These Carrot Butter Biscuits are all about moist, flavorful layers, and they might be a fun twist on a classic, but they are designed for the biscuit skeptics in your life. I love a good biscuit, but too often I hear that people think they are “dry” or “boring,” and this biscuit is designed to counter that (very false!) notion.
These biscuits are subtly sweet, deliciously moist from the carrots, but still maintain a crispy exterior and cravable, flaky layers. With spring here and carrots in abundance, there’s no better time for a carrot biscuit.
Plus, this recipe only makes 6 generous, golden biscuits. So if you are looking for an easy biscuit recipe for a weekend morning, these are a great contender.
Table of contents
When are carrots in season?
Although you can easily find carrots in most grocery stores year round, they do, in fact, have a peak season like any other fruit or vegetable. Or technically, two seasons. Carrots are first planted once the ground is soft in early spring, then again in late summer, and are harvested in late spring and fall.
The fact that they have two growing cycles in much of the US means we get to enjoy them for more of the year than some other produce. Fall harvests are often extended in temperate regions by leaving them in mulch-covered ground to be slowly harvested in the cooler months, or cellared to be sold during winter months.
Although they’re available year round, you’re likely to find the best, most delicious carrots from June through early August—the exact time may vary depending on where you live.
Why put carrots in biscuits?
While it may initially seem a little unusual to put carrots in a biscuit, and I may actually be pushing biscuit skeptics further from the desire to try them, carrots actually have a long history of being incorporated into baking in times when sugar was hard to come by. Not only are carrots a great way to add sweetness to your baked goods, they also add moisture, nutrients, and a touch of character to your biscuits. Like confetti, but subtle.
How to prepare the carrots for this recipe
We want to incorporate the natural sweetness and moisture of the carrots, but we don’t want them to be too prominent or leave our finished product too wet. To avoid a soggy, unbakeable biscuit, we finely grate the carrots and then squeeze out any excess moisture with our hands. This ensures the finished product is moist, but overall balanced and easy to work with!
Ingredients you’ll need
The ingredients in this recipe are pretty standard, so if you’ve dabbled in baking before, you’ll likely have most of them already on hand. Here’s what you need to make these carrot butter biscuits:
- 2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, use half if using Morton’s
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- 1/2 cup (113g) salted butter, chilled
- 1/2 cup & 2 tablespoons (150g) buttermilk, chilled
- 2/3 cup (110g) grated carrots, squeezed out of all excess moisture, weight listed is after squeezing
- 1 medium egg, for egg wash
How to make these carrot biscuits
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
- Cube the butter into 1-cm-thick pieces, add to the flour mixture. Toss with your hands to coat in the flour, then squeeze the pieces into flatter pieces, bbreaking them up until the pieces are about bean-sized and evenly coated in flour. Make a well in the center.
- Pour the buttermilk into the center of the well, then add the carrots. Working quickly, use your hands to form a shaggy dough. Give it a few kneads in the bowl to bring it together, then put the bowl in the refrigerator. Let chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Whisk together the egg in a small bowl.
- Flip the dough out onto the counter and flatten into a rectangle. Cut the dough into thirds and place them on top of each other, press down to create distinct flaky layers. Rotate this new piece of dough 90° and repeat one more time. Then pat the dough down into a rectangle about 2 inches tall. Cut into 6 even pieces.
- Evenly spread out the carrot biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each with the egg wash.
- Bake for 24-26 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden and almost double in height. Serve warm!
Tips for getting the flakiest layers
Getting flaky (but not at all dry) biscuits is all about the dough, so here are my top tips to help you get them just right every single time:
Work quickly: Once you start mixing and shaping, try to work quickly so the butter stays cold. The less time everything spends at room temperature, the more distinct your layers will be!
Chilling: Using cold ingredients helps hydrate the flour and keeps the butter from melting too soon, which means fluffier biscuits that hold their shape in the oven. I like to chill everything (your butter and buttermilk), so those cold pockets stay intact and you want both working in your favor for maximum layers.
Use flour: as needed to help tuck the butter back into the dough. This is another technique that helps prevent the butter from melting too early.
Layer, layer, layer! Cutting the dough in half, layering it on top of itself and pressing down repeatedly will create more and more layers. I recommend doing this at least 2 times.
FAQ
While other ingredients could serve similar functions in delivering sweetness and moisture—zucchini or pumpkin, for example—they are difficult to substitute without adjusting the other ingredients and cook time of this recipe. I’d stick to just carrots for these particular ratios!
Absolutely! Mix your biscuit dough and then store it tightly wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. When you’re ready to bake, follow the rest of the recipe as written. Just make sure the biscuits are fully sealed, otherwise you risk the dough drying out.
Room temperature: Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. I think these are best enjoyed warm, so you reheat in a toaster oven or oven at 350°F for 5 minutes.
Fridge: If you want them to last a bit longer, store them in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Just reheat in the oven or toaster before serving to revive that crispy top.
Freezer: Once baked and cooled, freeze the biscuits in a single layer on a baking sheet, or layered in a Ziploc bag. I like to layer each with parchment paper, which makes retrieving a single biscuit very easy. To reheat, bake straight from frozen at 350°F for about 12-15 minutes, or microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Why is this recipe in grams?
Grams is always my preference for baking, and I hope it will be yours, too. The only way to ensure complete accuracy is by measuring by weight, not volume. One cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120 grams to 160 grams, depending on how it was packed. This ends up causing some volatility and mismatched results.
I want to ensure you get the best results with this recipe (and I want to keep this recipe foolproof!) so I highly recommend getting a small, affordable kitchen scale if you want to move forward with this particular recipe.
Looking for other baking recipes?
Tamarind Carrot Cake
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Muffins
Soft Baked Gingerbread Cookies
And that’s everything for these Carrot Butter Biscuits!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Equipment
- 1 whisk
- 1 parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, use half if using Morton's
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- 1/2 cup (113g) salted butter, chilled
- 1/2 cup & 2 tablespoons (150g) buttermilk, chilled
- 2/3 cup (110g) grated carrots, squeezed out of all excess moisture (gram weight listed is after squeezing)
- 1 egg, for egg wash
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together 300 grams of all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Cube 113 grams of butter and add it to the flour mixture. Toss to coat the butter in flour, then use your hands to flatten and break up the pieces until they are bean-sized and evenly distributed throughout the flour. Make a well in the center.
- Pour 150 grams of buttermilk into the center of the well, then add 110 grams of carrots. Working quickly, use your hands to form a shaggy dough. Give it a few kneads in the bowl to bring it together, then put the bowl in the refrigerator. Let chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Whisk together the egg in a small bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a rectangle. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into thirds, then stack the pieces on top of one another and gently press down to create flaky layers. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the process one more time. Finally, pat the dough into a rectangle about 2 inches thick and cut into 6 even pieces.
- Evenly spread the biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush each with the egg wash.
- Bake for 24-26 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden and almost double in height. Serve warm!
Comments
These are SO GOOD. They’re vaguely sweet with that tinge of cinnamon, but turned out amazing and we devoured the whole bunch with dinner. Thank you for the amazing recipe Justine!!!
I made these biscuits and used them to make a ham sandwich. These biscuits were so tender and I loved the texture of the carrot.
Made these for Easter brunch and they were a HIT. So moist and not too sweet. I was worried these would taste like carrot cake, but not at all . Also loved the beautiful pop of color from the carrots. Great recipe!!
I’m so thrilled you liked them!!
Turned out great! I’ve started juicing so instead of the carrot, I had grapefruit and lemon pulp and used that. Given these are a bit bitter/sour, I added an extra tablespoon of sugar. Was quite good, still had a slight bitter bite, but I can see how the carrot pulp would work nicely. Will try that the next time I have some.
Ooo that’s such a cool way to tweak it! I’m glad it turned out, and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I hope others will try it your way too 🙂
These biscuits are heaven and so easy to make! Honestly, grating the carrots took the most time (since I only had a handheld microplane). Second time, I shredded them in a food processor twice to get shorter pieces. Less liquid was able to come out of the carrots, but the structure of the biscuit remained! I also doubled the batch the second time (with the shredded carrot) and no issues there!
absolutely delicious and so easy to make 🙂
I’m so thrilled you loved them!
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