These aren’t your ordinary herb drop biscuits. They do use everyday foods and can be prepared at a moments notice. But each tender bite includes an unusual ingredient that whether or not we want to admit it, most of us stock in our refrigerators.
The once taboo condiment, known as mayonnaise, is no longer as evil as we once thought. The fat-phobic 80’s are long gone, and we can now source mayo that’s natural, organic, and even vegan. Not to mention, it’s an everyday food that’s almost always dairy-free, and an amazing secret ingredient for baked goods. It provides richness and emulsification that can sometimes be lacking in dairy-free oils or spreads.
Consequently, these herb drop biscuits have excellent depth of flavor and a tender, slightly moist, biscuit-meets-roll texture. The fresh herbs provide summery warmth but keep the biscuits versatile enough to enjoy with salads, soups, or simply a slathering of buttery spread.
Key Ingredients: Easy Herb Drop Biscuits
Flour: I use white-wheat flour, which is 100% whole wheat / whole grain, but a lighter and milder than traditional red wheat. Using all-purpose flour will yield lighter results than the heartier herb drop biscuits pictured here.
Herbs: Every time I make these herb drop biscuits, I use whatever herbs I have on hand. But my favorite thus far is a blend of thyme and rosemary, as shown here.
Mayo: Your favorite brand will work just fine, so there’s no reason to run to the store for a specialty ingredient. Although I do recommend stocking an all-natural brand or a vegan variety if egg-free is essential.
Milk Beverage: I think it’s safe to say that most dairy-free consumers stock non-dairy milk beverage regularly. In fact, many dairy consumers do, too! Yes, I’ve seen you guys in the grocery line-up with your wedges of cheese and half-gallons of almond milk. I use So Delicious Unsweetened Dairy-Free Milk Beverages for baking, as I like the neutral flavor. In this recipe, I used the coconut milk beverage, as it lends a nice touch of richness to baked goods without notably affecting the flavor. However, unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened cashew milk will work, too.
This herb drop biscuits recipe post is sponsored by So Delicious Dairy Free. It’s because of their great milk beverages that dairy-free baking is so deliciously easy!
Special Diet Notes: Easy Herb Drop Biscuits
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, optionally egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, optionally vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian. We haven’t yet tested this recipe gluten-free. If you opt to trial gluten-free, make sure you use a flour blend with sufficient binding ingredients.
- 2 cups all-purpose or wheat flour (see post above)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ to 1 teaspoon salt (see below)
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, etc)
- ½ cup mayonnaise (natural, organic or vegan)
- ¾ to 1 cup unsweetened dairy-free milk beverage (I use So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage)
- Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Whisk in the herbs.
- Add the mayonnaise and whisk until the flour forms coarse crumbs.
- Stir in ¾ cup of the milk beverage. Add more, as needed, to get a dough that is sticky, but not too wet.*
- Scoop the dough into 12 mounds on your baking sheet (I use an old-school ice cream scoop). If needed, you can gently shape the dough with lightly damp hands.
- Bake for 12 to 13 minutes or until lightly crusty on top and slightly golden overall. They don't tend to brown.
Too Wet Dough: If your dough ends up a little more like thick batter, don't worry, it's fixable! Simply scoop the batter into greased or silicone muffin tins and bake as directed.
28 Comments
Very late to the party as I just found this. 3/4 cup of water worked fine and used a bit extra mayo. No salt because vegetable seasoning has salt already in it, also added a tablespoon of minced garlic and used water instead of a milk substitute. Came out delicious. Found this because I was looking for a way to make biscuits with no milk or eggs in the house at the moment.
Never too late with recipes! Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for sharing your modifications.
To be specific I used 3 tablespoons of “vegetable seasoning” which is basically chopped dried veggies plus salt, water instead of milk substitute plus about an extra teaspoon of mayo plus 1 teaspoon of minced garlic as I am a garlic freak. These are GREAT.
What a wonderful flavor idea! Thank you for sharing Wyoming.
Thought I would share a new variation I just made.
Honey mustard.
Skip the herbs,
1/2-3/4 cup water (due to the moisture in the honey and mustard) instead of milk substitute
6 tablespoons stone ground dijon mustard or other mustard to your taste.
3 tablespoons of honey
Prepare as normal.
That sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing.
I was excited to try these. They cooked up beautifully, I even did a batch with gluten free flour. However, I followed the recipe and the taste of baking powder is STRONG. My kids won’t eat them/are spitting them out. I wish this had worked!
This recipe was not designed to be made gluten-free. The results could taste very off. I’m very sorry though if a wheat batch didn’t work out for you! If you tasted the baking powder, I think it might have gone bad. This is a very standard amount of baking powder for this batch – I have have many other scone recipes with this formula and never a baking powder issue with anyone who has made them. But if your baking powder has gone bad, it can fail to fully act and leave a taste. That’s the only issue I can think of! We have never had this issue with the taste at all.
These turned out great! I used vegan Just Mayo, no herbs, made 9 biscuits, baked 15 minutes.
Fantastic! Thanks for the recipe feedback and your recipe notes April – very helpful!
I used the recipe without the herbs, added sliced strawberries and canned coconut whipped cream…yum
Yummy! Great idea Jo and thanks for sharing your variation.
Would love some biscuits without herbs to put homemade jam on. Would these work for that without the herbs? I have all the ingredients other then the herbs so they would be simple to try!
Yes, it will work just fine without the herbs. I would add the lesser amount of salt and then taste a touch of the dough to see if you prefer more salt.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I just made these with a gluten free flour blend (it included xanthan gum), home grown basil and coriander and increased the baking time by 5 minutes. Turned out fabulously!
Oh that’s fabulous! Thank you so much for offering gluten-free feedback on these Dilnaaz. If it was a store-bought blend, feel free to let us know which one. I’m sure others would like to know 🙂
As the taste tester, I vouch for their perfection! I adore anytime I can get my hands on foods with fresh herbs. This recipe truly hit the spot.
Thanks Caroline! You are definitely the best taste-tester in town!
These herb drop biscuits look so delicious! I bet they just melt in your mouth! Must try!
Oh my, I love biscuits and these guys look amazing! I wonder how they would turn out with the avocado mayo we both recently tried…
They turn out great! I tried them with the avocado mayo, too. I made tons of test batches to test different ratios 🙂
Good to know! Thanks 🙂
Oh, Alisa, these look so good! I haven’t had a biscuit like this in years and you’ve just reminded me of how much I love them. LOVE the herbs you stuffed in there. And these look super easy too. Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks Jenn! I know. It had been a while since I’d had biscuits and I got a serious craving. Now I know they’re just too easy not to make more often!
My husband LOVES biscuits! These look so easy! I’ll have to make them for him, and I’ll keep the “easy” part a secret 😉
Haha, yes. No reason to let him know you didn’t slave over his food 🙂
These sound delicious and I love adding fresh herbs into breads and baking. Such a lovely surprise when you bite into it!
It really is – subtle but bright, fresh and a little earthy!