If you love Southern-style biscuits then wait till you get your hands on this scrumptious and ridiculously easy sourdough discard biscuits recipe. A sourdough biscuit is not much different from an ordinary biscuit, except for the incredibly flaky exterior, with a subtle yet delicious sourdough tang that is quite addictive. Once you’ve baked your first batch, you might have a hard time keeping your hands off them! (These biscuits are also fantastic for using up that sourdough discard that might otherwise go to waste.)
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Ensure your ingredients are cold so that the biscuits emerge crispy and flaky.
Add cold cubed butter into the flour mixture and incorporate until you are left with clumps of butter coating in flour.
Add sourdough discard and buttermilk, mixing with a fork until a shaggy dough has formed. If the dough seems dry, just add a little more buttermilk until you’ve achieved the perfect biscuit dough consistency.
Use your hands to knead and fold the dough in the bowl, to incorporate any dry crumbs remaining.
Transfer the dough to a work surface, and press the dough into a 1-inch thick circle
Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into 2 ½-inch circles. Dip your cutter in some flour, and press this into your dough, then lift without twisting. Place your shaped biscuits into the prepped baking sheet.
Any scraps of dough can be pressed and shaped together, then rolled and cut to make more biscuits.
Brush the tops of these biscuits with melted butter or milk.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the tops are a lovely golden brown.
Remove them from the oven, and immediately brush with melted butter, then serve warm.
Notes
Place the baking sheet with cut biscuits in the freezer for 10 minutes while your oven finishes preheating.
Author:Natasha Krajnc
Cook Time:15 mins
Category:bread
Cuisine:American
Take a look at the ingredients we’ll be needing for this recipe below:
Ingredients
sourdough starter discard – provides a wonderful tangy flavor to your recipes.
buttermilk – for super tender and ultra fluffy biscuits, always opt for buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the baking powder, creating pillow-soft biscuits that are incredibly addicting.
unsalted butter – provides an abundance of flaky layers, imparting delicious flavors. Remember to use cold butter for this recipe. (I’ve got a homemade butter recipe, by the way!)
all-purpose flour – provides the perfect quantity of protein for these biscuits to maintain their flaky-fluffy structure.
baking powder – this is the main leavening agent that reacts with buttermilk and helps to tenderize the dough.
baking soda – this helps your sourdough biscuits maintain a wonderful color, and balance the acidic flavors during the bake.
sugar – a necessity for sweetness to complement the tangy sourdough flavor
salt – enhances the flavors of butter and sourdough discard.
Tips for Making the Best Sourdough Biscuits
While sourdough discard biscuits may be an easy recipe to bake, there are some tips and tricks to ensure an even easier and more successful bake.
These tips have worked for me, and hopefully, they’ll work for you too!
If you want your sourdough discard biscuits to emerge tall and incredibly flaky, then remember to keep all of your ingredients cold. For best results use frozen butter and discard that has been defrosted in the refrigerator, one hour before prepping and baking. The cold butter will meet the intense heat of the oven, and instantly shoot up within your biscuit batter, creating those divine layers and brilliant height!
Don’t use your hands too much to knead the dough, as the heat from your hands will melt the butter. Use a light touch and work quickly.
Dip your biscuit cutter in some flour for each biscuit cut. Press straight down on the dough and do not twist when removing the biscuit cutter, because you’ll seal the edges of the biscuit dough and you won’t get a rise, or have any layers.
While the oven heats up, place your biscuits in the freezer so that everything remains extremely cold.
For softer biscuits, place them touching. For crispier edges, space them about an inch apart.
What is The Best Flour For Sourdough Biscuits?
When baking biscuits you want to choose thebest flour for sourdough biscuits, and in this case, you’ll require flour with lower protein content.
Generally, all-purpose flour has a protein content of 12%. However, you could easily opt for lower, with White Lily (9% protein content) or Gold Medal (10.5% protein content).
The lower protein content results in less gluten development, creating more tender biscuits with a melt-in-your-mouth texture that still maintains enough structure to achieve those beautiful flaky layers.
What to Serve With Sourdough Biscuits?
Sourdough biscuits can be served with just about anything. While their heavenly flakiness may taste impeccable when devoured on its own, there are even better ways to enjoy this light and delicious snack.
Some of my favorite accompaniments are outlined below:
Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich
Biscuit breakfast sandwich anyone? You can enjoy your sourdough discard biscuits for breakfast with fried, scrambled, or poached eggs. I like to go for fried eggs with a gooey center so that it oozes beautifully all over the flaky biscuits.
Slice your discard biscuit in half, and carefully place your eggs onto one halved piece.
Top this with some chopped cress, salt, pepper, and a pinch of chili flakes for a breakfast sandwich that bites back – trust me, each bite only gets better!
I know that jam is one of the simpler spreads, but hear me out.
Get your choice of jam (I like to use raspberry jam) and thickly spread the jam over a halved biscuit, then seal this closed with the other half.
The crisp and flaky texture, followed by the salty, tanginess of the discard biscuits, is beautifully enhanced with the jam. You’ll have all sorts of flavors exploding in your mouth, and you’ll definitely be back for another!
Buttered Biscuits
While butter may belong on bread, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t become acquainted with buttermilk biscuits. These delicious biscuits have a buttery element to them, so when they’re topped with additional butter, the results are heavenly!
I like to half and toast my biscuits for a minute, before adding a small glob of butter to these warmed biscuits.
Honey Biscuits
When you pair honey with biscuits, you’ve got yourself a quick satiating treat.
Simply spread a small amount of honey over your flaky biscuits, and indulge in its sweetened savory depth against the tangy sourdough backdrop.
How to Store
These sourdough discard biscuits are best enjoyed fresh from the oven when they’re at their flakiest, but they can be stored for later enjoyment as well.
Room Temperature: Store completely cooled biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The tangy sourdough flavor actually develops a bit more during this time.
Refrigerator: To extend freshness, store your biscuits in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Wrap them individually in parchment paper before placing in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out.
Freezing your biscuits maintains that wonderful sourdough tang, making this an excellent way to have fresh-tasting biscuits on hand whenever the craving strikes!
Freezing Baked Biscuits: For longer storage, freeze completely cooled biscuits in a single layer on a baking sheet until solid (about 2 hours), then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container. They’ll keep well for up to 3 months. To reheat, place frozen biscuits in a 350°F oven for 5-7 minutes until warmed through.
Freezing Unbaked Biscuits: For fresh-baked taste anytime, freeze cut biscuit dough before baking! Place cut biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag and store for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, place frozen biscuits directly on a baking sheet and bake as directed, adding 3-5 minutes to the baking time.
How to Revive
If your biscuits have lost their freshness, split them in half, brush with a little butter, and toast them in the oven for a few minutes.
They’ll regain some of that delicious crisp exterior while maintaining their tangy sourdough flavor.
What is Sourdough Discard?
Essentially, sourdough discard is a portion of an unfed sourdough starter that is discarded before each feed. You could choose to dispose of the discard entirely or keep this in a separate jar for some delicious sourdough discard recipes, like these biscuits we have today.
Why Make My Biscuits with Sourdough Starter?
Well, sourdough bread is often considered highly nutritious compared to regular bread, This is mainly due to the sourdough starter which is fermented before it is ready to bake. The fermentation process is what helps the mixture produce good bacteria and wild yeasts, providing incredible health benefits.
Some of these benefits include:
It’s easier for your stomach to digest sourdough bread or any other kind of sourdough recipe. Those who consume sourdough often are less likely to experience bloating issues, digestion problems, and other gut-related issues.
Sourdough may aid in weight loss due to its high prebiotic content compared to regular bread, enabling your digestive system to absorb all of the nutrients, which regulate glucose and metabolism.
Sourdough is fermented in a way that obliterates bad starches within it. This then helps reduce the risk of blood sugar rising.
You can use either sourdough discard or mature sourdough starter for each of these recipes, but remember that this choice may affect preparation and baking time!
More Sourdough Recipes
If you love flaky sourdough biscuits, then it’s time to make a list of more incredible, and delicious sourdough recipes. You can choose to use a sourdough discard or a mature sourdough starter for each of the recipe ideas below, however, bear in mind that this can affect baking and eating time!
Sourdough Discard Biscuits
These delicious, flaky sourdough discard biscuits are truly the best biscuits I’ve ever made, and if you find yourself agreeing with this statement, then you must try these incredible sourdough discard recipes.
Sourdough Discard Biscuits – FAQs
Does the Discard Help the Biscuits Rise?
Since the sourdough discard is inactive, it won’t contribute to the biscuits rising in this recipe. This is where elements like baking soda and baking powder are required to help leaven the dough.
What Happens if You Bake Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough discard is commonly used in recipes without the need for additional flour. This means that it can be baked immediately. The discarded starter’s flour is already fermented, consequently providing sourdough flavor to your recipe.
Is Eating With Sourdough Discard Healthy?
Sourdough discard provides several health benefits, making it an incredibly healthy component in any sourdough recipe. It’s brimming with vitamin B, omega 3, and probiotics.
Does Sourdough Discard Spoil?
At room temperature, sourdough discard should last for 1-2 days, anything beyond that will intensify the acidity levels in the mixture, making it impossible to use in sweet recipes.
