbook that uses oat and almond flours. It does call for a small amount of olive oil, but I’ve tried them without the olive oil using Brandi’s tips in her post about oil-free baking, and they come out really well.
Hope this is helpful!
Thank you so much Laura for sharing all of this, you are so kind! So glad you loved these!
Excellent! It looks delicious!
Just wondering if you’ve mastered that GF version? 🙂
Not yet!
Perfect .
So glad you enjoyed these!
I made these biscuits this morning using my scale and they turned out pretty good. After mixing the liquids into the flour mixture, the dough was very dry and hard to bind together and hold to cut out. I had to press firmly to be able to cut the biscuits but, my husband loved them and I’ll try them again.
Glad you enjoyed them! That doesn’t sound right about your dough being dry. It should be moist and easy to work with like in the photos. Did you use cold milk or sub an ingredient? Hit zero before each addition? Live in high altitude or in cold weather? Add too much flour when rolling? All these things can affect dough.
Hi Brandi! Thank you for all your recipes. This one sounds so good! I was wondering if I could convert it to a maple cinnamon biscuit somehow. If I increased the maple syrup a bit (2 TBSP) and added coconut sugar (1/4 cup?) and cinnamon, do you think it would work?
Hi Sharon! If you add more syrup, it’ll make the dough too wet so then you’d need a bit more flour to compensate which may throw off the result by just guessing! It’d be better to just stick with dry sugar.