southern style biscuits

When we moved to the South last year I expected the abundance of grits, collared greens, and black eyed peas. I was even only mildly shocked when we realized that, in Georgia, shopping carts are called buggies. Yes, buggies, as in Please park your buggy in the coral – We are not responsible for damage to vehicles caused by buggies. But above all other things southern, what I was truly unprepared for was the biscuits.

In the Midwest, conventional restaurant-style meals are often served with rolls or hot bread. Of course, when we’re cooking at home serving extra carbs like this would seem not only extravagant, but dare I say just plain dumb. I mean, does a heaping plate of carb-filled pasta really need to be accompanied by a breadstick? Really? Here in Georgia, this senseless addition to your plate is made even worse by substituting the roll or bread with a buttery, fatty biscuit. At some of the restaurants in our town, you’re even served a biscuit with your field green salad topped with tofu. Better yet, if you go out to brunch (which, as a southerner, you are expected to do weekly and wait in line for hours for your table) there are entire sections of the menu devoted to the biscuit.

Most shocking of all, my husband, who would happily survive on fruit and granola, has fallen in love with them. Clearly, most biscuits are not vegan nor healthy. So once I realized that there was no stopping this love affair, I went on a quest to find a low(er) fat, low(er) calorie, dairy free biscuit recipe that he could enjoy at home. After several batches of what arguably tasted like nothing, I finally found the basics for this tasty recipe at veganbaking.net, and gained overwhelming approval from him. I have included the nutritional info below, which you can see, does not boast any health benefits. However, if you just have to have a biscuit, this is surely a better alternative than the ones they are serving at our local restaurants.

Southern Style Biscuits

½ cup Organic Soy Milk
3 Tbs Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 Tbs Lemon Juice
1 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
¼ cup Canola Oil
1 Tbs Tahini
1 Tbs Sugar
1 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a small bowl, whisk together soy milk, Ener-G powder, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.
Let sit for about 10 minutes so the soy milk curdles.
In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the canola oil, tahini, sugar and salt.
Now whisk in the soy milk mixture.
Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Use your hands to knead the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface for no less than 5 minutes.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch.
Use a 3 inch biscuit cutter or a mug to cut the dough into circles.
Place the cut-outs on a non-stick or lightly oiled baking sheet.
Depress the center of each muffin with your thumb so they will not dome when baking.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Some great toppings for these little pillowy biscuits include organic fruit preserves, agave nectar, banana butter, apple butter, or Earth Balance. If your omnivore friends are around for breakfast and crazy about the animal flesh on a biscuit they usually order at brunch, there are a few varieties of veg sausage or veg bacon you can use to create little animal friendly breakfast sandwiches sure to please everyone.

This recipe makes about 10 biscuits.
Nutritional Information for 1 Southern Style Biscuit:
Calories: 150.0
Total Fat: 6.5 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Sodium: 383.0 mg
Total Carbs: 21.0g
Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
Sugars: 1.9 g
Protein: 3.3g