These innocent looking biscuits nearly drove me mad.

I had to make this recipe six times before I got them right. I nearly gave up. But I was determined to win. No little biscuit was going to vanquish me! The end result - buttery, tender biscuits - was worth it.

Recipe Rennovations

I used to love biscuits-in-a-tube when I was a kid, and hadn't tried making gluten-free biscuits. I started with Cooking Light's recipe for fluffy buttermilk biscuits, intrigued by the idea that you didn't have to cut in the butter, but instead melt it and add it to the buttermilk. The "butter" is organic Earth Balance spread and I made "buttermilk" from soy milk plus apple cider vinegar and salt.

I also had to figure out which gluten-free flour combination would give the best texture.

Try, Try Again

I made biscuits that had delicious texture inside but were flat as pancakes.

I made biscuits that looked perfect on the outside but were gummy and chewy on the inside.

I changed my flour formula three times. I realized that I had cut in the margarine too finely. (When you cut the margarine or butter in too finely, there aren't pockets of fat that will expand in the hot oven. That's what gives biscuits their flaky texture.)

I eventually gave up on the Cooking Light technique of melting the butter and mixing it with the buttermilk, as it didn't seem to be working with my recipe.

Using a tip from Gluten-Free Baking for Dummies, I let the dough sit for ten minutes to allow the gluten-free flours to absorb the moisture and let the psyllium husk fiber do its work creating structure.

And voilà ! Perfectly tender biscuits!

No Substitutions

Since it took me six tries to make these, do not make any substitutions in this recipe. If you want these biscuits, get these flours. Do not omit that tiny little teaspoon of psyllium husk fiber. It is essential for creating the dough structure.

Unfortunately, soy milk is the only non-dairy milk that curdles properly, so I can't suggest a substitute for you non-soy people.