These simple coconut milk biscuits are tall, fluffy, and dairy free: you won't even miss the butter! Made with coconut milk and coconut oil for a vegan twist on a classic breakfast recipe.
This recipe was originally published in 2016. It was updated in 2024 with additional photos, notes, and tips!
These homemade vegan biscuits are one of our most popular recipes of all time, and for good reason! Like traditional southern buttermilk biscuits, these feature flaky, pull-apart layers. Serve them warm with your favorite spread (looking at you, crockpot strawberry jam!), top with a plant-based gravy, or use them as a base for delicious breakfast sandwiches.
We're using coconut oil and canned coconut milk here in lieu of dairy products (no butter required!) The coconut oil mimics the rich feel and fall-apart texture that butter lends to a traditional biscuit, but we promise the biscuits don't taste coconut-y. You'd never guess these easy-to-make biscuits were actually vegan!
Ingredients
For a full ingredients list with exact quantities, scroll to the recipe card below.
Great biscuits are mostly about technique, but we do want to highlight a few ingredient-related notes before you get started:
- Coconut oil. We've tested this recipe with unrefined (virgin) coconut oil and refined coconut oil: Both work well here! Look for unflavored, food-grade coconut oil sold in its solid form (it usually comes in a plastic tub or large jar).
- Coconut milk. We prefer unsweeteened, full-fat canned coconut milk here; light coconut milk also works. Cans labeled "coconut cream" don't work quite as well: The "cream" tends to be thicker and can require some adjustments. You won't need a full can of coconut milk: Save the extra to throw into sauces or soups!
- Baking soda and baking powder are our primary leavening agents. Look for aluminum-free versions (otherwise your biscuits may have a slight metallic taste).
- A splash of lemon juice helps our leavening agents work more effectively and eliminates any lingering "metallic" taste they may have. You can skip the lemon if you like, but if your baking powder contains aluminum (or if you're just sensitive to metallic-y flavors) we recommend including it.
Chill the coconut products for best results
To ensure biscuits rise properly and develop flaky, pull-apart layers, it's important to keep the dough quite cold. In regular buttermilk biscuits, you'd use milk and butter straight from the fridge; for these vegan biscuits, you'll need to chill the coconut oil and coconut milk before mixing the dough. Measure your ingredients out ahead of time and store in the fridge (30-60 minutes) or freezer (10-15 minutes) until they're nice and cold!
Substitutions and Variations
- Add mix-ins. Stir a pinch of nutritional yeast, spices, or fresh chopped herbs (à la our herb biscuits) in with the dry ingredients.
- For sweeter, dessert-style biscuits, add a few teaspoons of granulated sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup to the biscuit dough (you may need to adjust the amount of flour to get the right consistency).
- Brush the biscuits with a bit of extra coconut milk or melted vegan butter just before baking for a glossier finish.
Instructions
Mix the dough
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl (Image 1, above).
Add cold coconut oil (2). Use a pastry cutter to cut the oil into the dough (3) until the coconut oil has broken into lots of small pieces, and the mixture resembles coarse sand (4).
Pro Tip: If you don't have a pastry cutter, use clean hands to work the cold coconut oil into the flour mixture. Work quickly to prevent the coconut oil from melting!
Add cold coconut milk to the dry ingredients (Image 5, above). Stir gently until the dough is not quite combined (6). The mixture should look a bit crumbly and rough at this point!
Shape the dough
Tip dough onto a lightly floured surface (Image 7, above) and use clean hands to gently pat it together (8). The dough will feel crumbly at first, but it will come together as you work it.
Fold the dough over on itself several times (9) as you pat it into shape: This will help build in as many flaky layers as possible! Pat the dough into a large rectangle, about an inch thick (10).
Pro Tip: Work quickly and handle the dough as little as possible to help the dough stay cold!
Cut biscuits into rounds
Cut the dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter (11). Once cut, you should see a fair amount of texture around the edges of each biscuit (12). This texture is a good sign that your biscuits will bake up with nice, flakey layers!
When you've cut as many biscuits as you can, fold any remaining dough back onto itself to form a new, solid piece. Continue cutting biscuits until you run out of dough.
Equipment note: We used a 3-inch biscuit cutter in these photos, which yields about 8 biscuits. You can make smaller or larger biscuits if you like (you may just need to adjust the bake time).
Bake
Transfer the biscuit rounds to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (13). Place in a preheated oven and bake until golden brown (14).
Once baked, serve biscuits immediately or store baked biscuits in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.
Four Tips for Excellent Biscuits
- Keep your ingredients very cold. The small coconut oil pieces in the dough melt as the biscuits bake, creating pockets of space that become pull-apart layers. Cold ingredients and minimal handling help keep the dough cold, which ensures the coconut oil stays piece-y and our layers form properly.
- Use a kitchen scale. Measuring ingredients by weight with a kitchen scale is much more reliable than measuring by volume (with cups). For best results, use a kitchen scale and follow the gram measurements in the recipe below.
- Preheat your oven. Make sure your oven is fully up to temperature before putting your biscuits in. If the oven isn't hot enough, the coconut oil will melt too slowly and the biscuits won't rise properly.
- Remember: The most important ingredient in baking is PRACTICE. Don't worry if your biscuits don't turn out perfectly the first time!
FAQs and Troubleshooting
If your biscuits look more "melted" than flaky, it's usually because 1) the oven wasn't hot enough yet or, more often, 2) the dough was too warm when they went into the oven.
For best results, make sure the ingredients - especially the coconut oil and coconut milk - are very cold when you mix them into the dough. Also, work the dough quickly and handle it as little as possible so the heat from your hands doesn't warm the dough up too much. It's also important to make sure the oven is fully preheated before you put the biscuits in - if the oven isn't hot enough, they won't rise properly.
And don't forget: As with many things, the most important ingredient for great homemade vegan biscuits is practice. If they aren't perfect the first time, make some notes about what went well, read back through this post and the FAQs, and give them another try!
A metallic taste can occur when you use leavening agents - like baking powder - that contain aluminum.
For best results, look for aluminum-free baking powder. If you're particularly sensitive to the metallic taste of some leavening agents, we recommend adding a teaspoon or two of acid (lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, etc) to your vegan biscuit dough: The extra acid helps create the chemical reaction that makes these biscuits rise, which can help eliminate that metallic taste.
We have only tested these vegan buttermilk biscuits with coconut milk varieties, but you can certainly experiment with other non-dairy milk alternatives if you like!
If you use a thinner dairy-free milk - like oat milk, cashew milk, or almond milk - you will likely need to add a bit of extra flour or reduce the liquid a bit to achieve the same texture.
Gluten is an important ingredient in any bread recipe, so we recommend using regular all purpose flour if possible!
If you must make these coconut oil biscuits gluten free, we recommend using a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend. Keep in mind that gluten-free flours will perform differently than wheat flours, so your biscuits may be flatter (less flaky) and not hold their shape as well.
In our testing, cold coconut oil most closely mimics the taste and texture of regular butter in this vegan biscuits recipe. That said, you can certainly use your favorite substitute - like Earth Balance vegan butter sticks - in place of the coconut oil if you prefer.
Look for vegan butter that comes in sticks (as opposed to a vegan margarine spread, which is still soft even after refrigeration). Cut the cold butter into small cubes to make it easier to cut into the dough.
Like coconut oil, make sure any vegan butter is VERY cold, and know that each brand or variety will perform a little bit differently (so it might take a bit of trial-and-error to find your ideal balance!)
Yes! These vegan biscuits hold up very well in the freezer. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months, then defrost for a few hours on the counter when you're ready to use them. Reheat biscuits in a warm oven for a few minutes to bring them back to life and help them feel fresh, even after freezing. If you don't want leftovers, you can also sub coconut oil and coconut milk for the dairy in our small batch biscuit recipe.
Any acid will work here! Lime juice, apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar are all good substitutes for the lemon juice.
🎥 Step by Step Video
Note: This video does not include the optional addition of lemon juice, and uses clean hands to cut the oil into the flour (as opposed to a pastry cutter). If you're using lemon juice, add it along with the coconut milk!
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it turned out!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Biscuits (with Coconut Oil)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: Makes 8-12 1x
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These easy, flaky biscuits are made with coconut oil and coconut milk for a naturally vegan recipe.
Ingredients
- 120 grams coconut oil (about ½ cup)
- 230 grams canned coconut milk (about 1 cup)
- 300 grams all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting (about 2 ½ cups when measured correctly by scooping and leveling)
- 14 grams aluminum-free baking powder (4 teaspoons)
- 5 grams baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- 4 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon)
- 5 grams lemon juice (1 teaspoon), optional
Instructions
Prep
- Heat oven to 425° Fahrenheit.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or use a nonstick baking mat).
- Measure out coconut oil and coconut milk. If coconut milk has separated in the can, whisk to re-incorporate. Place both ingredients in the fridge (for at least 30 minutes) or freezer (for at least 10 minutes), until they are quite cold.
Make the Biscuits
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.
- Use a pastry cutter to cut cold coconut oil into the dry ingredients, until you have a coarse, sandy mixture.
- Add cold coconut milk and lemon juice to flour mixture; stir until everything is not quite combined. The dough should be shaggy and fairly loose.
- Lightly flour a cutting board; tip the dough onto the floured surface. Gently pat the dough together until it begins to hold its shape, then fold it over on itself several times and pat it into a 1-inch thick rectangle.
- Cut dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter. Fold remaining dough over on itself a few more times, then repeat. Continue cutting biscuits until you have used up all the dough.
- Place biscuit rounds on the prepared baking sheet, leaving an inch or two of space between each biscuit. Bake at 425°F for 10-12 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown.
Notes
Use a kitchen scale. Measuring ingredients like flour by volume (with a measuring cup) is notoriously unreliable: For best results, use a kitchen scale and measure your ingredients by weight using the gram measurements above.
Why chill the coconut oil and milk? Small pieces of very cold coconut oil melt when the biscuits hit the oven, leaving behind pockets of space that ultimately create these flaky, pull-apart layers. For the tallest, flakiest biscuits, it's important to keep your dough as cold as possible. Using cold coconut oil in its solid form makes it easier to cut the oil into those tiny pieces; cold coconut milk helps the dough stay cold so the pieces don't melt until they're in the oven. Pro tip: You may want to stir the coconut oil a few times while it chills to prevent it from sticking to the bowl or container.
The most important ingredient is PRACTICE. It can take a few tries to get the hang of mixing and shaping biscuit dough. Don't worry if they aren't perfect the first time around!
Work quickly when dealing with biscuit dough so that the heat from your hands doesn't melt the still-solid coconut oil pieces.
With a 3-inch biscuit cutter, you'll get about 8 biscuits out of this recipe. With a 2-inch biscuit cutter, you'll get 10-12 biscuits.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 329
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 322.4 mg
- Fat: 21.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 30.3 g
- Protein: 4.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Jessie
I can't believe I've been making this recipe for almost ten years - it just never gets old! Made another batch this morning to go with some homemade strawberry jam I had in the fridge - ate a few for breakfast, and popped the rest in the freezer to heat up later this weekend! I love how tall and flaky they are, and you really don't taste too much coconut - they are SO similar to a traditional buttermilk biscuit.
Sophia
Hi Jessie, I loved these biscuits!! I will be honest, I was a little intimidated when the folding of the dough came to happen. It was really sticky and I put a lot of flour when I was folding it over itself. I was a little worried but they turned out great!!! I substituted vegan butter with flaxseed oil and I put it in the fridge. I read someone previously wrote that they put their butter/oil in the freezer to make sure it didn't melt. I am sure this is what happened. Anyway, it came out great! I am enjoying them now 🙂 going to make my own blueberry spread while they cool. THANK YOU !!!! I cannot wait to make these for the holidays !!
Susan G
These biscuits are “Slap ya mama good!”
I wanted a quick like bread for veggie sloppy Joe’s. They were just divine, perfect, and delicious. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!!!