Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits with Almond Flour

You won't believe how flaky, tender, golden, and pillow-soft these gluten-free biscuits are! They're easy to make with 10 ingredients in 1 hour, start to finish, with my streamlined recipe that I've tested to perfection.

The dough is made with a blend of gluten-free flours – almond, sweet rice, tapioca, and potato starch – plus butter, honey, egg, and buttermilk (or yogurt thinned with milk). Dairy-free and vegan options included, plus more ingredient subs.

Top these light & buttery biscuits with honey butter for a treat that anyone – even non-GF eaters – will adore!

Meet my new obsession: gluten-free buttermilk biscuits made with almond flour. These biscuits are:

• tender and buttery
• golden and crisp on the edges
• pillowy and moist inside
• can be split by hand like *real* biscuits
• keep like a dream for days
• perfect topped with honey butter – yum!!
• easy to make with 10 ingredients in 1 hour

If you're a lover of breakfast pastries (see: gluten-free almond flour scones) you're going to *adore* my gluten-free version of classic buttermilk biscuits. These beauties are easy to make with 10 ingredients in 1 hour, start to finish.

I've included a step-by-step tutorial show you how, below, plus lots of ingredient subs in case you need 'em. Read on for biscuit bliss! (Blisscuits??)

Here's what one happy baker had to say about them:

See them in action here:

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A post shared by Alanna Taylor-Tobin (@the_bojon_gourmet)

Testing, Testing

This recipe came about as an innocent collaboration. One of my dearest readers (hi, Gigi!) asked how she could alter my gluten-free strawberry shortcake biscuits to make them similar to Cappello's almond flour biscuits. The biscuits I use for shortcake are the same recipe as my reader-favorite gluten-free scones which I adapted from a similar recipe in my cookbook, so they're more rich, sweet, and delicate than a buttermilk biscuit.

Based on Cappello's biscuit ingredients, I recommended a few simple ingredient swaps: potato starch for the oat flour, honey for the sugar, and buttermilk for the heavy cream. Gigi tested them out and reported back that they were perfection. I couldn't wait to try the recipe myself.

When I pulled a pan of golden biscuits out of the oven, my mind was blown. I greedily split a warm biscuit in half – they're so flaky, you can actually do that! The crust crunched against the tender center, buttermilk adding a slight tang. It was light and crisp, with a moist, pillowy middle. It was everything I was craving in a gluten-free biscuit – and more.

Reader Gigi likes to sprinkle the tops with everything bagel spice and turn them into breakfast sandwiches – yum! I've been serving them warm, with honey butter, to enjoy with brunch, lunch, and/or dinner.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Ingredients and Substitution Suggestions

Flours

Two flours and two starches make up these biscuits.

• Sweet rice flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour such as Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1) add mild flavor and structure. Sub cassava flour for grain-free, adding an additional tablespoon of buttermilk.
• Almond flour adds heft and helps these bake up light and floofy. Use blanched almond flour for a light color. Sub almond meal or hazelnut meal.
• Potato starch adds tenderness. I don't recommend swapping this ingredient since it's important for their biscuity texture, but arrowroot flour would be my best guess for a substitute. (Update: a reader reported in the comments that arrowroot worked well!)
• Tapioca starch adds stretch which makes the biscuits easy to shape. Try subbing arrowroot or cornstarch if you need to.

Other Ingredients

• Baking powder lifts the biscuits. Be sure yours is fresh for the best results.
• Butter adds richness. Reader Gigi likes to use half coconut oil and half butter in these, but I went all butter to simplify the recipe. I'm not sure if using all coconut oil would work or not, but you could definitely use a good dairy-free butter such as Miyoko's to make these DF.
• Buttermilk moistens the dough. Kefir can stand in for buttermilk, as can yogurt thinned with milk. For dairy-free, use 1/4 cup plant yogurt thinned with 2 tablespoons plant milk.
• One egg helps the dough hold together and makes the biscuits bake up light and tender. For egg allergies, use a flax egg (see the recipe card notes for instructions).
• Honey adds a touch of sweetness - just 1 teaspoon. Use any sweetener you prefer.
• Salt sharpens the flavors.

See the recipe card below for full quantities and instructions.

Method: How to Make Perfect GF Biscuits Every Time

These biscuits are simple to make in 20 minutes of active time, plus a 30-minute chill, and a 15-minute bake – about 1 hour total.

This recipe makes a small-ish batch of biscuits, or about 6 servings. They keep like a dream so once you've tried the recipe, you might want to double the amount.

Here are few tips to ensure biscuit success:

• Start with cold butter and keep it cold as you work. If it's hot in your kitchen, or if you have warm hands, you can chill your dough for 5-10 minutes if the butter starts to soften.
• Add just as much liquid as needed. If the batter is too dry, the biscuits will bake up dense. If it's too wet, the biscuits will sploosh in the oven and bake up shorter. But either way, they'll still be delicious!
• Use two stacked baking sheets to prevent the bottoms from burning in the oven.

Here's how to make them:

Make-Ahead Options & Storage

These biscuits can be made ahead in several different ways.

• The biscuit dough can be made up to 1 day ahead and shaped, wrapped, and chilled until needed.
• Or freeze the cut dough rounds for longer storage and bake them from frozen at 375ºF, increasing the bake time as needed.
• The baked biscuits keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days. Toast them in a 350ºF oven or toaster oven until warmed through before serving, 5-10 minutes.
• Baked biscuits can also be frozen. Toast them in a 350ºF oven or toaster oven until warmed through before serving, 10-15 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Here are a few common biscuit woes and how to remedy them. I haven't had this happen myself, but putting this here in case it's helpful!

• The biscuits are dry: they could be overbaked, or the dough might have needed more liquid. Try adding another 1-3 teaspoons of buttermilk to the batter next time.
• The biscuits spread too much: there was likely a little too much liquid in the dough, or the dough got warm. Next time, add just as much liquid as needed to bring the dough together, and be sure to keep the butter cold and chill the dough as directed.
• The biscuits are too dark: lower the oven temperature by 25-50ºF, bake the biscuits on a lower rack in the oven, and/or use an external oven thermometer.
• The biscuits are too light: increase the oven temperature by 25-50ºF, and/or bake the biscuits on a higher rack in the oven.

Serving

These biscuits go beautifully with a variety dishes and meals. Here are some favorite ways to enjoy them:

Toppings:

• Smear them with honey butter
• Serve them with homemade lemon curd
• Cover them in gluten-free mushroom gravy for a vegetarian take on biscuits and gravy

Accompaniments:

• Serve them with soup, such as this reader-favorite curried carrot soup with coconut milk, or zucchini basil soup
• Serve them at a summer barbecue or gluten-free holiday dinner
• Enjoy them for brunch with crustless quiche or other egg dishes

However you serve up these GF buttermilk biscuits, I hope you love them.

Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this gluten-free buttermilk biscuit recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.