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These flaky vegan pumpkin biscuits are lightly sweet, warmly spiced, and made with canned pumpkin and cold vegan butter. They’re the perfect addition to your vegan Thanksgiving menu, and they’re just as good for breakfast with jam.
Quick Glance
- Recipe Name: Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits
- Why You’ll Love It: Tall, flaky biscuits with real pumpkin flavor, made with 8 pantry ingredients.
- Time and Difficulty: 40 minutes. Easy, even if you’ve never made biscuits before.
- Main Ingredients: All-purpose flour, pumpkin purée, cold vegan butter, soy milk, baking powder, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Method: Cut cold vegan butter into the dry ingredients, stir in the pumpkin mixture, fold the dough for layers, then cut and bake.
- Texture and Flavor: Golden outside, soft and flaky inside, with a gentle warm spice.
- Quick Tip: Keep the vegan butter as cold as possible for the flakiest biscuits.
Table of Contents
What Makes These Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits So Good
If you love my fluffy vegan biscuits and sweet potato biscuits, these pumpkin biscuits belong in your fall baking lineup. A little canned pumpkin gives them a golden color, a soft center, and a mild pumpkin flavor that pairs well with both sweet and savory toppings.
A biscuit only needs a few basic ingredients, and these are no exception. There are no eggs or dairy, and with a little folding, you get the tall, flaky layers you want from a homemade biscuit.
Vegan Pumpkin Biscuit Ingredients
Refer to the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and quantities.
- All-purpose flour: Gives the biscuits their structure.
- Baking powder: Helps the biscuits rise tall in the oven.
- Brown sugar: Just a little for a hint of sweetness.
- Pumpkin pie spice: Adds warm fall flavor. You can use store-bought or make my homemade pumpkin pie spice.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and brings out the pumpkin flavor.
- Cold vegan butter: The key to flaky layers. Keep it in the fridge until you need it.
- Pumpkin purée: Plain canned pumpkin works perfectly. Use the rest of the can in vegan pumpkin bread or one of these canned pumpkin recipes.
- Unsweetened soy milk: Brings the dough together.
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits
Before you start, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cube the vegan butter and keep it cold until you need it. You’ll find the full instructions in the recipe card below.
Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
Step 2: Add the cold vegan butter and work it into the flour with a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingertips.
Step 3: Keep going until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter.
Step 4: In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée and soy milk.
PRO TIP: Those pea-sized pieces of butter are what make the layers. If the butter starts to feel soft or greasy, pop the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes before moving on.
Step 5: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Step 6: Stir just until a shaggy dough forms. Add a little more soy milk if it seems dry, but don’t overmix.
Step 7: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 1-inch-thick rectangle.
Step 8: Fold the dough in half and pat it back into a rectangle. Repeat 2 more times to build flaky layers.
Step 9: Pat the dough to about 1 inch thick, cut out the biscuits with a 2½-inch cutter, and place them on the baking sheet with the sides just touching.
Step 10: Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden and the biscuits have risen. Let them cool for 5 minutes before serving.
PRO TIP: Press the biscuit cutter straight down and lift it straight up. Twisting seals the edges, and the biscuits won’t rise as evenly.
Common Pumpkin Biscuit Problems to Avoid
- Flat biscuits: Usually the butter got too warm or the cutter was twisted. Keep everything cold and cut straight down.
- Tough biscuits: The dough was overmixed. Stir just until it comes together. A shaggy dough is what you want.
- Sticky dough: Pumpkin purée can vary in moisture. Dust the counter and your hands with a little flour, and if the dough feels too soft, chill it for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting.
What to Serve with Pumpkin Biscuits
- Spreads: Vegan butter, Instant Pot apple butter, or grape jam.
- Soups and chili: They’re great next to vegan pumpkin chili or easy vegan pumpkin soup.
- Gravy: Smother them in vegan mushroom gravy for a fall twist on vegan biscuits and gravy.
- Holiday meals: Add them to your bread basket alongside vegan dinner rolls.
Storage Instructions
- Room temperature: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Freezer: Freeze the biscuits for up to 2 months.
Vegan Pumpkin Biscuit FAQs
Yes. Plain canned pumpkin is pumpkin purée, and it’s what I use in these biscuits. Just make sure the label says 100% pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.
I don’t recommend it. Pumpkin pie filling already has sugar and spices added, so the biscuits would turn out sweeter and the flavor would be off. I haven’t tested this recipe with it.
They’re only lightly sweet. There’s just 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar in the whole batch, so they work with savory meals like soup and chili, and they’re also great with jam for breakfast.
Biscuits are flaky, buttery, and only a little sweet, and they’re usually served with a meal. Scones tend to be sweeter, more crumbly, and often have a glaze, so they’re more of a treat with coffee or tea.
I haven’t tested these biscuits with gluten-free flour, so I can’t promise how they’ll turn out. If you try it, a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blend is your best bet, and the biscuits may not rise as tall.
More Vegan Pumpkin Recipes
Vegan Breakfasts
Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
Vegan Breakfasts
Vegan Pumpkin Waffles
Vegan Breakfasts
Easy Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes
Vegan Desserts
Pumpkin Coffee Cake [+ Optional Streusel]
If you tried these vegan pumpkin biscuits or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks!
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Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits
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Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold vegan butter cubed
- ½ cup pumpkin purée
- ⅓ cup unsweetened soy milk plus more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Add the cold vegan butter. Using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter remaining.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée and soy milk.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until a shaggy dough forms. If the dough seems dry, add additional soy milk, 1 Tablespoon at a time. Do not overmix.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat it into a 1-inch-thick rectangle.
- Fold the dough in half and gently pat it back into a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Repeat this process 2 more times to create flaky layers.
- Pat the dough to about 1 inch thick. Using a 2½-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits, pressing straight down without twisting. Gather the scraps, gently pat them together, and cut additional biscuits.
- Arrange the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet so the sides are just touching.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden and the biscuits have risen.
- Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Keep the vegan butter as cold as possible for the flakiest biscuits.
- Avoid twisting the biscuit cutter, which can seal the edges and prevent the biscuits from rising evenly.
- If the dough becomes too soft while shaping, refrigerate it for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting the biscuits.
- These lightly sweet biscuits are delicious served with vegan butter, jam, apple butter, or alongside soups, stews, and holiday meals.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
