These flakey and buttery sourdough biscuits are an easy way to use up your leftover discard, and they are incredibly delicious!
Ingredients for homemade sourdough biscuits
Almost every ingredient in these biscuits is something you’d have on hand, which makes them so easy to whip up in no time, plus it’s a great way to use up sourdough discard tucked away in the back of your refrigerator. Here’s what you’ll need to make these sourdough discard biscuits…
- All purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Butter (salted or unsalted is fine)
- Sourdough discard (unfed sourdough starter)
- Milk (the fattier the better, but any milk is fine)
It’s super easy to make these savory or sweet! Pair with your favorite butter, jam, or honey and it makes a perfect side dish to any meal!
Tips for making flakey, perfect biscuits
A few tips I’ve learned along the way to create perfect sourdough biscuits:
Sourdough discard biscuits are simple to make, and with a few tricks you may not have used with previous biscuit recipes in the past, your biscuits will be next level! So, what makes a biscuit so amazing and flakey? My 5 rules for perfect biscuits:
- COLD ingredients
- Not over HANDLING the dough
- FOLD the dough to create layers
- Put the biscuits CLOSE together
- Bake at a HIGH temperature
The benefits of using sourdough discard
I have another recipe for your traditional buttermilk biscuits (which are amazing!), but if you’re looking for an option that uses your sourdough discard these are it! Instead of the buttermilk offering that tang and tenderness, it is replaced with discard which uses the starters natural acidity. This is a great option if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, but you have sourdough discard sitting around. I have lots of other recipes using sourdough discard in my Classic Sourdough Book.
How to make sourdough biscuits
First, mix together dry ingredients
Second, using a pastry blender, fork, or food processor, pulse in cold butter
Third, roll out dough into a rectangle and then fold into thirds
Fourth, cut out using a biscuit cutter or cup and place close together
Fifth, bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes until golden brown
Last, serve with butter, jam or honey. Enjoy!
For a video tutorial: check out this video on Instagram.
Make ahead tip! Store dough or cut biscuits covered in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Makes it easy to prep and then throw in the oven last minute so you have zero work close to meal time, while having fresh hot biscuits.
More recipes you’ll love…
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Sourdough Strawberry Scones
- Dinner Rolls
- Brioche Buns
- More sourdough discard recipes in my book: Classic Sourdough
If you make this recipe, make sure you tag @loskitchenco on Instagram and leave a comment below! You can also save for later by clicking the ‘Pin Recipe’ button on the recipe card. Happy baking!
Sourdough Discard Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup (270 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup butter, cold (salted or unsalted is fine)
- ~½ cup (115 grams) discard/unfed sourdough starter
- ½ cup milk (fattier the better, but any milk is fine)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Add cold butter in chunks (or grated) to the dry mixture. Use a pastry blender or fork and knife to get in pea sized chunks throughout the flour.
- Mix together milk and starter in a separate bowl. Pour into flour mixture. Fold together until no dry flour remains.
- Gently press out biscuit dough into a rectangle and fold into thirds. Gently roll out until about 1” thick. Cut out using a biscuit cutter or cup.
- Place close together on baking sheet or cast iron pan.
- Bake for about 15 minutes (about 6 minutes longer for cast iron pan) until golden brown.
- Serve warm with butter or jam.
These were so easy to make and so delicious! I halved the recipe and it was perfect for making 4 good size biscuits for my family!
Love the idea of halving it for a small batch! In the past I’ve also frozen the extras and then refreshened them up in the oven. Great for those lazy dinner nights! Keep baking!
Can I use bread flour for these?
You can. I prefer all purpose as it’s lower in protein content, making the structure a little lighter and fluffier.
My biscuits did not rise. They tasted good but were quite dense.
Hmm, I wonder what went wrong. Is your baking powder still active? That is the rise power in this recipe so I wonder if that’s what went wrong?
These are good but are a bit dry.
Hi Naomi! These shouldn’t be too dry. I wonder if too much flour was added. If you decide to try again, I recommend watching that! Happy baking!