My new favorite biscuit dough (gluten-free)

Before I had to give up gluten, biscuit making was my super power. I served biscuits with homemade marmalade and jam for breakfast and tea time. In the summer I used biscuit dough as crust for Tomato Pie and Peach Cobbler. In the winter I topped stews with biscuit dough to make Vegetable Pot Pie and Curried Turkey Pot Pie.

For the first few years of eating without gluten all of these delicious treats disappeared from my diet. I was skinny and angry. Then I came across The Art of Gluten-Free Baking. The woman who writes this blog has worked to develop a specific mix of flours that very closely imitates all purpose wheat flour in baking. If you want to make gluten-free baked goods that taste like the ones you grew up with , The Art of Gluten-Free Baking is a fabulous resource. For years, I’ve happily made these Gluten-Free Buttermilk Lard Biscuits to top my pot pies and savory cobblers.

Recently though, I was given a freezer full of sorghum and millet flours. I started making biscuits dough (and everything else) with sorghum and millet. Both flours have a bit sweet and nutty flavor. Sorghum in particular offers an amazing fluffy crumb that is very similar to wheat flour.

These biscuits are not neutral in flavor, but they are delicious and their texture is amazing. They are fluffy and moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. This biscuit dough works very well as a topping for Curried Turkey Pot Pie or Wild Mushroom Cobbler. For the pot pie topping I leave the cheese out. These biscuits are delicious for breakfast or tea time with some marmalade or jam. I haven’t tried this dough for Tomato Pie yet. Check back for a report in the summer!

Sorghum/ Millet Gluten-Free Flour Mix

(makes enough for 2 batches of biscuits)

4 ounces (a heaping 3/4 cup) Millet flour
4 ounces (1 cup) Sorghum flour
4 ounces (3/4 cup) sweet rice flour (aka mochi or glutinous rice flour)
4 ounces (3/4 cup) potato starch (not potato flour!)
4 ounces (a scant cup) tapioca starch

Sourghum Millet Biscuits

2 cups Sorghum Millet Mix
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1/3 cup optional grated cheese (cheddar, gouda or pecorino are all good)
heavy cream for glazing pot pies

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 cut in with a pastry blender or your fingers until the fat resembles coarse, pea-size clumps. Stir in the buttermilk or yogurt and cheese, if using.
For biscuits, drop the dough into 6 lumps on a cookie sheet and bake the biscuits for about 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and nicely risen.
If you are using the dough to top a cobbler, Make sure that your stew is already warm and spread it into a baking dish. Top the stew with the raw biscuits and brush the top with heavy cream. Bake the cobbler for 15 to 20 minutes.

MORE BISCUITS…