Gluten Free Cheese Biscuits

Gluten free dough does not handle the same way as regular dough.  It is a reality of learning to cook gluten free, but it does not mean that taste needs to be compromised.  But it is for this reason that drop biscuits work better than rolled biscuits.  This recipe is my best success thus far with gluten free rolled biscuits.  It comes from the blog of Celiac Teen.  The millet flour seems to be the key here, it behaves so nicely in those recipes that are particularly difficult to convert.

Gluten Free Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 cup millet flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 40 g (1/4 cup packed) shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry blender until butter is the size of small peas. Toss the shredded cheese into the dry ingredients, ensuring to break up any clumps that may have formed.  
3. Stir buttermilk into dough until it just comes together. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface (I use sweet rice flour). Pat dough into a rectangle that is about 1 inch high. Cut into squares. 
4. Place squares on baking sheet and bake for 12-16 minutes.

**Note:  The first time I made these I found the flour used to cover the work surface left a powdery coating on the biscuits after cooked.  The taste and texture of the biscuits themselves was perfect.  Next time I may try using a little bit more buttermilk to compensate.  Do your own experimenting also!