Mile-high, flaky and extra tender, we’re talking gluten free and keto biscuits! Whip up a batch and freeze away for a rainy day (i.e. a meal prepping ideal!). Looking for a simpler version?! Check out the 30-minute drop biscuits!
Gluten Free & Keto Biscuits
Mile-High ‘N Suuuper Flaky!
These grain free keto biscuits are one of those recipes which makes you go ‘how is this low carb?!’. They’re so good in fact, that I’ve been making batch after batch with the excuse of perfecting them further. Though in all honesty, they were already good-to-go three batches ago!
They are a bit denser than regular biscuits though, more ‘whole-wheat’ per se. Though still beautifully flakey and tender. Think a true match made in heaven with our very-berry chia jam!
The best thing? You can make a batch, freeze them, and bake straight from the freezer as needed! And yes, they also freeze great baked so whatever works for you.
And the next best thing? These are veeery filling. As in I’ll award you guys a medal if you manage to eat more than two, and we’re already talking food coma territory here!
A final note! Because of the layers and the folding, these guys do require a little bit of baking skill (think puff pastry or croissants… but easier!). So an easier alternative are our (30 minute!) keto drop biscuits. Same deal, just more tender and less flaky (see picture below!).
The Deets
If you’ve ever made flaky biscuits before, you’re off to a great start as these low carb counterparts are close in method to the traditional version. Though perhaps a bit more of a cross between a biscuit and rough puff pastry.
You see, you’ll be sprinkling frozen grated butter while folding the layers of dough to get an extra rise. Because ahem… let’s face it, grain free flours always need a little extra help! Though these guys do get quite a decent rise: if you cut them 1-inch tall expect them to grow roughly 3/4 inch (that’s a 75% growth guys!).
Otherwise very similar rules to biscuit making apply:
- Work quickly and in a cool place as you don’t want the butter to melt. If it gets too sticky, pop it in the freezer for 10-15 mins.
- The first biscuits you cut will always be the best and flakiest. In fact, many top bakeries will throw away the scraps after said first cut. But since we’re working with precious grain free ingredients, we’re having none of that. You’ll fold the dough again and keep cutting. Just keep in mind that the first six (out of nine) will be the best, see pics for reference.
- Use a sharp cutter and cut straight down, without any twisting motion. This will ensure clean layers.
- if you don’t want to worry about 2 or 3, simply cut them as squares straight down with a sharp knife. I generally do that when there’s no need for ‘biscuit perfect’ photos. Seriously, cut them as squares unless you’re crazy set about the shape.
- Weigh your ingredients. This will forever be a staple recommendation for any sort of gluten free baking here at gnom-gnom. As aside from leading to less dirty dishes, it will ensure consistent results time and time again. Remember that gluten free (and particularly keto) baking is notoriously finicky, and measuring by cups is anything but accurate. And if you don’t own a baking scale, measure with cups by dropping the ingredients onto them rather than scooping them out (which often leads to overpacking).
The Main Ingredients
Almond flour. You truly need a super finely ground almond flour here, as if you use meal your biscuits will turn out dense and oily. Super fine almond flour brands include Anthony’s (my favorite), WellBees and Bob’s.
Flaxseed meal. You’ll want to use golden flaxseed meal (I use Bob’s), and regrind the flakes in your (very dry!) bullet or blender until finely powdered. Great way to avoid slimy breads.
Coconut flour. I always favor Anthony’s (best taste and texture!), but Bob’s works great too.
Whey protein isolate. This one is an absolute must, as it will ensure your biscuits don’t collapse post-bake. Keep in mind that this ingredient varies tremendously from brand to brand, and we’ve only tried (and are super happy!) with Isopure’s Zero Carb Unflavored.
Xanthan gum. Borrowed from molecular cooking, xanthan gum is the binding agent which makes your toothpaste jelly-like (and your cream cheese, well cream cheese-like). And it’s also the most common gluten-replacer in gluten free baking. And while we do prefer the results with it, you can sub it with twice the amount of flaxseed meal (so 4tsp)- not a huge deal here.
Gluten Free & Keto Biscuits
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
Ingredients
- 168 g organic grass-fed butter
- 2 eggs
- 230 g sour cream
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 192 g almond flour
- 125 g golden flaxseed meal finely ground
- 42 g coconut flour
- 30 g whey protein isolate
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt *
Instructions
- Place the butter in the freezer for 1 hour before starting. Grate it, and return to the freezer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Add eggs, sour cream, water and apple cider vinegar to a medium bowl and whisk for a minute or two until fully mixed. Set aside.
- Add almond flour, flaxseed meal, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, xanthan gum and kosher salt to a large bowl and whisk until very thoroughly combined and no lumps are visible.
- Add in half the grated butter to the flour mix (84g/6TBS). Distribute it quickly with your hands, rubbing it against the flour briefly with your fingertips. Since it's already grated, you won't need to 'break it into' the flours. Pour in the egg and cream mixture, mixing with a spatula until just incorporated. The dough will be very shaggy. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450°F/230°C (do 500°F/260°C if using a convection oven) . Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- Lightly flour your work surface with coconut flour and turn out the rested dough. Pat it down with your hands into a rectangular shape (roughly 14-by-10-inches). Sprinkle 1/6th of the remaining butter in the center, and fold in one of the edges over it. Sprinkle another 1/6th of the butter over the just-folded edge and fold in the remaining side (think like folding a letter!). Use a knife to help lift the dough if it's sticking to the surface (you want to make sure to not add too much flour). Turn the dough anti-clockwise and pat it down into a rectangle once again. Repeat the process two more times and pat the dough down until 1-inch in height. You could also do 1/2-inch height and yield 18 biscuits.
- Using a 2 1/2-inch round pastry cutter, score the dough to make sure you can get 6 pieces. Cut straight down (no twisting!), and place the biscuit rounds onto the prepared tray. Gather the scraps, do another fold, and cut once again. Alternatively, simply cut into 9 squares straight down with a sharp knife (recommended). Pop the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes prior to baking. You can freeze the biscuits for 1-2 months at this point, and bake straight from the freezer as needed.
- Brush with melted butter and bake for 15-20 minutes until deep golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. These guys keep well, stored in an airtight container at room temperature, for 3-4 days.
Tastes great but did not rise so definitely not ‘mile high’!
I am at 6,200 feet. High altitudes are hard get right when baking anything including keto. How would you change your recipe for those of us that are at high altitudes?
I baked these 7,300 ft Sherrie!
My bus hits didn’t rise. What did I do wrong?
These were definitely mile high. Very delicious.
Hi!
I am from Holland and just wanted to let you know that I love you recipes! Been on keto for a few weeks now, and your recipes have made it so much easier!
Just wandering, golden flax seed meal. Can i just put some golden flax seed in my food processor en will this do the work? Or will it not? I don’t really now what this is because I can’t find it here in the local supermarkets. Looking forward towards hearing from you!
Thanks again!!
Love Tilly
I’m going to answer you because I buy whole golden flax seeds. Yes, you just grind them to a fine powder! My food processor won’t do the trick on them, though, so I have a dedicated electric bladed coffee grinder that I use for spices and seeds. People often use blenders, too!
I made the 30 Minute Drop Biscuits today. They were very good! I used a large cookie scoop and got 12 biscuits. Thank you for sharing.
Can this be made without cream of tartar or is there a substitute?
Have you tried making these with the almond flour powder? Do you think it will work?…it is very fine and flour like.
How long do you bake it if you are baking the dough after fully freezing?
Hi
I’m loosely following keto. So I was wondering if I could sub corn starch for the xanthan gum?
I made Your naan yesterday And it was a mess but I saved it and it still tasted great. I used corn starch. Let me know. Thanks
Hey! Xanthan Gum is not easily substituted, and acts as a gluten replacement. It does last a long time because most recipes call for just 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon. For some things, you can leave it out and deal with a more crumbly finished product.
But corn starch and xanthan gum do very different things in recipes! I would not try corn starch for these biscuits, I also would not attempt them without xanthan gum. Maybe the drop biscuit recipe would be okay without xanthan gum?
Thank You! Paolo. Wow!! I am allergic to eggs so I needed to change the formula a little but stayed close to the recipe. I got 8 big biscuits and they rose up well. I used less sour cream as I only had a 1/4 cup of flax seed meal, 2 tablespoons of psyllium husk powder, 2 tsp. xanthan gum, 2 tsp. baking powder (I forgot to add baking soda), 2/3 cups cold water to substitute eggs liquid and in addition to adding the butter before rolling it up I also sprinkled it with grated sharp white cheddar. Beautiful! Next time I’ll follow other reviewers suggestion for strawberry shortcake and might also try pumpkin spice with some real pumpkin next time. I think the most important steps were handling the dough very lightly and resting it in the refrigerator before rolling and baking. Another thing, I only rolled it once and used up all the dough the first time to keep it from being flattened out too much before baking. The mixture was very crumbly but came together easily.
Hi! I found your recepie on pinterest and immediately fell in love with the pictures 🤗 I do have some questions regarding the products you use, and what each of them actually does for the finished results.
Cream of tartar, what is that and what does it do? Allso, what is the special power of this protein powder since I can’t use a different brand? And what function does Flax seed have? I read that someone used psyllium instead. Would really apreciate if you took your time to answer, as I live in Norway, and have to shop these ingridients online to make these bisguits, wich I reaaaally would love to!