Skater Lunch Box #39

When you can't get to the store, you have to get creative. So: some frozen seasoned green beans and potatoes; a Gardein meatless sausage patty, a homemade biscuit (no kidding! recipe below!), and some macaroni and cheese I made with the new Daiya shelf-stable squeezy "cheeze" packets (it's the same thing as in their boxed mac-n-cheese, but just without the pasta).

I was having an especially hard time when I made this and I hadn't had a biscuit since I'd gone vegan. So comfort food was the order of the day, and I veganized a recipe in Small Batch Baking by Debby Maugans Nakos.

Basic Vegan Biscuits
Makes 2-4 biscuits, depending on size

4 tablespoons vegan butter, divided (I used Earth Balance buttery sticks)
1/2 cup all purpose flour, plus more for cutting
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3-4 tablespoons vegan half-and-half (I used Ripple)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt 2 tablespoons vegan butter and brush half of it (1 tablespoon) over a small section of your baking sheet (about six inches square--this is where your biscuits will go). Set aside.

Sift flour and baking soda into a bowl. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of vegan butter you've kept cold into a few pieces and then cut it into the flour with a fork, pressing the tines against the bowl, until you have only pea-sized lumps or smaller. Add about 3 tablespoons of vegan half-and-half and stir in with the fork gently, just until the point the dough begins to hold together. If you need more, you can add it now.

Flour your hands and a work surface (I used my cutting board). Knead the dough about 5-6 times. Transfer the dough to the cutting board and pat it out into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. This will likely measure about 5 inches by 2 1/2 inches.

Cut the dough with whatever you have that seems suitable. I used a juice glass, but if you have a biscuit cutter, lucky you! Just flour whatever it is first.

Shape your extra dough into biscuit shapes after cutting the first out.

Place these biscuits-to-be on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the center of your oven until golden (approximately 10 minutes). If you want buttery tops, brush the remaining melted butter on them when you take them out of the oven. These need to be served hot or warm; cold they are nothing to write home about.