✔ Updated · 5 ingredients + cheddar garlic variation
My Carbquik biscuits are flaky, buttery low-carb biscuits made with Carbquik baking mix in place of regular flour. I was honestly surprised how close they come to a classic biscuit.
At a glance
The one tip that matters: Keep the butter and cream very cold and stop mixing as soon as the dough holds together. The cold butter bits turn to steam in the hot oven and make the flaky layers.
Cut cold butter into the mix, stir in cold cream (or part buttermilk for extra tang), pat, cut and bake at 450°F for about 12 minutes. You get 8 tall, golden biscuits with roughly 2 grams of net carbs each, ready in just over 20 minutes. Step photos and a cheddar garlic variation are below.
Why You'll Love These Carbquik Biscuits
- Low-carb but still flaky, with tender, buttery layers like a classic biscuit.
- Five ingredients, most of which are already in your fridge.
- Ready in about 22 minutes, so they work for a weeknight dinner or a lazy breakfast.
What Is Carbquik?
Carbquik is a low-carb baking mix used much like an all-purpose biscuit mix. It's made mainly from Carbalose, a wheat-based flour with most of the non-fiber carbohydrates removed, and it already contains leavening, so you need very little extra baking powder. Because it's wheat-based, it contains gluten.
It behaves a little differently from regular flour: it absorbs liquid more slowly and the dough is softer. Add the liquid gradually and stop as soon as the dough comes together.
Carbquik Biscuit Variations
- Cheddar garlic: stir 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder into the mix before the cream. Brush the hot biscuits with melted butter mixed with a pinch of garlic powder and parsley.
- Herb: add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, rosemary or dill.
- Breakfast sandwich: split and fill with a fried egg, cheese and sausage.
- Sweet: add 1 tablespoon granulated sweetener and serve with berries and whipped cream as a quick shortcake.
Step-by-Step Photos
Here's how it comes together. Exact amounts, times and temperatures are in the recipe card below.
Tips for Success
- Freeze the butter for 10 minutes. Very cold butter makes flakier biscuits, so I keep a stick in the freezer just for this. Work quickly, or use a pastry blender instead of your fingertips, so it doesn't melt.
- Add the cream gradually. Start with 1/2 cup and add more only if dry bits remain. Carbquik absorbs liquid differently from flour, and too much makes the biscuits spread. I poured it all in at once the first time, and that batch spread like pancakes.
- Don't overwork the dough. Stir just until it comes together. A few lumps are fine, and overmixing makes them tough.
- Cut straight down. Twisting the cutter seals the edges and stops the biscuits rising evenly. Dip the cutter in a little mix between cuts.
- Bake hot and close together. A 450°F oven gives a quick rise, and biscuits that almost touch support each other and bake up taller.
Carbquik Buttermilk Biscuits
8
biscuits10
minutes12
minutes190
kcal15
minutesFlaky low-carb biscuits made with Carbquik baking mix in place of flour: cold butter cut into the mix, bound with heavy cream (or part buttermilk for extra tang), patted out, cut and baked hot at 450°F until golden. Makes 8 biscuits.
Dry Ingredients
2 cups Carbquik baking mix
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional, for extra rise)
1 teaspoon sugar or granulated sweetener (optional)
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 to 2/3 cup cold heavy cream (or half cream, half buttermilk)
1 tablespoon melted butter, for brushing
Directions
- Heat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk the Carbquik with the baking powder and sweetener, if using.
- Add the cold butter cubes and cut them in with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-size bits of butter left.
- Pour in 1/2 cup of the cold cream and stir with a fork just until a soft, shaggy dough forms. Add more cream a tablespoon at a time only if dry bits remain. Don’t overmix.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly dusted surface and pat it about 3/4 inch thick. Fold it in half and pat it out again once for flakier layers.
- Cut 8 biscuits with a floured 2 1/2-inch cutter, pressing straight down without twisting, and gather the scraps to cut the last ones. Place them on the baking sheet, almost touching, for a softer rise.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until risen and golden brown on top. Brush with melted butter and serve warm.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Do not overwork the dough
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many carbs are in a Carbquik biscuit?
Each of these 8 biscuits has roughly 2 grams of net carbs, mostly from the Carbquik itself, plus a little from the cream. The exact number depends on how much cream you use and whether you add sugar or buttermilk, so check the label on your mix.
Are Carbquik biscuits keto and gluten-free?
They are low in net carbs, so many people on low-carb or keto diets enjoy them. They are not gluten-free, though: Carbquik is made from a wheat-based flour, so it is not suitable for anyone with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity.
Can I use water instead of heavy cream?
Yes. The package directions use water, and it works. Heavy cream makes richer, more tender biscuits with almost no extra carbs. For a tangier buttermilk flavor, replace a few tablespoons of the cream with buttermilk.
Can I make drop biscuits instead?
Yes. Add an extra 2 to 3 tablespoons of cream so the dough is a little softer, then scoop 8 mounds onto the baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They are rougher looking but just as tender.
How do I store Carbquik biscuits?
Keep cooled biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freeze baked biscuits or unbaked cut biscuits for up to 1 month; bake unbaked ones from frozen, adding 2 to 3 minutes.
In the written article you list the amount of Carbquik as 2 cups. But in that picture and ingredients list you state 2 Tablespoons of Carbquik. Which is it? And about how many biscuits does this recipe make?
Hi Sierra,
Apologies, the image is incorrect! I need to update it. You should use 2 cups and this will yield 8 delicious biscuits. Enjoy! 🙂
two tablespoon? That sounds awfully small amount. Are you sure?
Apologies, the image is incorrect! I need to update it. Please use 2 cups for this recipe and follow the ingredient card.
I used almond milk instead of the heavy cream. They came out just fine.
Omg!
Delicious and so easy.
I just cut mine into squares to avoid reworking the dough using a biscuit cutter.
Almost perfect. I had to add a little extra heavy cream to get the dough to stick together, but mostly I wish I didn’t follow the ingredients from the picture because it listed 1 tsp salt that’s not listed in the recipe. The biscuits were too salty for me. Next time I won’t add any salt and I think these biscuits will be perfect.
I made the biscuits and they were awesome. I have tried biscuits with almond flour and they had a bitter aftertaste. Your recipe with CarbQuik was wonderful. Thank you.
Garett Backman
I need to work on my biscuit technique as mine were extremely crumbly. But I don’t have a food processor so I had to hand mix.
Made these biscuits using food processor an pulsing mixture. No salt an alittle more heavy cream. These turned out perfect thank u for recipe.
Add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to this recipe and the texture will be much better. Also, I’ve tried adding the butter by cutting it into the dough and also melted the butter and added to the mixture…. neither worked any better than the other. With the baking powder, these will rise very well but they will deflate somewhat as they cool down. The CarbQuik also makes a great sausage gravy…
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I am new to Carbquick but not new to low carb. I have tried so many recipes for bread and biscuits but they never taste even close to the real thing. These are amazing!!
While these are the best KETO biscuits I’ve tried, They do fall short of a real biscuit. It’s the aftertaste of the Carbquik. I did this recipe twice. Once as listed, and once using a little zanthun gum for a better texture.. Both about the same. I did grate my frozen butter into the dry ingredients like I do normal biscuits, cut and stack the dough so as not to overwork it and for flakiness, and I did add a little more milk on the second try (about 2/3 cup) so the dough was not as dry.. The biscuit’s are still not very flaky and leave a powdery sensation in your mouth from the Carbquik.. HOWEVER, I cut my square biscuit in half, tossed an over easy fried egg on one side, and sausage gravy on the other.. It was the best KETO bread product I have had to date..
I tweaked the recipe to get a more tender crumb, more flavor. 1 cup Carbquik, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 tsp baking powder , 1 tsp keto sweetener and 4 tbsp melted butter. I’ve been diabetic for 5 years now and I use to miss a great biscuit. This was as close as I could get! ☺️
Thanks so much for sharing your version, Sylvia! Sour cream and melted butter are a smart way to get a tender, flavorful crumb, and I’m so glad you’ve found a biscuit that works for you.