This gluten-free cinnamon raisin biscuits recipe makes for the perfect breakfast or tasty snack! Inspired by Hardee’s biscuits, this easy recipe delivers soft, flaky biscuits swirled with cinnamon and studded with juicy raisins, all topped with a sweet icing. This one-bowl recipe is quick and easy to make!
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I've been thinking of making this recipe for literally years. I don't know why it took me so long, because this recipe has since become a favorite in our house!
When I was a kid, I loved any opportunity to get a Hardee's cinnamon raisin biscuit, they were my favorite breakfast treat! There was just something so delicious about a warm cinnamon biscuit loaded with raisins and topped off with that sweet icing!
This gluten-free version sure hits the spot for us! We love how soft these biscuits are and that they reheat well for a few days! My kids love having one for an after-school snack!
Recipe Testing Notes
Making biscuits is a much easier task than it may seem. If you have your ingredients prepared, you'll be able to mix them up in less than 15 minutes!
If you've ever made biscuits, you'll know it's important to keep the butter cold during the process; if the butter is kept cold, the biscuits will be much more flaky. This is why the recipe calls for frozen butter and chilling the biscuits while you preheat the oven.
When you incorporate cold butter into your biscuit dough, it remains in small, solid pieces rather than fully blending into the dough. When the biscuits go into the hot oven, the cold butter quickly melts and creates steam, which helps to separate the dough into flaky layers.
Key Ingredients
- Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour: I highly recommend using Cup4Cup gluten-free flour blend in this recipe. I tried some with King Arthur Measure for Measure, and the results just weren't as good. Cup4Cup just has an edge when it comes to delicate recipes like this and gluten-free pie dough!
- Butter: Use cold butter for ultimate flakiness! Plan ahead and pop a stick in the freezer for the best results.
- Buttermilk: Adds a rich, tangy flavor to biscuits and reacts with leavening agents to create a tender, fluffy texture.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Using both baking powder and baking soda help achieve the necessary rise and texture, ensuring that the biscuits are light and fluffy.
- Filling: Raisins, cinnamon, and sugar.
- Vanilla Glaze: Powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract, which is gluten-free..
*Refer to the recipe card for full ingredient information.
Can I make these dairy-free?
If you need a dairy-free option, substitute the butter with a plant-based alternative like vegan butter, and use a dairy-free milk, such as almond or soy milk, mixed with a little vinegar or lemon juice to mimic buttermilk.
What if I don't have buttermilk?
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make a substitute at home by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup of regular milk. Stir the mixture and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly and curdles.
While I love using real buttermilk, this homemade version mimics the tangy flavor and acidity of buttermilk, working well to activate the leavening agents in your biscuits.
Equipment
- Biscuit Cutters: You can use round biscuit cutters or just cut your biscuits into squares with a sharp knife. You can use a 5-wheel pastry cutter to help score your lines if you want perfectly square biscuits.
- Box grater: For this recipe it's important to grate the butter, so you'll want a box grater or a rotary grater like this to help.
- Other baking supplies you'll need include a large bowl, wooden spoon, cookie sheet with parchment paper, rolling pin, and a pastry brush.
How to Make The Biscuits
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients; gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Grate the cold butter into the bowl. With your fingertips, pinch the butter into the flour a bit until you achieve a coarse crumbly mixture; don't over work it. Toss the raisins into the mixture.
- Pour the buttermilk into the bowl and gently mix everything together with a wooden spoon, making sure not to overwork the dough.
- Sprinkle about a teaspoons worth of ground cinnamon over the dough.
- Gently fold it in but don't over mix.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface and roll it out to a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Sprinkle more cinnamon over the rolled-out dough; as if you're making gluten-free cinnamon rolls.
- Use your hands to lift one end of the dough and fold it like a letter back over itself. Then take the opposite end and fold it over the top, creating three layers. Rotate the dough 90° and roll it out again. Sprinkle with more cinnamon and repeat the folds. Repeat this one more time. This folding technique is another key to achieving those flaky, buttery layers.
- Lastly, roll the dough out to a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds from the dough, dipping the cutter in flour between cuts to prevent sticking. Feel free to re-roll any scraps until you've used up all the dough.
- Arrange the biscuits about 1 inch apart on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Place the biscuits in the refrigerator to chill while you preheat the oven. After the oven has preheated, brush the biscuit tops with buttermilk before baking.
- While the biscuits bake, mix up the powdered sugar icing by combining the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.
- Once the biscuits are golden brown, remove them from the oven and drizzle the icing over the tops.
Storage
These gluten-free biscuits are best when enjoyed freshly baked, but they do keep well for 2-3 days. They can be kept at room temperature or refrigerated, but should be kept in an airtight container. You can reheat them in the microwave for a few seconds to soften them up.
What to Serve With Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits
These biscuits are delicious all on their own but if you'd like to serve them as part of a well rounded meal, serve them alongside some eggs of your choice, bacon or sausage, and some fresh fruit. Or simply enjoy them with your favorite cup of coffee!
Top Recipe Tips
- Cold butter is the secret to flaky biscuits! I prefer to freeze the butter before grating it into the flour to ensure it is nice and cold. If you forget, even 15-30 minutes in the freezer should be enough to help chill your butter.
- Use the proper flour mixture. I highly recommend Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour for this recipe. The other blends I tried were not as good— the cornstarch-based Cup4Cup was the clear winner.
- Don't over mix the dough. Stir just to combine, that's all you need!
- When rolling the biscuits, don't be afraid to flour your work surface as needed. Using extra gluten-free flour to help roll out the biscuits will prevent sticking and will not affect the final outcome of the recipe.
- Depending on the size you cut your biscuits, you may end up with more or less than 8 biscuits.
Recipe FAQs
Almond flour is not a suitable replacement for all-purpose gluten-free flour in recipes. Almond flour has different properties from the wheat flour that these blends are trying to mimic, which will affect the texture and structure of your baked goods. For the best results, use recipes specifically designed for almond flour.
Pillsbury does not offer gluten-free pre-made or refrigerated biscuit dough but with an easy gluten-free buttermilk biscuit recipe, you won't even miss them!
The closest gluten-free flour to all-purpose flour in terms of versatility and ease of use is a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend. These blends are specifically designed to mimic the properties of traditional wheat flour in baking and cooking. They typically combine several types of gluten-free flours with starches and sometimes include binding agents like xanthan gum or guar gum to improve texture and elasticity. They are typically labeled as cup for cup or 1:1 flours. Popular brands that offer high-quality gluten-free all-purpose flour blends include
King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour, Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, and Cup4Cup Multipurpose Gluten Free Flour.
While it’s not always necessary to weigh ingredients for every recipe, doing so can help avoid common pitfalls in gluten-free baking, such as dense or dry textures. If you’re serious about baking or facing issues with consistency, investing in a kitchen scale could be a worthwhile step. That said, this particular recipe is pretty forgiving so you can forgo the kitchen scale if you'd like.
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Recipe
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, frozen
- 2 cups Cup4Cup gluten-free flour
- 4 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 cup buttermilk, plus extra for brushing the tops
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Use a box grater to grate the frozen butter directly into the flour mixture. Then use your fingertips to gently toss and pinch the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir the raisins into the flour mixture.
- Add the buttermilk and stir just until evenly combined. Then sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over the dough and fold it in without over mixing.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1-inch thick.
- Evenly sprinkle cinnamon over the top of the dough, reserving enough for two additional layers.
- Fold the dough in thirds, similar to folding a letter. First, bring the bottom edge up to meet the middle, then fold the top edge down over it, resulting in three layers of dough.
- Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll it out again. Sprinkle with more cinnamon and repeat the folding process. Repeat these steps one more time.
- Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1 inch thick, erring on the thicker side for taller biscuits.
- Use a 2 ½-inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour to cut out the biscuits. Re-roll any scraps and continue cutting until all the dough is used.
- Place the biscuits 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill the shaped biscuits in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the biscuits from the refrigerator and brush the tops with buttermilk.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
- While the biscuits are baking, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. If the icing is too thick, add a little more milk to reach your desired consistency.
- Drizzle the icing over the warm biscuits before serving.
Notes
- Cold butter is the secret to flaky biscuits! Even 15-30 minutes in the freezer should be enough to help chill your butter before making the recipe.
- Using Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour is strongly recommended.
- Depending on the size you cut your biscuits, you may end up with more or less than 8 biscuits.
- These gluten-free biscuits are best when enjoyed freshly baked, but they do keep well for 2-3 days when kept in an airtight container. You can reheat them in the microwave for a few seconds to soften them up.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make a substitute at home by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup of regular milk. Stir the mixture and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly and curdles.
Nutrition
* Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should be used as an estimate only. See the nutrition policy for more information.
NYCbaker
Hi Katie- thanks for the great recipes and look forward to trying this one. Cup4Cup recently reformulated their flour. Did you have the same results with the new Cup4Cup? Thanks very much
Katie Olesen
I have not had my hands on the new mix but they have reassured me that the new formulation will behave the same as the old. As soon as I can get some, I will be updating the post. I'm also working on writing up a recipe for my own homemade Cup4Cup blend which I'm finding to be a great option.