Photo by Ann Oliverio
Another Tuesday and another recipe from my new book, The Easy Vegan Cookbook, that comes out September 1st! This time it’s the recipe for my Veggie Quinoa Drop Biscuits.
I love making these whenever I have some leftover quinoa. In fact, I make a little extra quinoa just so I can make these biscuits. They even have carrots and greens added in for both color and nutrition.
It takes no time to whip up the batter and there’s absolutely no rolling involved! Just scoop the dough and plop on your baking sheet.
These do use oil, but you could try substituting avocado or sweet potato puree for the oil to make them oil-free.
Veggie Quinoa Drop Biscuit from The Easy Vegan Cookbook
People in the South love their biscuits, and I am no exception. These biscuits are a little healthier than the usual, and the perfect way to use up that leftover quinoa in your refrigerator. They have the added bonus of containing a few greens, too.
Author: Kathy Hester
Recipe type: side
Serves: 12 biscuits
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (177 ml) soy milk (or other nondairy milk and leave out the vinegar)
- 1½ teaspoons (7 ml) apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil or broth
- ½ cup (55 g) finely grated carrot
- 1 ½ cups (100 g) finely minced kale or other green
- 1 cup (185 g) cooked quinoa
- 2 cups (240 g) whole-wheat pastry flour (*use a gluten-free all-purpose flour)
- 2 teaspoons (7.5 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (112 g) vegan butter, shortening or refined coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Whisk the soy milk and vinegar and set aside. While it stands, it will curdle and thicken, creating a vegan buttermilk substitute. (This only works with soy milk. If you use a nut milk or coconut milk, it will not thicken but the recipe will still work.)
- Heat the olive oil or broth in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the kale. Sauté for 1 to 3 minutes or until it turns bright green. Pour into a large bowl with the carrots and quinoa. Set aside.
- To a food processor, add the whole-wheat pastry flour and process for about 2 minutes to make it finer and the biscuit a little lighter. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt and process for about 1 minute.
- Next, add the vegan butter or shortening to the food processor ⅛ of a cup (28 g) at a time and pulse for 30 seconds to a minute after each addition. The mixture will start to look like coarse cornmeal. If there are a few teaspoon-sized lumps of butter, don’t worry—they will mix in later.
- Pour the flour mixture into the large bowl with the veggies, quinoa and soy milk-vinegar mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon to spread the veggies throughout and smash up any butter pieces that remain.
- Grease two cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper. Using a large scoop (about ¼ cup [60 ml]), form about 12 biscuits. They will be domed from the scoop; if you wish, flatten them with the palm of your hand. They will not spread out during cooking.
- Cook for 13 to 17 minutes, or until they turn light brown on the bottoms. Eat as is, covered with gravy or in the middle of your favorite meatless stew or chili.
Notes
Try using this recipe to use up other cooked grains such as millet or rice.
Veggie Quinoa Drop Biscuit from The Easy Vegan Cookbook
People in the South love their biscuits, and I am no exception. These biscuits are a little healthier than the usual, and the perfect way to use up that leftover quinoa in your refrigerator. They have the added bonus of containing a few greens, too.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (177 ml) soy milk (or other nondairy milk and leave out the vinegar)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 ml) apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil or broth
- 1/2 cup (55 g) finely grated carrot
- 1 1/2 cups (100 g) finely minced kale or other green
- 1 cup (185 g) cooked quinoa
- 2 cups (240 g) whole-wheat pastry flour (*use a gluten-free all-purpose flour)
- 2 teaspoons (7.5 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (112 g) vegan butter, shortening or refined coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Whisk the soy milk and vinegar and set aside. While it stands, it will curdle and thicken, creating a vegan buttermilk substitute. (This only works with soy milk. If you use a nut milk or coconut milk, it will not thicken but the recipe will still work.)
- Heat the olive oil or broth in a sauté pan over medium heat and add the kale. Sauté for 1 to 3 minutes or until it turns bright green. Pour into a large bowl with the carrots and quinoa. Set aside.
- To a food processor, add the whole-wheat pastry flour and process for about 2 minutes to make it finer and the biscuit a little lighter. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt and process for about 1 minute.
- Next, add the vegan butter or shortening to the food processor ⅛ of a cup (28 g) at a time and pulse for 30 seconds to a minute after each addition. The mixture will start to look like coarse cornmeal. If there are a few teaspoon-sized lumps of butter, don’t worry—they will mix in later.
- Pour the flour mixture into the large bowl with the veggies, quinoa and soy milk-vinegar mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon to spread the veggies throughout and smash up any butter pieces that remain.
- Grease two cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper. Using a large scoop (about ¼ cup [60 ml]), form about 12 biscuits. They will be domed from the scoop; if you wish, flatten them with the palm of your hand. They will not spread out during cooking.
- Cook for 13 to 17 minutes, or until they turn light brown on the bottoms. Eat as is, covered with gravy or in the middle of your favorite meatless stew or chili.
Recipe Notes
Try using this recipe to use up other cooked grains such as millet or rice.
Christie says
I love drop biscuits like this and hadn’t thought out make buttermilk out of soy milk. Brilliant idea.
Kathy Hester says
Thank you!
rachel @ athletic avocado says
I love how you added quinoa to these! Yum! 🙂
Dee Dee says
I love the versatility of quinoa, and this is another great option. Love it!
Ana @ Ana's Rocket Ship says
I love how all the healthy stuff is concentrated and handheld! Perfect for a very hearty snack!
Janet says
Please add me to your email newsletter list.
Thanks,
Janet
Kathy Hester says
I just added you!
Nancy says
I just made these biscuits and they turned out so wet that I had to bake them for 30 minutes! I used spinach instead of kale and put the cooked spinach and its liquid into the mix. I think that that was too much liquid. Next time, no matter what green I use, I will cook it and then drain and wring it dry.
Also, I used a pastry blender to mix the flour mixture into the quinoa and veggies. That worked much better than a wooden spoon.
I also added 1 tsp. dried thyme and 1 tsp. dried rosemary to give the biscuits a different flavor. Tasty!
Nevertheless, I DID eat and enjoy these biscuits, even though they baked up to look more like overly large cookies.
Kathy Hester says
The spinach liquid you added would have made it too wet. Kale doesn’t really give off much liquid at all. Glad you enjoyed them anyhow!
AFM says
Love your recipes Kathy! What else can we use besides “vegan butter” or shortening or oil? I have all ingredients
except for those – avoiding oil. Thanks!
Kathy Hester says
Try pumpkin puree or mashed potato!