Biscuits are such a staple comfort food for me. Now that it’s a bit chillier outside, I’m making some biscuits with a twist! Today, I’m showing you how to make Sweet or Savory Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits. Oh man…these are flakey, puffy, buttery, with a subtle fall-inspired pumpkin flavor. This recipe is also a 2 for 1 because I’ll also show you how to make non-dairy whipped maple butter to go on top!
Tips for Flakey Biscuits
The key to a good biscuit is lots of flakey layers in the dough. These biscuits use baking powder and a good amount of VERY cold vegan butter to create light, flakey layers. The first time I made biscuits, I remember it being a bit intimidating. I was worried my butter wasn’t cold enough, that I touched the dough too much, and my biscuits wouldn’t rise. But I promise, these biscuits are actually very easy and I’ll walk you through exactly how to make them!
On really good biscuits, the bottoms will have this crispy browned, buttery crust. That crust is actually really easy to achieve and helps elevate the texture of the biscuit! All you need to do is preheat a baking pan with some vegan butter on it.
Before combining any ingredients together, I recommend preheating your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. You can then throw a tablespoon or two of vegan butter on your pan and pop it in the oven for about 5 minutes. You’ll just want to make sure you don’t leave the pan in too long or the butter will burn, so keep an eye on it!
The first step to perfect biscuits is making sure your vegan butter is very, very cold. I recommend placing your vegan butter in the freezer for at least an hour prior to making these. I like to keep a stick or two in the freezer at all times (just in case). After taking the butter out of the freezer, you can dice it into small 1/2 inch cubes with a knife. This step makes it much easier and faster to cut the vegan butter into the flour mixture.
You’ll also want to minimize the amount of times you touch the dough with your hands. This is to keep the vegan butter from melting when when working with the dough. To help with this, I use a stone rolling pin to press the dough into a rectangle instead of my hands. I also recommend using a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the dough.
Another crucial step to help get those perfect layers is folding the dough over on itself a few times. You can roll the biscuit dough out into a small rectangle, and then fold it over on itself once. You’ll want to repeat this 4 or 5 times, being careful not to push the layers into each other too much.
After folding the dough on itself, you can cut out the biscuits! You can use a cookie cutter for this or a glass. I use a glass with a rim of about 3 inches in diameter. When you cut out the biscuits be careful not to twist the cookie cutter or the glass. Twisting the dough will make the biscuits actually rise unevenly. It’s definitely not the end of the world if they do rise uneven (because they’ll still be delicious, of course)!
Next, you can brush some melted vegan butter on the tops of the biscuits if you’d like. This helps create a browned crispy top. You’ll then pop the biscuits in the oven and bake them for a short 10 minutes. And presto! You have your fast, easy, and super delectable vegan pumpkin biscuits!
Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits with Whipped Maple Butter
You can also go ahead and make your whipped vegan maple butter while the biscuits are baking too! This maple butter has just the right amount of sweetness and is the perfect complement to these pumpkin biscuits. A dollop of this airy vegan butter on top of a fresh out of the oven biscuit…absolute perfection!
These Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits are great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. They’re pretty much all-around universal. They can be made sweet with jam on top or savory with gravy slathered all over them. I store mine in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for a few months. And, you can easily reheat them in the microwave or toaster oven for a quick snack!
Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits with Whipped Maple Butter
The best vegan pumpkin biscuits that can be made sweet with jam on top or savory with gravy slathered all over them!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Biscuits
- 2 cups flour
- 6 tbsp vegan butter, plus 1 tbsp for the pan (I use Earth Balance, make sure it is VERY cold)*
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt, (do 1 tsp if using unsalted vegan butter)
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, make sure this is NOT pumpkin pie puree, but pure pumpkin
Vegan Whipped Maple Butter
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp softened vegan butter
- 1 ½ tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp pumpkin puree
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Once the oven is preheated put a baking pan in with about 1 tbsp vegan butter on the pan to heat up. (This helps make the crust on the bottom of the biscuits)
- Remove the preheated, buttered pan from the oven after about 5 minutes.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and salt.
- Cut the very cold butter into the dry ingredients. I like to dice my vegan butter with a knife first, and then I use a pastry cutter (or a fork) to cut it into the flour mixture. The flour and vegan butter mixture should resemble coarse crumbles. There should be large chunks of vegan butter visible.
- Add the pumpkin puree. Stir until just combined.
- Use your hands to form the dough into a loose ball. You’ll want to make sure you limit the amount of time you touch the dough with your hands. The more you touch it, the more the vegan butter will melt. The goal is to keep the vegan butter as solid chunks until the dough goes in the oven.
- Put the dough on a floured surface. Press it into a rough rectangle and fold the dough 4 or 5 times onto itself. This helps make the flakey layers.
- Press the dough into a rectangle, about ¾” thick.
- Using a biscuit cutter or a circular glass, cut the dough into 6-8 biscuits, about 3” in diameter. Don’t twist the cup as you cut. (Twisting the cup will make the biscuits rise unevenly.)
- Place the biscuits on the preheated, buttered pan. Brush melted vegan butter on the tops of the biscuits.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Best served warm.
- To make the whipped vegan maple butter, combine the softened butter, maple syrup, and pumpkin puree in a small bowl.
- Whip the ingredients together with a whisk or hand mixer until combined and fluffy.
- If the butter is softer than you'd like after whipping, place it back in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
Notes
*For the vegan butter, I like to place mine in the freezer for a few hours before making these biscuits.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 biscuitAmount Per Serving: Calories: 193Trans Fat: 0g
Nutrition info is an estimate.
If you’re looking for more fall recipes or baked goods you should try out my Spiced Maple Coffee Cake!
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