Fresh from the oven, carrot-thyme vegan biscuits…fluffy, moist, savory deliciousness.
THE vegan biscuit
“(His brain is) as dry as the remainder biscuit after voyage” That is a line from As You Like It, as Shakespeare colorfully depicts the mind of a foolish man. “Dry”, however, will NEVER be the word used to describe these lovely vegan biscuits! (awkward segue much??) Fluffy and moist, these babies travel well, freeze beautifully and retain their integrity after a gentle warming in the oven or microwave zap.
I used carrots in these vegan biscuits for earthiness and a savory flavor. They also up the moist factor, especially as there is no butter, margarine of other processed oil to be found. Bonus: the lutein in the carrots (shown to improve memory) may very well keep you from being taken for a fool! ! How do You Like That? 😉
Oil free though?
Again, cashew butter is really proves itself to be an amazing oil/vegan butter sub in baking. If you click on the link, you’ll see that it is super-easy to make, though feel free to use your favorite brand (just check the label as many commercial nut butters have added oil and by now you know that oil is your arteries’ worst nightmare!).
easy dreamy cashew butter…click here for details
I love that cashews have those monounsaturated heart-healthy fats and that eating cashews (and other nuts) has been DEFINITIVELY shown to increase lifespan and decrease cancer risk! Really! (click here for that info). Plus, the flour in this recipe coats the cashew butter easily, resulting in biscuit dough that comes together beautifully and bakes up fluffy. Complete win-win-win!
Vegan Biscuit Basics
Biscuits require a few key ingredients: flour, a leavening agent (baking powder/ baking soda), a fat (in this case cashew butter) and a liquid. Your add-ins can be sweet or savory and there are probably endless possibilities, depending on what you’re going for. Looking to create a more savory biscuit, I chose carrots here for their sweet earthiness and threw in thyme because it pairs well with carrots. In addition, as I was not using the traditional biscuit-making fat (butter or vegan butter) I thought that carrots would provide a moist quality. Oh, and I added apple cider vinegar to the almond milk because I was looking for a buttermilk quality and the acid of the vinegar helps to activate the baking soda, allowing these biscuits to achieve great height.
Trust the process
After assembling the ingredients, the first step is to mix the dry ingredients, then “cut” the cashew butter into the flour mixture.
“cutting” in the cashew butter.. I’m wearing gloves but feel free to go au natural!
This process takes only a few minutes. The goal is to have pea-sized bits of flour, before you add in the liquid. 
The next step is to gently mix in the grated carrots and thyme, and then the almond milk. I added about 3/4 of the milk to the flour mix to start and used a fork and then my fingers to bring the dough together. It’s important to try not to over-mix as that could result in a tougher biscuit. FYI, I did need to add about all of the milk to achieve the consistency below.
slightly sticky biscuit dough ready for a knead and a roll 😉
Once the dough is together, dump it on a floured surface and knead about 5 or six times. This is a soft dough a relatively easy to work with. Now you’re ready to roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness.
I don’t have a cookie cutter and usually use a drinking glass to cut out my biscuits. Dip the cutter in a little flour, press and twist on the dough and your vegan biscuits are ready for the oven.
“Blue Moon…I saw you standing alone…”
with a glass this size, the recipe yielded about 10 biscuits and a slightly smaller one made from gathered scraps of dough
A quick brush with almond milk is the finishing touch before these vegan biscuits are popped in the oven. In about ten minutes they’re done…just set on a rack to cool before digging in!
These amazing biscuits are delicious alone, or you might want to break open and spread with a little vegan butter or even jam. I made a breakfast sammie with glazed tofu, arugula and my cheese sauce.
breakfast sammie with tofu, arugula and cashew cheese sauce
Be creative and let me know
in the comments below
if you decide to give these vegan biscuits a go! (I know not Shakespeare but can I rhyme or what? 😉 )Cheers!
- 1 cup grated carrot 2-3 carrots
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 ¼ cup flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ¼ cup cashew butter
- few tablespoons of almond milk for wash
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Preheat oven to 425 F.
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Prepare cookie sheet by covering with parchment paper or a light coating of cooking spray.
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Grate carrots using medium grate until you have one cup.
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Set aside.
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Add apple cider vinegar to almond or other non-dairy milk and set aside.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
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Add the cashew butter.
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Using your hands, mix together the cashew butter and flour until flour is about the size of split peas.
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Add in the carrots and mix well.
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Pour in about 3/4 of the milk mixture and gently combine with the flour until a soft dough forms, adding as much of the milk mixture as necessary.
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The dough will be a little sticky.
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Place dough on a well-floured surface and knead 5-6 times.
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Roll dough until it is roughly half an inch thick.
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With a round cutter (I used a drinking glass with a 2 inch diameter) cut out dough and place on prepared cookie sheet.
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Brush a bit of almond mlk ove reach biscuit.
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Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.
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Cool on baking rack and enjoy.
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When fully cool, these can be frozen in a zippered freezer bag.
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To reheat, microwave for about 30 seconds or let come to room temp.
