Answer: Yes. Vegans can eat biscuits (unless it contains dairy, egg, or other animal products).
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Can Vegans Eat Biscuits?
There’s nothing like the satisfying bite of your favorite biscuit as a quick snack between meals. And for vegans, there is a vast range of options to choose from when it comes to biscuits. Just to clarify, by ‘biscuits,’ we mean any small baked item that’s firm on the outside/crust and usually crumbly as you eat. And, of course, we mean vegan biscuits. It cannot have any animal-derived products.
Know Your Biscuits
Many biscuits contain dairy products, and you should be clear on the ingredients before you buy or eat a biscuit. Common dairy ingredients include milk and butter. Other animal products that may come in biscuits are stuff like honey and eggs. Other products like baking soda, flour, salt, sugar, fruits, etc. are all part of the vegan diet anyway. So, a good place to start is to know what the ingredients are.
Biscuits that come in packaging usually have their ingredients clearly written. Otherwise, you can always politely ask whether it has dairy products or other non-vegan ingredients.
Vegan Alternatives
If you want to do your own biscuit baking, you have to know these ingredients. The crucial part is to know what the alternatives are. This way, you don’t miss out on the taste or compromise your ethics.
Butter is a common shortening ingredient in biscuits, but it’s not the only type. You may hear people use the words ‘butter’ and ‘shortening’ to mean the same things, but they have distinct meanings in baking. Butter is, essentially, a dairy product. But shortening can come as vegetable and plant oils too. You may have heard of Crisco, who is famous for making vegetable shortening that works great. And there are a lot of biscuits and baked goods that use it instead of butter and dairy ingredients.
Animal milk has a lot of substitutes. There is soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk, etc. For honey, you can use maple syrup or brown rice syrup in your baking. There are also a lot of bee-free honey products available today. You can try a few products and see if it suits your tastes. But sticking to maple syrup is always a good trade-off. Eggs are a common ingredient for any baked food item. And to replace them, you can use a variety of substitutes. These can be apple sauce, Aquafaba, ripe bananas, flaxseeds, chickpea flour, etc. Today, most grocery stores offer substitute powders or mixtures for these products. They’re usually vegan-friendly and not too expensive.
If you learn how to use these ingredients in a healthy manner, you’ll find they’re as good (if not better) than the animal-based alternatives. Here’s a simple recipe that’s easy to make, cheap, and tasty if you want to have a go at home.
Health Benefits
With those concerns of the way, you’ll find that biscuits can cover a wide range of small baked items that make great snacks. You get all sorts of biscuits like soft-baked crumbs, sandwiches, almond butter, chocolate, cornbread, cookies, digestive, crisps, etc. And if you get the right products, they can add a healthy dose of both carbs and protein in every bite. If you go for biscuits flavored with nuts and seeds, you get extra nutrition and minerals in your snack. Just order your preferred beverage and enjoy your favorite biscuits with a few sips in between.
Losing Weight
If you’re trying to lose weight on your vegan diet, you’re already on the right track. Vegan meals and snacks are healthier and have fewer unnecessary fats and calories. However, as far as biscuits go, you should take them in moderation if you don’t want those extra calories. Biscuits can be rich in carbs and protein. So, make sure you keep them as a light snack between your meals. You can enjoy a piece at a time and still stay within your calorie target.
It’s natural for vegans to get confused with biscuits sometimes. Just make sure you know the ingredients, and you’re good to go. Remember, treat them as small snacks during the day, not meals to keep you going.
