Vegan Biscuits — The Side That Made a Simple Supper Feel Like Something

Last week of July first week of August overlap. The first class at Calhoun has not started yet, that is in September, so this is the last weeks of ordinary time before things get busier. I am trying to notice the ease of it before it changes.

On Tuesday evening I drove to the library and checked out two more cookbooks. One on Southern baking, a new one I had not seen before, and one on cast iron cooking that is more detailed than the first one. I sat in the library for an hour reading at a table, which I have started to do on Tuesday evenings when nothing else is happening. The library is air-conditioned and quiet and full of things to know and nobody bothers you there. I find it restorative in a way that is hard to explain to someone who has always had access to books and quiet.

This week in the kitchen I made baked beans from scratch for the second time, alone, using the method I learned at the July Fourth gathering. Started them the night before, soaked the dried navy beans, then in the morning got them going with bacon, onion, mustard, molasses, brown sugar, a little ketchup, chicken broth. Low oven all day. The apartment smelled extraordinary from noon until six in the evening. I ate them with cornbread for dinner two nights running.

Keisha came over Saturday afternoon and we ate beans and cornbread and watched a movie on my laptop propped on the coffee table. She brought sweet tea she had made and we sat on my couch with the fan going and I thought: I have a friend. A real one. Who comes to my apartment. I am learning what that looks like from the inside.

The cornbread I made alongside those beans was simple — a box mix I had in the cabinet — and it did the job just fine. But after the second night of that same meal, sitting on the couch with Keisha and the fan going and the sweet tea on the coffee table, I kept thinking about what I’d make next time, something from scratch, something that earned its place beside those beans. These vegan biscuits are what I landed on — tender and buttery-tasting without any dairy, the kind of thing that feels like real Southern cooking even when you’re making it alone in a small apartment, teaching yourself as you go.

Vegan Biscuits

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 8 biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 cup solid coconut oil or cold vegan butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup unsweetened plain oat milk (or other non-dairy milk), cold
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Make vegan buttermilk. Stir the apple cider vinegar into the cold oat milk and let it sit for 5 minutes while you prepare the dry ingredients. It will curdle slightly — that’s exactly what you want.
3. Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until evenly mixed.
4. Cut in the fat. Add the cold coconut oil or vegan butter pieces to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, work the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Work quickly so the fat stays cold.
5. Add the liquid. Pour the vegan buttermilk over the flour mixture and stir gently with a fork or spatula just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix — a shaggy, slightly sticky dough is correct.
6. Shape the biscuits. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat it to about 3/4-inch thickness. Fold it once or twice (this creates layers), then pat back to 3/4-inch thick. Use a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter or a floured drinking glass to cut straight down without twisting. Re-pat scraps and cut remaining biscuits.
7. Bake. Place biscuits on the prepared baking sheet so they are just touching. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until risen and golden on top. Brush with a little melted vegan butter right out of the oven if desired.
8. Serve warm. Best eaten fresh and warm, alongside a bowl of baked beans or whatever slow-cooked thing has been making your apartment smell good all day.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 310mg