I usually bake a loaf of this overnight dark rye bead once a week. It has a complex flavour and we love it, but sometimes it can be a little much. Every once in a while I forget to make it before we run out, too, and that’s when I make biscuits instead. They’re perfect with soup and stew, another thing I make weekly & freeze leftovers for later.
You might think that whole grains simply don’t work with biscuits, especially vegan biscuits, but these are tender and a little flaky, despite being made with whole grain spelt flour and coconut oil. They’re not going to taste like white flour/butter/cream biscuits, but if you want a healthier option that’s still really delicious this is it.
I’ve been making this recipe for a couple of years now and it’s my go-to at least a couple times a month, and it’s always a bit exciting to have fresh biscuits. Exciting at least until we polish off the whole batch that evening and end up with biscuit bloat, but still worth it. I’m not saying that these give you an upset stomach, but they might if you eat ten, but I’m sure your self control is far better than mine (i.e. non existent).
I have tried these with olive oil instead of coconut and they’re simply not very good, so I don’t recommend that. I’ve also had best results using a food processor instead of making them by hand, and adding non-dairy milk in tiny increments until they just come together. That depends on your flour and the humidity in your home, so I have a range instead of a single measurement.
A couple other things; full fat coconut milk will make them extra tender, but if you don’t want to max out on fat or don’t have it, use a different type of milk. I most often use oat milk because I always have it and it’s less pricey than coconut milk.
You don’t have to roll and cut them if you don’t want to. I only do it about half the time, and the other half I just make drop biscuits. To do that, just drop large spoonfuls of batter onto your prepared baking sheet and bake normally. They’re arguably even better and certainly easier, but just don’t look quite as nice!
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Whole Grain Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups spelt flour*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon coconut sugar
- ¼ cup solid coconut oil
- Up to 1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk*
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and coconut sugar to the bowl of your food processor with the blade attachment in place. Pulse until combined.
- Drop the coconut oil in small pieces into the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the coconut milk one tablespoon at a time, including the lemon juice with the first addition. Pulse in between each addition and add the milk by tablespoon until the mixture just comes together (see photos above). It should hold when pressed with your hands.
- Form a ball with the dough, and then flour a flat working surface. Roll the dough out to about 3cm thick, then fold in half, and roll it again. Repeat this four times, and then roll it again and cut with a small biscuit cutter (6cm). Bring the scraps together and roll them out again, continuing to cut biscuits until no dough remains. The last biscuit might be a little messy looking.
- Place the biscuits onto your prepared baking sheet and gently brush with leftover milk. The milk wash helps them to brown in the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Best served warm.
Notes
• To avoid any light coconut flavour, use refined coconut oil and oat milk.
* I use whole grain spelt flour, and have tested these with sprouted spelt, kamut, and light spelt flour. They all work really well so use what you have.
Nutrition
Alexandra Daum says
I did manage to make some really good drop biscuits with olive oil a few days ago! You could definitely taste it but I didn't mind – it did take a lot of tweaking to make it manageable with the olive oil though. Let me know how it goes if you make it!
Alexandra Daum says
I love spelt flour too! They're definitely not regular buttermilk biscuits, but a good healthier alternative for sure.
The Food Blog says
Alexandra, I think you read my mind! Yesterday I wanted to make biscuits with spelt flour, but then I abandoned the idea. Thank you for posting this, and especially about using coconut oil vs olive oil. Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli says
They look pretty good for being vegan biscuits and made with spelt! I just love spelt flour and these biscuits would be greatly appreciated at our place ?.