Last week, I set on a mission to create a quick and easy biscuit recipe free from shortening, butter, or lard. In terms of easy biscuit recipes, I knew a drop biscuit would fit the bill. When I’m making a meal around the holidays the last thing I want to add to my list is rolling dough in an already chaotic kitchen. That’s why drop biscuits are a time-crunched cook’s best friend!
You just mix, drop, and bake. No rolling pin required.
As for replacing the shortening/butter, I had a theory that chilled coconut oil could do the trick. My only concern was how it would impact the flavour (I’ll give you my thoughts on this below).
I spread coconut oil onto a parchment-lined pan and then stuck it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes:
After freezing, the coconut oil is hard as a rock and ready to be cut into the dry ingredients:
Cut in the coconut oil until it’s the size of peas.
Add the (freezer chilled) almond milk and stir until just combined. Fold in the fresh herbs and vegan shredded cheese.
Now for the best part – simply drop 8-10 spoonfuls of dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Easy! Bake for 18-20 minutes at 425F until golden and crispy. The outer shell and bottoms get so nicely crisp, crunchy, and golden while the interior stays soft and “buttery”. Serve with vegan gravy, cranberry sauce, and/or a pat of vegan butter.
Herb and Cheese Drop Biscuits
Yield
8-10 biscuits
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Vegan herb & cheese biscuits free from butter, shortening or lard. This recipe was adapted from All Recipes - John Pickett.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup (130g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 tbsp natural cane sugar
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced
- 5.5 tbsp coconut oil, frozen
- 1 cup unsweetened and unflavoured almond milk
- 1/4-1/3 cup vegan shredded cheese (I used Daiya), optional
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- 2. Line a small plate with parchment paper and spread on the coconut oil into a layer about 1/2-inch wide. Place in the freezer until solid, for about 5-10 minutes. Place the cup of milk in the freezer to chill as well.
- Meanwhile, whisk the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, and garlic powder together in a large bowl.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut the frozen coconut oil into the dry ingredients until it’s the size of small peas. Make sure not to leave any large chunks.
- Pour chilled almond milk over the dry ingredients + coconut oil mixture and stir until just combined. If your scoops of flour were heavy-handed you may need to add a tablespoon or two more milk. Fold in the herbs and shredded cheeze.
- Drop about 8-10 biscuits all over the baking sheet, leaving 2-3 inches between each biscuit. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, and then bake for an additional 8-10 minutes longer watching closely. Biscuits are ready when golden. Serve warm.
Tip:
I do not recommend making these ahead of time. When stored in a container, they will lose their crisp exterior.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Substitution Questions
Do the biscuits taste too much like coconut? My taste buds told me no. While there is a hint of coconut, it’s not overpowering; if anything, it adds a very light sweetness to the biscuits. Considering we ate our weight in biscuits last week, I’d say they went over quite well.
Can I make these without the vegan cheese? Yes you most certainly can!
Can I omit the sugar? I compared trials with and without the sugar and the sugar was by far the best-tasting version. I don’t recommend leaving it out – they taste a bit flat without it.
Can I use different herbs? What about dry herbs? Feel free to play around with the herbs and mix-ins! I used a few different combos in my trials and they were all quite good. While I always prefer the flavour of fresh herbs, you can use dried if you wish. I would probably use half the amount of rosemary and thyme (1/2 tsp each).
Can I sub different flours? I made a trial using only whole wheat pastry flour and I wasn’t as happy with the flavour and texture, which is why I stuck with 1 cup unbleached AP flour and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. If anyone tries this recipe using all-purpose gluten-free flour (or other flours), please let us know how it turns out in the comments!
Oh and whatever you do, serve them warm. :)
These are amazing. I actually had all the ingredients, so made them yesterday morning. We enjoyed them as breakfast with coffee. And then with a warm celery root lentil salad for dinner. And now again, today, with roasted red pepper & tomato soup for lunch.
Thank you! These will be made again. And again.
Aw I’m so happy to hear that! I love them at breakfast too – had some yesterday. enjoy!
Can the dough be made a day ahead? Or would it be better to bake ahead and then reheat the day of?
You could prepare the dry ingredients ahead but I wouldnt suggest mixing it up and baking it until just before the meal.
OMG!!! I made these yesterday along with your Lentil Loaf. Both were freaking amazing!!! Gonna make both recipes again for Thanksgiving.
Ha-I like how you already addressed the typical recipe alteration questions.
Your giraffe-like coffee mug in the background-where’d you get it?
It’s from Homesense :)
Oh my goodness, these look AMAZING! May have to give them a try for Thanksgiving!
These look fantastic, Angela! I’ve been curious about substituting coconut oil for butter in savory baked goods and I’m glad to know it works well for you.
I made these last night and accidentally grabbed the baking soda instead of the powder! Total fail, lol. I was tryin to figure out why they tasted so bitter and that’s when I opened the pantry and realized my mistake. First time for everything! I also made the double chocolate torte for dessert and it was SO yummy! No one was able to guess the mousse was made with avocado! Love your recipes :)
Aw bummer! Ive done that before! Better luck next time.
So glad you enjoyed the torte!
I tried these yesterday and really enjoyed them! I can’t taste any coconut in them even when using the virgin stuff that smells very coconutty (just fyi to those concerned about this). Mine came out a bit dry… reminded me of KFC’s biscuits that I ate years ago, texture-wise. I probably should have added more milk. Now I know. Either way, I never minded the texture of KFC’s biscuits, despite my intense dislike of the fast food industry these days. What I love most about these biscuits besides the delicious herb usage, the perfectly salty, buttery taste… it’s all healthy! LOVE this. :-) Angela, you rock! I’m counting on you for this holiday season. <3
My goodness! These look delish. I make a similar biscuit using half all-purpose flour, and half brown rice flour. I also enjoy using the coconut oil as the fat in the biscuit … it gives a great flavor. My secret weapon is making a vegan “buttermilk” by adding 1 tsp. of apple cider vinegar to the soy milk. Also, since I’m only allergic to cow’s milk, I like putting 2 T. of plain goat milk yogurt into the mix … the flavor is incredible!!!
Made these this morning with spelt flour and nutritional yeast instead of daiya. Turned out perfectly!
I made these with a homemade gluten free flour mix (in place of the flours) and added 1/3 c of nutritional yeast instead of the Diaya Cheese. There were FANTASTIC!! There were deliciously aromatic, crunchy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. Here is the recipe for the homemade gluten free flour mix that I used. 2 c sorghum flour, 1.5 c potato starch, 2 c of brown rice flour, 1 c of sweet white rice flour, .5 c of tapioca flour, .5 c amaranth flour, .5 c quinoa flour.
Awesome! Thank you so much for letting us all know. :)
I bought Coconut butter today, organic at that. Can I use the Coconut butter? Thanks in advance…
Hey there, Im sorry Im not sure! Let me know if you try it out.
I have Earth Balance coconut butter and have used it for other stuff. I’m sure it would work out great in this recipe! I wouldn’t freeze it for more than 2-3 minutes though.
Thanks Kayti, and Angela…
I will let you know how they turn out. Having Chronic Kidney Disease I have to use a salt free whole wheat flour, and it’s rather heavy, so I’m hoping the ‘scones’ will turn out, sorry they look like what we call scones here in Australia…also we cannot get Daiya cheese in Australia, so I guess I’ll have to comprise there too!
PS: To you Angela, and all your foodie followers, I wish you all a safe and “Merry Christmas, and may the New Year bring you much love and happiness throughout!”
Hello Angela! I made these for Thanksgiving (where omnivores were present) and everyone loved them!!!! They were such a hit! I made them exactly as you wrote the recipe. Thanks so much! You are amazing… as usual :)
Aw im so happy to hear that Cristina!
I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a big hit! The coconut oil is a perfect sub for shortening/butter; they tasted exactly like biscuits should.
I want to try these again… I didn’t have any fresh herbs on hand, so I used dried, but I think they were kind of old so they didn’t have the best herb-y flavor (my bad). Also I think I added a tad too much milk. My fiance scarfed them up anyway!
I used regular whole wheat flour and white whole wheat flour. Next time I think I’ll use bread flour instead of the white ww flour, but damn are these tasty!
LOVED these biscuits. I made them without the Diaya (put too much Diaya on a pizza once and haven’t eaten it since), but they were incredible. Even my omnivore family loved them. And when they’re baking the smell so good! I cannot stop raving about them!
hi we don’t seem to have any decent vegan cheeses here in the UK do you think I could sub the dairya cheese and use cashew cheese instead?
Hi Sam, It would probably change texture since it’s liquid-y so I really dont know how it would turn out. Let me know if you try it!
ok I will give it a go at one point at let you know how it turns out, thanks. Ps the recipe looks great and I made some today for the family and they loved them. :)
I made these with Bob’s GF AP flour and organic spelt flour and they were very yummy :) They may have not risen quite as much but were still delightfully crispy!
I decided to make these with whatever I had on hand, so I substituted whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour, coconut sugar for the cane sugar, and unsweetened coconut milk for the almond milk and I really liked them!! Very easy great recipe :)
Do you think these would work with oat flour? Or a combo of oat and buckwheat flour? I sure hope so. I would love to make these to accompany the walnut lentil loaf for Xmas.
Thank you beautiful! I’m glad to have found your site at the start of my year. Cooking 6 days a week leaves me always wanting new ideas and your site perfectly fits the bill. Tonight we are having the herb biscuits with the sweet potato black bean soup. May you continue to prosper in 2013.
Just made these and they are wonderful!! I used refined coconut oil, so they didn’t taste like coconut at all- is that what you used, too? I also cheated and did the flour/coconut oil mixing in the food processor. Thanks for the great recipe!
I made these for my friends today and was going to bring it to their house, however my parents were curious and they are new to the whole vegan idea (complete carnivores). They wanted to try a bite after their meal but couldn’t stop! XD I should have doubled the recipe if I knew they were going to devour the whole thing. These were delicious by the way (: Thank you Angela!
I just made these and they were so delicious!
Angela – just made these gems for the hundreth time. This time to go with a lovely fall soup. As always, they were delicious! Thanks for providing so many healthy staples in my recipe repertoire!!
Just curious — What is that tool you used to cut the frozen coconut oil into the flour?
Hi Lexi, I think it’s called a pastry cutter?
Ok I’ll have to look for that. Thanks! These look amaaazing by the way. Can’t wait to make them! :)
These are so amazing. So much so, I had a dream about them. I wish I were kidding. What a great, easy biscuit recipe. And the daiya cheese was such a treat! Everyone at our table loved them and fought over the leftovers. Thank you!!
This is a big deal. I have to tell you about it.
My boyfriend holds disdain for 85% of the food I cook. He’s one of those weirdos who think that if it doesn’t include butter and/or bacon fat, then you’re doing it wrong. Tonight, after two years of hearing him say, “well, it could have been better if…” he said he was really impressed with these biscuits. HE ATE FOUR OF THEM!!!!!! This is huge. This is red-letter. He said he didn’t miss the butter.
I love you for bringing these biscuits into our lives. I will be baking them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day, from now on.
Side note: I used 1.5 C AP bleached flour, and .5 C bread baking flour. Also dried herbs.
I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks for your feedback :)
These turned out amazing!! I’m loving the fact that I can substitute frozen coconut oil for butter in scones now thanks to your brilliant idea! I loved making scones in the past but always felt guilty eating them when I saw how much butter had to be cut up into them. The coconut oil worked perfectly and they tasted delicious!
Hi
This recipe looks amazing! I was wondering if you’ve tried it as a gluten free recipe and if so, what ingredients did you use and how did it turn out?
Many thanks :)
Alison
I just made these biscuits with a white rice based GF flour blend and they turned out well. My family enjoyed them. Love your site! Thank you!
Thank you for the recipe! It is great to heave a healthier fat in it. The coconut oil I have is virgin, unrefined with a smoke point of 350F. So I will try this recipe using the refined variety that is lower in nutrients, but wont get damaged at 425F since it’s smoke point is 450F. Thanks again, love your recipes and your book.
I’ve just tried out this recipe in a gluten free version by subbing all the flour for Bobs Red Mill GF all purpose flour. I also added about a tsp of xanthan gum because I’ve been on the failing side of gf baking before. Needless to say, these came out incredibly soft on the inside, crisp on the outside with bits of melty “cheese.” Perfection! My only complaint is that I don’t think they’ll make it to my Thanksgiving table, especially since I’m home alone right now. Thanks Angela for yet another great recipe!
hi, These biscuits soumd so tasty!
i was wondering what the Han tool you used to stir the Ingredients together is called.thank you
I made these last night to go with the warm winter salad. Delicious and easy! Everyone was raving!
These were perfect! I needed something quick to go with your 15 minute alfredo recipe and these were the best. Thanks so much. My family loves your recipes.
Note: I made this with these changes and came out GREAT!!!
Instead of white and whole wheat flour =2 cups of all purpose flour (gluten free, #209, from Bulk Barn, the one that does not have Xantam gum)
Instead of cane sugar, coconut sugar
Rosemary and thyme dry instead of fresh
Home made rice milk instead of almond milk
Instead of vegan cheese nutritional yeast
I added one tablespoon of chia seeds to the rice milk and mix well before putting it in the freezer
Everything else the same
Thanks for the great recipe, I finally had biscuits after years of hoping for a vegan gluten free recipe
Thanks so much for sharing the info, Maria! I’m glad you liked the recipe!!
Any suggestions on how you would alter this for baking at altitude? 9,500 feet
I am a lone vegan in a family full of meat eaters, so I would like to make a few of my own dishes for thanksgiving to contribute. Finding great ideas on your blog :)
Tried this recipe out tonight to compliment a root veggie stew I made for dinner! I didn’t have shredded daiya on hand so I subbed about 2 tablespoons of vegan Parmesan cheese instead! Turned out very yummy!! Excellent biscuits! Although I have yet to be disappointed with your recipes. I frequent your blog so often that I only have to type the letter ‘o’ in the browser… ?