Do holidays strain your family sanity? Each year before the holidays begin, my husband and I have the “expectation” talk. We learned to have the talk while attending a young couples class years ago. We were learning how to best communicate; talking through our expectations proved very helpful. Before Thanksgiving, we discuss our expectations for the holiday. We’re totally honest. Maybe he needs to have some quiet time each day with a good book, maybe I want to sit as a family and watch a movie, or he wants to hang out with some friends – whatever it is, we’re honest and share our expectations. We even have a code word for it. We call it a “Clear Request.” Then we go into the holiday knowing how we can best serve each other. During the traveling, long waits, and family gatherings, we each know what our spouse is hoping for. It’s one way we try to be considerate of one another. We now have this talk before vacations (life-saver!!), big events, and sometimes even before a long weekend.
Since I’ve continued eating a grain-free diet, I wanted to find a way to include dressing on our Thanksgiving table. I’d also been missing biscuits, so I tested for a few days until I was able to create a biscuit recipe that didn’t make me miss grain. Then I combined it with my favorite dressing ingredients. So really you get two for one here. The biscuits are incredible. Buttery, flaky, and absolutely perfect with some butter and jam. When dried and combined with the onions, sage and butter, you’ve got a dressing recipe that will meet everyone’s expectations!
Grain Free Stuffing
Make the biscuits ahead of time so they have time to dry out.
Serves 8
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large yellow onions, chopped
15 fresh sage leaves, chopped
12 stale grain free biscuits, broken into small pieces (see recipe below)
1 large egg
1/4 cup heavy cream (substitute with coconut milk for Paleo or Gaps)
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon coarse Celtic sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350ºF and adjust the rack to the middle position. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and stir occasionally until golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add sage and stir for about 30 seconds. Remove skillet from the heat. Add biscuit pieces. Whisk together egg, cream and chicken stock, then pour over biscuit mixture. Season with salt and pepper and stir until incorporated. Pour stuffing into a buttered 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes, until golden brown.
Grain Free Biscuits
I prefer to make my own baking powder to ensure that it’s grain-free. Here’s the recipe: 1 part baking soda + 1 part cream of tartar + 2 parts arrowroot. I make the baking powder in large batches and store it in a glass jar. You can substitute the coconut milk with heavy cream. Makes 1 dozen 3-inch biscuits
2 1/2 cups almond flour or meal
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons grain-free baking powder (see above)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into tablespoons
1/4 cup coconut milk (I prefer a canned coconut milk such as Native Forest. It’s much thicker than the milk found in a carton and also contains less preservatives)
1/4 cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and adjust rack to middle position. Place almond flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to combine. Add butter and pulse, 8-10 times until mixture looks like wet sand with pea-size clumps of butter. Pour mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in the milk and water. The mixture should be tacky, but not loose or runny. If it’s too loose, stir in a tablespoon more of almond flour.
Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough and place each dough mound on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough. Using your fingers, press gently on the tops of the dough mounds to flatten them just a little. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on the edges.
To get these ready for the dressing: Cool biscuits, cut each in half lengthwise and leave out on the counter overnight. (or toast in a 300 degree F oven for 15 minutes until dried out).
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{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! You have really done all the work for us
I am intrigued by all these grain free recipes, but haven’t tried any yet. The biscuits just might get me to the store to buy the special ingredients!
I love the tip about communicating with your husband. Great idea!
I just may adopt your “clear request” thang! Lord knows Aaron and I need to have to talk from time to time. Or..everyday.
This dressing has me spinning.
I can attest to the fact that the biscuits are DELICIOUS. I made them yesterday for breakfast and had them this morning, reheated in the toaster oven with a pat of butter and a bit of organic strawberry jam. I am excited to make stuffing with them, now…thanks for the recipe!!
I’m so glad you liked them! Ever since finishing off our last one, I’ve been craving another.
Can’t wait to try these biscuits and the dressing. Thanks for sharing the “clear request” communication tip. It’s a really good idea and I plan to try it out along with the dressing!
Yum! Thank you for posting this. We’re grain free and my favorite part of Thanksgiving is stuffing, so I was really wanting to find a way to add this to our meal this year. Do you know if you can substitute something for the whole milk in the biscuit recipe? We are on GAPS and cannot do milk. Perhaps coconut milk would work? (PS, I love the expectations idea…that would save so much heartache!)
Actually, it was supposed to say coconut milk. Thanks for pointing this out. I made the edit. I tested them with both heavy cream and coconut milk and preferred the biscuit with the coconut milk (and then forgot to change it in the instructions). I’m glad you can enjoy now stuffing at your Thanksgiving table!!
Biscuts are in the oven right now! I used a can of light coconut milk, that was all I had. Do you think that can also be used in the stuffing recipe (so it’s not wasted?)
I haven’t tried it, but I’d think it might make the stuffing too sweet. You can freeze the coconut milk for future use, put it in a smoothie, or use it as a replacement for creamer in your coffee. Also, my pumpkin pie recipe uses coconut milk, so you could use it for pie. Hope you enjoy the biscuits!
I noticed that in the recipe you suggested we replace the heavy cream with coconut milk for the stuffing. You think this would cause it to be sweet? Or would LIGHT coconut milk cause it to be sweet? I am going to make the stuffing on thanksgiving and want to make sure I got it right.
A lot of hungry people counting on me, LOL!
I made the biscuits today and they are delicious! They don’t look grain free, they are so intact! They also taste so good! Which is the most important part to me
. I’ll be making your gluten free corn bread recipe as well, as well as other yummy recipes from your website and cookbook <3
Can. not. wait. to try this! Planning on “practicing” this weekend for Christmas dressing.
i made them tonight! they taste delicious but are quite crumbly..did i do something wrong? i’m not too concerned since i am going to make stuffing with them.
Glad you liked the flavor! It’s best to let them cool at least 10 minutes after they’ve come out of the oven so they have time to set up a bit and won’t be too crumbly. Since they are made with almond flour and not a flour with gluten they will have a different texture than some are used to. I hope you enjoy the stuffing!
you were right-just needed more time to cool down! the stuffing is in the oven now, and WOW, it looks and smells amazing!
Such a yummy stuffing, and I love that it’s grain free!
These biscuits are a must make. Hopefully, I can find some suitable coconut milk. This is all very new to me, but you really make it an easy transition with all of your grain free recipes.
These recipes sound “delicious.”
Do you treat the grainfree recipes made with almond meal and such as treats. I was amazed to check out the price at my local natural foods store. About $10 for enough to make a recipe or two at the most.
Yes, these are for the occasional treat. Eating too many almonds (from almond flour) isn’t a good idea as it’s very high in omega-6 fatty acids. One way I make things affordable is to buy in bulk. I also hardly ever shop at my local health food store (our local health food store is a good resource, but way overpriced!). I buy in bulk from Azure Standard (www.azurestandard.com) and I also buy many items through the Amazon subscribe and save program. I split orders with friends and also shipping. Some have the luxury of having a good market close by, but the Air Force Base we live on is in a remote location so it makes more sense for me to order my items. I totaled up my ingredients for the biscuits and 1 recipe cost me about $5.
What I love about your posts in the grain free catgory is they never look drab and gray like a lot of this stuff can – and I’m sure they are super deliciously organic.
Great advice about discussing expectations before a holiday – I think holidays would be much more fun and much happier occasions if more people did this!!
Carrie- I’m impressed that you find such delicious ways to stay grain-free even during the holidays. This stuffing looks fabulous!
Such a great idea for holiday stuffing and I love that it is grain free too
I would have said, “No way…it can’t be done!” Yet here you have an amazing grain-free stuffing. Of all things! Very impressive
I love the idea of having a talk before the holidays to discuss expectations. I am going to need to adopt that!
Wow!!!!! You understate the recipe by saying grain-free. Gluten-free in the title would really give it full credit! If this was an engineering process, grain-free biscuits would be a necessary stop on the way to the stuffing! Awesome, and no guar or xanthum gum required – apparently those are to make baked goods stick together more?!
This was a hit! The kids loved it, so I didn’t bother telling them there was no cornbread in it. I did add sauteed celery, green onion, bell pepper, and chopped boiled egg. It was great! Thanks so much!!
Can’t wait to try these biscuits! Quick question. I don’t use dairy. Do you have a suggestion that I could use to substitute for the cream in the dressing?
You could try almond or rice milk. It won’t be quite as creamy, but would make a good substitute.
Thanks! I always have almond milk around so I will try that.
couldn’t you also use coconut milk or cream? (I’ve made coconut cream by putting a can of coconut milk in the fridge for a day or two and then scooping the cream which separates from the liquid)
Yes, coconut milk will work well.
Biscuit stuffing is a great idea. I am going to have to try this soon!
Does this taste coconutty at all?
It’s very savory and doesn’t taste at all like coconut.
Any hints on what I could use in place of the egg in the stuffing? We also have to be egg free and while I’ve gotten pretty adept at replacing them in baking, this is different. Thoughts?
I can’t WAIT.to make these biscuits!
I don’t have a good substitution for the eggs in this recipe. Sorry!
Do you think you could add sausage to this recipe? When would you add it/how would you cook it, etc?
I love this grain free stuffing recipe because all the other ones I’ve researched have a potato base, which made me feel like the Thanksgiving meal would be potato overboard. Can’t wait to try this!
Love the clear request, also!
I am planning on adding sausage to this recipe for our Thanksgiving table this year. I’m going to use 1/2 lb. sausage and add it to the pan about 5 minutes before the onions are fully caramelized. I think it will be great!
What did I do wrong? I made the biscuits and they didn’t rise. They were very dense and I fear will be hard as a hockey puck once it cools. I live at about 5600 feet. Do I need to change the amount of baking powder? (I did make my own baking powder using your suggestion of 1 part baking soda + 1 part cream of tartar + 2 parts arrowroot). Thanks!
Coincidentally, I made these biscuits 2x this weekend and both times they rose properly, so I’m thinking it’s the altitude. I looked at the baking advice over at King Arthur Flour and at your altitude, they say you should decrease the leavening. Here’s the link to the King Arthur High-Altitude Baking Post. Great info! http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi!
I just made a “trial run” of this tonight. Oh.MY.WORD. This is soooooooo good! I also have organic chicken sausage and will be adding this for our thanksgiving. Thank you so much for all of your hard work in creating these recipes for us!
Thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’m adding sausage to mine too this Thanksgiving. Can’t wait!
My mom and I are making this for our family’s first “healthy” Thanksgiving (since I’m sick and can’t eat the other stuff, and my mom chooses not to!) ! I just got the ingredients tonight and I’ll make the biscuits tomorrow to make sure they dry out in time. We’re going to add one chopped apple and a few dried cranberries. I’ll also be baking your coconut flour coffee cake, which I made into muffins about a month ago and it was a HUGE hit. Love love love. Thanks for all your hard work. I’d donate monthly if I had the money. =)
Ahhh…thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad the recipes will help you to have a healthier Thanksgiving!
Finally made the biscuits tonight. OMG! They baked, flaked, looked and smelled just like biscuits. They’re amazing. You’re amazing. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Yay! I’m so glad! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
These are the best grain-free biscuits ever, and I actually used the recipe as the top crust for my chicken pot pie. Another one of your readers suggested the grain-free white rolls, but this biscuit recipe is closer to my original chicken pot pie recipe. I substituted homemade buttermilk for the coconut milk, and rolled it out for my 9″x9″ pie plate. Based for 20-25 min is a 350 degree oven and it is amazing: flakey, buttery and light. Thank you, Carrie! Your recipes are a godsend.
Thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I’ve used it as a topping for chicken pot pie also and loved it!!
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