Discover the secret to making flaky, buttery, sourdough biscuits from scratch. This easy recipe uses sourdough discard starter and buttermilk to make the flakiest biscuits ever.
This sourdough biscuit recipe is a great way to use discarded starter you have left after feeding your sourdough. If you are a fan of flaky biscuits, you are in the right place!
Don’t have a sourdough starter yet? Learn how to make your own sourdough starter here.
Of course, you don’t have to be throwing out starter to make these, you could just make them because you want to!
I have made different variations of these sourdough buttermilk biscuits: cinnamon raisin and ham and cheese, and they are really good.
Course, the plain ones are really good, too.
But I just can’t seem to not experiment with recipes!
I’ll probably have to experiment with chocolate chips next.
Because you know as well as I do that anything good is going to be better with chocolate!
Sourdough Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups organic, unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 cup sourdough discard starter (click here to learn how to start one)
- 1/2 cup homemade buttermilk
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- additional butter, melted
Instructions
You’re going to need a large bowl for these.
In your large mixing bowl you need to whisk together the flour, baking powder, sea salt, and baking soda.
Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
If you don’t have a pastry cutter you can use 2 forks, or even just rub it in with your fingers.
But a pastry cutter like this one works the best.
Now add the sourdough starter and the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir with a fork until the dough forms a shaggy dough ball.
You may need to adjust the flour or milk depending on how thin your starter is.
Turn the dough onto a well floured surface and knead 5-10 times.
Don’t over knead the dough or it will become tough.
And who wants tough biscuits?
Now gently roll or pat the dough out into a circle or rectangle that is 1/2 inch thick.
Cut into rounds with a floured biscuit cutter.
I love these stainless steel biscuit cutters!
And they come in a set with 4 different sizes. I love making the littlest ones for tea parties or brunch. And the largest one is the perfect size for bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches.
Or you could just cut it into squares with a sharp knife if you wanted to.
After you’ve cut out as many as you can, take the scraps and carefully fold them together and pat them out again to cut out more biscuits. Remember, don’t over work the dough!
Place the sourdough biscuits about 2-inches apart (minimum of 1-inch) on a buttered baking sheet. Or you can use parchment paper to cover the baking sheet instead.
Now gently brush the tops with melted butter.
More butter is always better, amiright?
Bake these lovely discs of buttery amazingness at 425°F for 12-15 minutes or until they are a beautiful golden brown.
Serve these bad boys warm with more butter and the jam or jelly of your choice!
Yield is 1 dozen with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter.
If you have any left over, and you very well might not, you can reheat them in the toaster, in a toaster oven, or in the regular oven at 350°F for about 5 minutes.
Freezing Experiment
I did an experiment on how these would do if I froze them and then baked them.
I let some thaw for 30 minutes, some thawed for 10 minutes, and some went straight from the freezer to the oven.
There did not seem to be much of a difference in the way they turned out.
So, if you are going to be freezing them, you can just cook them straight out of the freezer.
I have to say though, that after freezing they did not rise nearly as high as the fresh ones.
The moral of the story is: fresh is better if you have the time!
And, really, it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to mix, pat, and cut out the biscuits.
If you pre-heat the oven at the same time, you can have fresh, yummy biscuits in 20 minutes start to finish.
I usually scramble the eggs and fix the bacon while the biscuits are cooking.
Or sometimes we just have biscuits and jelly for supper, in which case I make a double batch.
My kids love having breakfast for supper and so do I.
I wonder what that says about us…lol
What kinds of additions do you like in your biscuits?
Blessings!
Frequently Asked Questions About Sourdough Biscuits
These biscuits should keep for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container or zip top bag on the counter.
Baked sourdough biscuits can be frozen for 3 to 5 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put into a zip top freezer bag.
To thaw, leave on kitchen counter for 1 to 2 hours. You could also re-heat in a toaster, or in the oven at 350°F for about 5 minutes or so.
Absolutely! But as noted above the biscuits don’t bake up as light and fluffy as fresh ones.
More sourdough discard recipes you’ll love:
Sourdough Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 1 cup sourdough starter does not have to be bubbly and active
- 1/2 cup homemade buttermilk
- 1/2 cup cold butter cut into chunks
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.
- Add sourdough starter and buttermilk to the flour mixture; stir with a fork until the dough forms a ball.
- You may need to adjust the flour or milk depending on how thin your starter is.
- Turn dough onto a well floured surface; knead 5-10 times.
- Roll or pat out to 1/2 inch thickness.
- Cut with a floured biscuit cutter.
- Place 2 inches apart on a buttered baking sheet.
- Brush with melted butter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.