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Easy-to-make vegan chickpea flour drop biscuits that are grain-free, gluten-free, and scrumptious! They can be varied in umpteen different ways to suit your tastes and preferences, too.
Not every biscuit can be light, fluffy and delicious while also being grain-free, vegan, and easy-to-make. Oh, and protein-rich (4.5 grams per biscuit), too.
In fact, few biscuits come anywhere close.
This one can. Once again, it’s chickpea flour that makes the impossible possible, this time in convenient quick-bread form. And whether you embrace or eschew grains, this is a biscuit recipe you will want to try, for the buttery-nutty flavor, tender texture, and great nutrition.
Recipe Benefits
Here is a more complete list of what makes these chickpea flour biscuits so great. They are:
- Vegan (dairy-free and egg-free)
- Gluten-free
- Grain-free
- Nut-free
- High in protein
- High in fiber
- Versatile
- Super easy to make
Ingredients
- plain nondairy milk (e.g., oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk)
- cider vinegar (or any light-colored vinegar, or lemon juice)
- chickpea flour (also called garbanzo bean flour, or besan)
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- neutral oil of choice (I used olive oil)
Step by Step Directions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Drop biscuits are the real wonder bread.
The ingredient proportions are the same as for rolled and cut biscuits except for the liquid. Adding a higher proportion of liquid allows the dough to be “dropped” off a spoon onto a baking sheet. Express bread! These chickpea flour biscuits, for example, are ready (start to finish) in just about 15 minutes.
How to Make Nondairy Buttermilk
A key to creating the light texture and mellow flavor of these biscuits is making some sour milk. I know, “sour milk” may not inspire delectable imagery, but is an essential element for countless varieties of tender quick bread (think buttermilk pancakes, biscuits and breads).
Making nondairy buttermilk, or sour milk, is as simple as stirring some vinegar into the milk of your choice and letting the mixture stand for a few minutes before using.
It is remarkable how the small amount of acidity elevates the biscuits from good to great (trust me; I made the biscuits with water and with plain milk, first. Souring the milk is the way to go here!).
You won’t have to cut in/work in chilled butter or fat, either. Instead, stir in the oil of your choice (my choice is olive oil) along with the sour milk. After that, just drop, bake and eat!
- Preheat oven to 425F (210C).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small cup or bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. Let stand at least 2 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the milk mixture and olive oil until blended.
- Immediately drop 6 equal portion of dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart.Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 13 minutes until puffed and golden brown at the edges. Serve warm or cool completely.
How to Serve Chickpea Flour Drop Biscuits
It should go without saying that these biscuits are perfect alongside a mug of hot soup for supper, but do not forget about lunch (um, yes, I would like a biscuit sandwich) and breakfast (bring on the jam!).
Chickpea Flour Drop Biscuit Variations
A plain biscuit is always grand, but depending on your mood and inclination, you may want to play dress-up by adding some stir-ins or sprinkles. The sky’s the limit, but here are some of my favorite options:
- Fresh or dried herbs (e.g., rosemary, parsley, thyme, herbes de Provence)
- Cheese (nondairy, or some nutritional yeast for cheez-y flavor)
- Seeds (e.g., sesame, poppy, hemp, or an assortment + dried minced onion & garlic for an “everything” biscuit)
- Flaked coconut (stir some in & sprinkle some on top for toasted coconut bliss)
- Spices + sweetness (e.g., cinnamon sugar, cardamom, ginger, pumpkin pie spice)
It’s hard to choose a favorite, but my coconut biscuit variation is topping my list these days. I added a restrained slather of ginger preserves on this beauty late this morning for my second breakfast (#eatlikeahobbit). Happy baking, everyone!
How to Store Vegan Chickpea Flour Drop Biscuits
Store the cooled biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, the refrigerator for 5 days or the freezer for 3 months.
Related Posts:
- Vegan Grain-Free Drop Biscuits {Oil-Free, Easy}
- Grain-Free Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits {Vegan, Oil-Free}
- Cauliflower Biscuits {4 ingredients, vegan, grain-free, oil-free}
- Coconut Flour Lentil Cookies {Grain-free, Vegan}
- Healthy Oil-Free Granola {vegan, gluten-free}
Vegan Chickpea Flour Drop Biscuits (Grain-Free)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup 118 mL nondairy milk
- 1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar
- 1 and 1/4 cups, 150 g chickpea flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons 45 mL oil of choice (I used olive oil)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F (210C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small cup or bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. Let stand at least 2 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the milk mixture and olive oil until blended. (Note: if the biscuit dough seems dry, add a tablespoon or more milk, or water).
- Immediately drop 6 equal portion of dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 13 minutes until puffed and golden brown at the edges.
- Serve warm or cool completely.
These were the best and easiest gf biscuits I’ve ever made.
I used them to top my turkey pot pie…they were tasty and fluffy,
I added cheese and sage, used lactose free milk. I substituted baking soda/cream of tartar for the baking powder. I’m happy!
Joyce, I am so glad these were a success! Cheers 🙂
This looks like a great easy recipe! I AM going to try it! Thank you!
Hope you like them, Michele!
Made this today, they were really simpel to make, just what I love, and they are definitely delicious.
Thank you
Excellent Judith, I am so glad you like the biscuits!
Lovely recipe
So glad you like the recipe, Sandra. Thanks so much for taking the time to post a comment, I appreciate it!
I wanted to post a picture, but I can’t here. My biscuits were flat as all get out. They tasted fine and the texture was fine, but they were like cookies, not biscuits. I followed the recipe to a T, even weighed my chickpea flour to the gram. However, at the point it said, if it’s dry add a tbsp of liquid – I was like, dry?? This is like cake batter?! Should it be a shaggy dough? Should I let it sit and let that chickpea flour absorb the liquid? What did I do wrong?
Hi Mary,
I’m sorry the biscuits did not turn out. the dough should not be shaggy— drop biscuits need to have more liquid than rolled biscuits so that they can be dropped onto a baking sheet. The dough should be thick and moist, perhaps like a very thick cake batter. I’m not sure why your dough was so loose, but that would explain why they came out flat.
These turned out so much better than I expected! They were quick, and they’re good next time I’m gonna add some more stuff this time I just added a bit of cheesy flavor. Thanks for the recipe.
Hooray! I’m so glad the biscuits exceeded expectations, Erica 🙂
Really good biscuits. I have tried lots of gluten free biscuit recipes that turned out like duds, but these were really easy and delicious. Will definitely make again.
Great, Michelle, I am so glad that they turned out well and you liked them!
Good day, is there anything to replace the oil with please?
Hi there Cali! You could replace the oil with applesauce, or pumpkin purée. A runny nut butter or tahini should also work nicely 🙂
These biscuits are great! Sliced nicely and were good with savory food as well as with jam. They kept well for a week in a plastic container. I’m going to use toasted garbanzo bean flour in my next batch, hoping to reduce a little of the “raw bean” taste. These came together in seconds and the dough was super easy to handle.
Wonderful, Holly, so glad that you like these. I love the ease of drop biscuits (me? lazy? umm, guilty :)) Toasting the garbanzo be a flour os a great idea. It does indeed make the chickpea flavor nuttier and less bean-y. Enjoy!
I absolutely love this recipe! High protein, high fiber! The texture of these biscuits are fluffy, moist, a little crumbly. Every time I make them I double the batch! Buuuut… they give us horrible gas. I dont know if there is a way around this issue with this recipe. Making beans from scratch, I always soak them overnight. Do you have any suggestions to help break down those hard-to-digest carbohydrates reducing that symptom?
Hi Angela! I am so glad you like the recipe! So sorry to hear they are causing some unwanted gas issues. There is a solution, if you are open to grinding your own flour (it can be cheaper, too, bu buying dried chickpeas in bulk):
(1) Soak the dried chickpeas for eight hours and up to 24 hours (cover with enough water so they are covered by a few inches of water).
(2) drain and rinse the soaked chickpeas. Pour the soaked and drained chickpeas onto a rimmed baking sheet (or sheet). You can let them dehydrate in a warm spot at room temperature (or use a dehydrator). It can take 12 to 24 hours at room temp, depending on the humidity.
(3) Once the chickpeas a re completely dry, grind them in a high speed blender until a fine flour forms.
Cheers!
Excellent. Doubled recipe, they came out perfectly. Could hardly believe that I made chickpea bread –no eggs — and it didn’t crumble. Could even thin-slice the biscuit.
The second time I made it, added oregano, dill, onion powder and garlic powder. Slathered on guacamole to savory biscuit. Delish. (Next version I am thinking cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and a little honey or agave.) Thanks for recipe.
That is simply wonderful, Margaret! Oh my goodness, your variation— plus the toppings— is making me very hungry!
If making these sweet how much suger and dry fruit can I add?
Hi Fiona,
Depending on how much sweetness you are after, I suggest somewhere between 1 to 3 tablespoons of sweetener. You can add between 3 and 8 tablespoons chopped dried fruit. 🙂
These are soooo easy and taste really good with soup! Im trying to give ups all grains and these satisfy my bread cravings. Thanks!
Can the vinegar be replaced with anything else as I’m allergic too it. I’m also allergic to lemons and oranges.
Thanks
Hi Fiona,
Cream of tartar (you can find it where you find spices) can be used as an acidic replacement for vinegar and lemon juice. It has a unique tart flavor (it is what gives snickerdoodle cookies their unique tangy flavor).
@Camilla, hi we did this with plain yought and milk mix and they turned out good although they were a little brown think next time middle shelf and slightly lower temperature as we used a fan oven
Sounds like a plan, Fiona 🙂
Can you make this without vinegar?
Hi Fiona,
You can use lemon juice or cream of tartar in place of the vinegar. You need one of these acidic ingredients in the mix to activate the baking soda.
Why so much sodium in one little biscuit? I will eliminate the 1/4 tsp but that isn’t much??? Help please as these sound good but I am on a strict low sodium diet.
Hi Mary,
Baking powder and baking soda both contain sodium. You can buy reduced sodium baking powder to reduced sodium in baked goods. You can also eliminate the salt, entirely, if that is what you prefer.
Could I make these with water instead of plant based milk?
Yes!
I am so pleased:) I have been gluten free for years and make gf biscuits but I was out of flour so I thought I would give these a try and they are great! I made mine in the food processor (combine all dry ingredients and give it a wiz. Add the oil to the combined milk and vinegar then add it to the dry. Give it another wiz until it is just combined.) They were light and delicious! Thank you so so much xox
You are so welcome, Nora, glad you like them!
Chef Camilla,
Perfect, yummy, light, fluffy and just all around good. I can’t say enough good things about these biscuits. Oh, and easy breezy. Thank you, girl. You rock!
So flattered, Regina! 😊
Thanks for this recipe, it really hits the spot for a grain free biscuit!
Hello Camilla
The cookies turned out great. I used Basin. The 1/2 C milk was just right as I live in a high altitude dry area in Canada. Can I add some maple syrup?, if yes how much. I can’t have Gluten in my class and wanted to make them a bit sweeter.
Thank you very much!!
Hi there Cindy, so happy to hear you liked these humble biscuits 🙂 Yes, you can add more maple syrup: for every tablespoon of maple syrup you add, decrease the milk by 1 tablespoon. I would not do this replacement for more than 3 tablespoons of the milk. Cheers!
Loved making chickpea biscuit. Found the batter a bit runny like pancake. Will cut milk to 1/4 instead of 1/2 cup.
.
Simple good and easy! They taste like besan, but I love the flavor, I grew up with it.
Thumbs up from hubby and kiddos! Be sure to use fresh chickpea flour/ besan.
I absolutely love these biscuits my hubby said they remind him of scones, when I added some raspberry and fig jam to them. I have doubled the ingredients because I can’t be without these during my busy week.
Can’t thank you enough!
Wonderful, Renee! I am a huge jam aficionado, so I am right with you a slather of raspberry or fig jam.
I was looking for a recipe using chickpea flour, and thankfully found these. I made them using coconut milk and avocado oil, and they were good. My husband said they reminded him of biscuits his mom made growing up. Thanks for the recipe!
You are so very welcome, Dorothy! Ooh, I am super flattered that these reminded your husband of one of his mom’s bakes 😍
Easy and wonderful! I make them all the time now with different flavor add ins sometimes.
I was really craving something like a scone to go alongside my homemade jam. I immediately came to Power hungry because I know I can always depend on Camilla to offer the best recipes. Within 15 minutes I had beautiful baked goods topped with ja. I now make these two to three times a week!
These were so good!! The texture was exactly like regular biscuits. I added Dash’s salt free garlic and herb seasoning to the dry ingredients. The tops got quite brown but that only affected the look. I’m on a diet where I can’t eat grains or sugar but this completely hit the spot! Thanks this recipe!!
This recipe looks great and I would like to try it! Do you happen to know whether it should work with Indian gram flour (besan) or whether it needs to be chickpea flour per se? (As I understand, besan is ground from hulled black chickpeas whereas chickpea flour is ground from garbanzos). Thanks for any thoughts!
Hi! Yes, you can definitely use besan here, I use besan and chickpea flour interchangeably all the time. Both besan and chickpea flour are
chickpea flour
, the former from desi chickpeas, the latter from kabuli chickpeas. But I’ve done side by side recipes of each flour for the same recipe and they have come out identical. Also, the measurements are the same (30 g per 1/4 cup). 🙂
This is so helpful – thank you!! I’ll definitely be making the biscuits, then!
Great recipe, made them today for the first time as part of my Type 2 diabetes management. So easy and very tasty. Great to have with homemade soup as bread is a no-no now.
That’s wonderful, Mark! I know, soup needs some bread alongside glad these work with your dietary constraints 🙂
These were delicious! I am wondering if you think making them with cooked chickpeas and blending them together would work and what you might do to change the recipe for that? This was my first recipe using chickpea flour so I am not sure how it would compare with using chickpeas.
Hi Audrey! So glad you like them. No, the cooked chickpea will not work in the same way as chickpea flour. Think of the chickpeas in the same way as eggs: adding a raw egg to a baking recipe will work very differently from adding , say, a hard boiled or otherwise cooked egg. The nature of the protein has changed.
These are soooooo amazing! I was craving a savory biscuit as I’m currently on a grain-free sugar-free diet, and I’m so thankful you made this recipe! I added 1/2 tsp. each turmeric, sambhar masala, thyme, parsley, and about 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper. Incredible with a little pat of Miyoko’s vegan butter! Biscuit craving beyond satisfied!
Wonderful, Gifun, I am so glad that you enjoyed these!
I really like ur biscuits like these that also use almond flour. I was going to ask if all chickpea flour would work when I saw ur link to this recipe in response to person allergic to almond flour.
But now I have the question – if the almond/chickpea biscuits work w/o oil, will these?
Thanks!
Hi Kay!
I think you might still need some oil in these. Here’s why: the almond flour biscuits work without oil because almond flour is high in natural oils (i.e., the fat is in the flour itself). Chickpeas are virtually fat free, so without added fat, I fear they could be a bit dry. But you could try using applesauce or a bit of pumpkin to create moisture in place of the oil.
Would lemon juice safise instead of using vingeger of any kind?
Hi Kellie,
Absolutely! Lemon juice will work just fine here.
The thing is I want to eat your creations and they are nice and simple and quick. Just right!
I was wondering if any other flours would work? Brown Rice, tapioca, quinoa, coconut? I am currently out of the chickpea but have plenty of the others.
Hi Laurie! Alas, this particular recipe will only work with chickpea flour.
Thanks! These turned out really good. I was looking for a baking powder-like biscuit to go with the turkey stew I made tonight. These hit the spot!
Wonderful, so glad to hear, Julie!
Hello!
I am loving so many of your recipes! I do have a question. I am following a particular way of eating to lose weight. You can have certain carbs, but per serving no more than 5g of fat.
Do you think this recipe might work by replacing the olive oil with unsweetened applesauce?
Thank you so much for your help!
Val
Hi Val! So glad you are enjoying the recipes 🙂 I think you could make these with applesauce as a sub; they will certainly hold together. The texture will be less tender with the lack of oil, but should still be good. Pumpkin would likely work as well, but perhaps add a touch more liquid. Would love to know how it works out, Val!
Are these proportions correct? My dough was so runny it was almost like pancake dough. I am thinking there was way too much liquid for such a small amount of flour.
I am so so sorry, Flo! I have made the change. It is half the amount of liquid. I originally had this scaled to make 12 biscuits and then reduced it to 6 biscuits, but made an error with the milk. So sorry, and thank you for letting me know. The change has been made!
Thank you! I will try again! Love your recipes!
Thank YOU, Flo!!! xo
Sorry, I confused the recipe with the soup I’ve made at the same time. I didn’t add water to the biscuits. 🙂
No problem, Shari!