Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits

Hey folks! Happy Labor Day. We've decided to celebrate Labor Day by getting sick. So much more relaxing than running around and having fun on a holiday, don't you think? Of course, we're loving life right now, in between sneezes and coughs.

Anyway, being relatively house-bound makes me want to bake. Today I decided to try another recipe for buttermilk biscuits. A new friend, Lorna Yee, who blogs at The Cookbook Chronicles, is a fantastic cook and baker and writer. She shared her go-to recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits on her blog and they look great. She does these either as written or with 100% leaf lard. Actually, you have to go over and look at her results using just lard. Seriously, go. I'll wait.

Isn't that incredible? I mean, wow.

So, I decided to experiment with her recipe to see if I could get fab results, too. I already have Buttermilk Biscuit recipe on the site, so this will be lyrically called Recipe #2. The main difference is that this recipe has a lard option, and it has no sugar. For this one, I made the recipe as written (i.e., using butter and leaf lard), with adaptations to make them gluten free. The results were wonderful!

Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits
-adapted from recipe by Lorna Yee

Note: this recipe uses my gluten-free flour mix:

Jeanne's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix (mix together and store in fridge):
1 1/4 C. brown rice flour
1 1/4 C. white rice flour
1 C. tapioca flour
1 C. sweet rice flour (also known as Mochiko)
2 scant tsp. xanthan gum

(you can also use the gluten-free flour mixture of your choice--just be sure it contains xanthan gum. Or, you can add 1/4-1/2 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour. If you use bean flour, it will add a bean taste to the biscuits)


Ingredients:
2 cups Jeanne's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix, sifted
2 TBL baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
4 tbsp butter, cold
4 tbsp leaf lard or shortening, cold (or more butter if you don't use these)
3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk mixed w/3/4 tsp of vinegar)

To glaze: one egg yolk beaten with 2 tbsp. whole milk
Tapioca flour for dusting


-Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

-In a mixing bowl, stir together the sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and lard, and cut in with a pastry blender until the fat resembles coarse, pea-size clumps. Stir in the buttermilk, taking care not to over-mix.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface or Silpat, and shape into a cohesive mass. Roll the dough out with a tapioca flour-floured rolling pin until it reaches about 1” thick, then cut with a tapioca-floured biscuit cutter. It's important that the cutter goes in an out of the dough with minimal squishage of dough. This is what helps the biscuits to rise and be fluffy:


Place the biscuits on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, and brush the tops with an egg yolk beaten with milk.

Bake the biscuits for about 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and nicely risen.

Enjoy!
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