Crisp, light, and tasty biscuits, without the milk. This no milk biscuits recipe is an absolute cinch to make. You can whip up a batch from start to finish in under an hour making them the perfect snack, even if you haven’t had time to stop at the store to get milk. They are ideal if you are trying to go dairy-free too!
How to Make No Milk Biscuits
There are a few key steps to ensuring success with this recipe, but you shouldn’t need too much in the way of fancy equipment. A bowl, a cookie-cutter, and an oven tray should be enough equipment.
The no milk biscuits recipe makes the biscuits relatively light and flaky, provided that you don’t overwork your dough. The recipe relies heavily on shortening, but if this melts you’ll find that your no milk biscuits come out quite heavy and dense. The best advice we can offer is to keep all of your ingredients cold and avoid using your hands too much.
We can make these biscuits either savory or sweet. To make them sweet, sift a couple of tablespoons of sugar into the flour. If you want to make savory biscuits, why not add your favorite herbs or spices? A couple of teaspoons of dried garlic powder or onion powder added with the flour gives these biscuits a delicious taste. Alternatively consider adding a handful of grated cheese into the mixture.
Our homemade no milk biscuits recipe relies on baking powder to get a nice rise on the biscuits. Make sure that you use baking powder, not baking soda. Baking soda relies on an acidic element to activate it, and due to there being no milk in this recipe, it won’t work!
Tips and Tricks
- This recipe is milk-free; this includes butter which is occasionally used for shortening. Both vegetable oil or vegetable shortening works well. If you need a handy alternative, solid coconut oil makes for a great shortening.
- We’ve already said that you can make these no milk biscuits in sweet or savory form. One nice topping is cream whipped with sugar and strawberry jelly. Alternatively, for the savory biscuits, we love to top them with cream cheese and smoked salmon slices.
- Make sure that you sift the flour. You want as much air in the mixture as possible. Clumpy flour will mean that you have to work the dough, even more, increasing the risk of the biscuits ending up heavy.
- You don’t want to use soft or melted shortening. The more bubbles of shortening you can create, the fluffier your no milk biscuits will be. Leave the shortening in the refrigerator until it is time to use it.
- Another way to keep your dough mixture nice and cold is to use really cold water. If you have time, put a jug of water in the refrigerator or add handfuls of ice cubes before using. This should help to stop your shortening from becoming too soft.
- If you don’t have baking powder, don’t worry, you can use self-rising flour in place of regular white flour. Self-rising flour already has baking powder included, so don’t add any more, otherwise, you will end up with metallic tasting biscuits.
- Once the biscuits are cooked, make sure you let them rest for at least 15 minutes on a wire rack. If you leave them in situ on the tray, you may find that they steam and turn a little soft, nobody wants a soft and soggy biscuit!
- You can get a lovely brown glaze on your biscuits by giving them a brush with a beaten egg. If you are vegan or vegetarian you can achieve the same effect by melting a little vegan butter and brushing it onto the biscuits before baking.
How to Store Your Biscuits
These biscuits will keep for around 2 days in an airtight container. Alternatively, if you keep them in the refrigerator, they should last around 4 days. You can freeze the biscuits too. Wrap them individually after they have been cooked. When it comes time to eat them, just place them uncovered on a wire rack in the oven for 15 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Conclusion
There are a whole host of reasons why you may want to make a no milk biscuit recipe. For vegans and those with intolerances, we have given lots of ideas to achieve perfect results. These biscuits are really versatile, if you can’t decide between savory or sweet, just make the standard recipe and use your topping to decide on the direction that you want them to take. What’s your favorite biscuit topping? Let us know in the comments.