2TBLsoft cheese such as labneh, cream cheese or ricotta cheese
6TBLbutter cut into small cubes (60 g) (I used salted butter)
Dry Ingredients
2cupsgluten free flour
1/4cupExpandex
4tspbaking powder
1tspsalt
2TBLground flax seed
1/2cupaged cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
Tips
TIP: Keep all ingredients cold until ready to use. Cold butter is especially important to ensure a fluffy biscuit so I put it in the freezer after it's cut while I'm preparing the other ingredients.
TIP: Keeping flax seeds whole until you are ready to grind a portion will keep the fatty acids well protected. Grind your own flax seeds in a coffee/spice grinder and store in a sealable bag in the fridge so it keeps fresh. If you buy already ground flax meal, freeze it so you can use what you need. The freezer will keep the ground flax from oxidizing and losing valuable nutrients.
TIP: if you don't have a pastry blender, you can also run two knives through the butter to cut it smaller.
Instructions
Cut butter into small cubes and freeze for 15 minutes. Grate ½ cup of aged cheddar cheese and set aside. Measure out all dry ingredients.
Use a fork to beat the egg. Mix the wet ingredients (egg, soft cheese and milk) together in a measuring cup. I used home made labneh for the soft cheese component. Labneh is a soft cheese made from strained yogurt. Labneh adds tang to complement the aged cheddar, but you can substitute cream cheese or ricotta cheese instead; use whatever soft cheese you have.
Into a mixing bowl add the dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, ¼ cup Expandex, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt and 2 tablespoons ground flax. Mix with a wooden spoon to combine.
Remove the butter from the freezer and add it into the flour mixture. Briefly stir to coat the butter with the flour and use a pastry blender to cut it into smaller pieces. The butter should be about the size of small peas.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Add wet ingredients into flour mixture and mix. Stir in grated cheese and mix until incorporated. The mixture will be wet.
Shape the Dough. If you don't have a stone countertop, you can roll out a piece of waxed paper to protect the surface and prevent the dough from sticking. TIP: I stick a piece of green painters' tape on either side of the waxed paper to hold it down to the counter so it doesn't shift while rolling and cutting. I also prepare a small bowl of flour to dip the biscuit cutter into between cuts.
In the bowl, add some flour onto the top of the dough. Flour your working surface (in my case, the waxed paper). Take the dough from the bowl and put it onto the floured surface. Form into a circle. Put another piece of waxed paper on top. Use the rolling pin with a light touch to roll the dough out to no less than ½” thickness. You can roll it thicker if you prefer higher biscuits (you'll just get less of them).
Cut dough with the biscuit cutter.
TIP: The best cutting technique is to push straight down into the dough and lift straight up without twisting the cutter. Twisting the cutter will just squish the layers and the biscuits won't be as fluffy when they bake. Flour the biscuit cutter with extra flour between cuts if you find it's sticking.
Use up the remaining dough by piecing together the scraps and repeating the previous steps. I made only four biscuits to demonstrate this Instructable, but the recipe will make eight if you use the same sized biscuit cutter I did (3.5").Try not to overwork the dough while you are piecing together the scraps so the butter doesn't melt. Cold butter = a fluffy biscuit.
Put the biscuits onto a tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper; they can be packed close but not touching.Bake 15 – 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the first batch you make to avoid over browning. All ovens are different so the time may vary.
This is where gluten free biscuits vary from regular ones: resist the temptation to eat these straight out of the hot oven because they will still be a bit gummy on the inside until they cool.