Vegan Cheddar & Chives Flaky Biscuits
Servings 8
Equipment
- Spatulas
- measuring cups and/or food scale
- measuring spoons
- food processor or pastry blender
- Mixing bowl
- baking tray
- parchment paper or silicone mat
- sharp knife or bench scraper
- dough roller
- biscuit cutter (optional)
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1½ block (165g or 12 tbsp) vegan butter frozen or really cold
- 2 cups (275g) unbleached all purpose flour spoon & leveled
- 2 tsp (7g) baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 3 tbsp (40g) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp (3g) kosher salt or sea salt
- ¾ cup (115g) vegan shredded cheddar cheese or any vegan cheese of choice
- ½ cup (30g) fresh chives cut into small pieces
- ½ cup (4 fl oz.) unsweetened plain plant milk cold
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
FOR THE MAPLE BUTTER GLAZE
- 2 tbsp melted vegan butter
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
FOR THE DOUGH PREPARATION
- Cut butter into small cubes or pieces. Place in the freezer overnight or at least thirty minutes before baking to keep the butter cold.
- Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl such as the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. Prepare food processor or pastry blender.
- Add the cold butter into the dry ingredients and pulse in a food processor / or break apart with a pastry blender. Butter should break into pea-sized pieces and crumble in the flour. It should resemble a sandy texture. Pulse or pastry blend until butter & flour are all are well combined. Try to work fast as you don't want your butter to melt or soften. If any time you feel your butter softening, stick into the freezer for 15 minutes before handling again.
- Transfer dough mixture back to mixing bowl (if you used a food processor). Add the rest of the dry ingredients such as the cheese and chives. Mix until well combined.
- Using a small sauce bowl/mixing bowl, whisk together plant milk and apple cider vinegar. Pour liquid ingredients gradually to the dry and start folding ingredients together until it forms a shaggy dough.Pro-tip: keep both milk and apple cider vinegar in the fridge before ready for use to help keep the dough cold.
- Do not overwork the dough, just enough until most dry flour spots are hydrated. Dough might fall apart and look crumbly which is normal. Try not to over mix or use hands as it may soften the butter.
SHAPING THE DOUGH
- You will need to work fast to make sure that the butter is still cold and not melting. Again, if you feel your dough softening up and butter is melting, stick it back into the freezer before proceeding. On a clean, smooth work surface. Dust evenly with flour. Place the shaggy dough on the work surface and try your best to form into a rectangle together. Form until it is 1" thick. Again, dough might look dry or fall apart.
- Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Evenly stack on one another and press down and roll until it is a 1" thick rectangle. This process is called laminating, which will give the flaky layers in a biscuit.
- Repeat the process but this time, divide the dough into two pieces and stack. Press and roll into a 1" thick rectangle.
- Clean out the edges using a bench scraper to make it as even as possible.
- Cut into squares. Roughly 2" x 3" squares or your desired size. Place back into the freezer as you wait to preheat your oven. It does not have to be too perfect or precise in size. You can also use a biscuit cutter, however, it will leave you with excess dough to work with and reworking the dough will not yield the same results.
BAKING
- Preheat oven to 425°F for 30 minutes.
- As you wait for the oven to preheat, be sure that your biscuit dough is in the freezer for the butter to set. Prepare the maple butter glaze by melting vegan butter in the microwave. Then add in maple syrup. Whisk thoroughly until well combined.
- Once you are ready to bake, remove the biscuit dough out of the freezer and brush with maple butter glaze ON THE TOP only. Do not brush the sides as it may weigh down the biscuit layers. Gently brush and do not press (or weigh down) the dough at this point.
- Drop the oven temperature to 400°F. And place biscuit into the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes or until the top and bottom exterior are golden brown and crisp.
- Remove from oven and brush with a little more of the melted butter and maple glaze.
- Best served when eaten fresh and warm.
Notes
- Keep your ingredients and dough as cold as possible. Softened or melted butter will compromise the texture and will not give flaky results. Flaky pastries REQUIRE a cold dough and even COLDER butter. If you work in a warmer environment, freeze your butter overnight before baking the next day or at least for one hour. Make sure liquid ingredients are chilled in the fridge before mixing it with the ingredients. You may also stick your mixing bowls / baking utensils in the fridge or freezer 30 minutes before baking but that is not necessary unless your kitchen is very hot/warm.
- Use Earth Balance vegan butter. Not sponsored. But I do find that Earth Balance vegan butter works well with pastries. Vegan butter melts faster than regular dairy butter. But of all the vegan butter I've tested, Earth Balance held its form without melting or softening fast compared to Country Crock. So if you are new to making flaky pastries, use Earth Balance first.
- Work fast and try to avoid overworking the dough with your hands. The warmth of your hands will soften the butter. So work as fast as you can. Ideally, using a food processor will make life so much easier. Secondary, a pastry blender. Fork or potato masher will also work.
- Biscuits need acidity for a light, flaky texture. By combining plant milk with apple cider vinegar, it will create vegan buttermilk. I do not recommend other substitutes for apple cider vinegar for this recipe.
- Any vegan cheese will do. Cheddar works best for the sharp contrast in flavors. Shredded vegan cheese will work just fine but you can also use vegan cheese slices and cut them into small chunky pieces. Whichever you prefer.