Grain Free Herbed Biscuits – A Lesson in Converting Regular Recipes to Coconut Flour Versions

Grain Free Herbed Biscuits

My friend Starlene wrote this wonderful book called, Baking with Coconut Flour.  This book is amazing and will appeal to anyone who is an avid baker.  Baking with Coconut Flour walks you through the process of switching a regular recipe to a coconut flour version.  Coconut flour is like flour that has PMS all the time.  Coconut flour is notorious for creating baked goods that are too dense, too moist, too eggy, too brittle etc.  If you like to bake and are on a gluten free/grain free diet it is important to learn how to work with this annoying flour.

I put Starlene’s book to the test and decided to give my mom’s herbed biscuit recipe a coconut flour makeover.  Before you attempt giving your recipes a makeover you should read Starlene’s book from start to finish.  Think about and understand why she uses the ratios she uses and read through the tutorials she provides.  I did all of that and was ready to attempt my biscuit makeover.

Here is the original recipe:

• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ cup cold salted butter, cubed
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives or green onions
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk

To apply Starlene’s rules I needed to switch ¼ cup of coconut flour for every 1 cup of wheat flour in the recipe.  That means the 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour is now ½ + 2 tbsp of coconut flour.  Then I proceeded to change the other ingredients according to Starlene’s rules.  It sounds like this is a lot of work but it really isn’t.

This is what my converted recipe looks like:

• ½ cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour = 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour  *Weight = 2.20 ounces + .55
• 2 tsp cream of tartar + 1 tsp baking soda = 4 tsp
  baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ cup cold salted butter, cubed
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives or green onions
• 3 eggs = 1 egg
• 1 cup milk  ½ cup

I felt the recipe was a success that needed one change!  The taste was good but the biscuit were a little fragile.  If you notice in the original recipe I needed to use one cup of milk.  I’ve found in my coconut flour baking experiences that liquid like milk, coconut milk, almond milk etc. added to coconut flour recipes creates a fragile baked good.

2^nd version – Converted recipe

Since the 1 cup of milk in the original recipe makes the coconut flour version too fragile I swapped ½ cup of milk for 2 eggs.  The thought behind this is 1 egg measured equals ¼ cup of liquid.  If I take out ½ cup of liquid I can switch it for ½ cup of eggs that are still liquid but eggs will provide extra structure.

• ½ cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour = 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour  *2.20 ounces + .55
• 2 tsp cream of tartar + 1 tsp baking soda = 4 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ cup cold salted butter, cubed
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives or green onions
• 5 eggs = 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk

You’ll also notice I left the recipe as a dairy version.  I did this on purpose.  First I wanted the butter taste for a biscuit and secondly it wasn’t fair to judge Starlene’s method by creating too many changes to the original recipe.  If you want a dairy free version, switch the milk for ½ cup of almond milk and use coconut oil or ghee instead of butter but I never tested this version and it would alter the taste significantly.  The first time I baked the grain free biscuits I used a flat baking sheet which resulted in the biscuits doubling in size but in width and not height.  For the 2nd version I used this mini loaf pan and mini loaf pan liners that kept the batter from spreading all over.

Grain Free Herbed Biscuits

Baking with Coconut Flour is on sale until March 31^st for $11.  Grab it before the 40% off sale ends and the price jumps to $18.  You’ll love being able to convert your recipes RIGHT the first time instead of wasting cartons and cartons of eggs experimenting.  Go here to purchase Baking with Coconut Flour before the sale ends on March 31st.

Ingredients

• ½ cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour *2.75 ounces
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ cup cold salted butter, cubed
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ cup chopped fresh chives or green onions
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together coconut flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. With a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut butter until crumbly. Sprinkle with parsley and chives.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg; remove and set 1 tbsp aside for glaze. Whisk in milk; pour over dry ingredients, tossing with fork to create ragged dough.
4. Let dough sit for about 5 minutes.
5. Line a mini loaf pan or muffin pan with appropriate liners. Fill the mini loaf liners halfway with the batter.
6. Bake for 12 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

Notes

Enjoy,