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A Recipe for Sourdough Biscuits


  • Author: Rebecca Neidhart
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 10 biscuits 1x
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose or self-rising flour (see notes)
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 8 Tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup (188 g) sourdough starter discard
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk (preferably whole fat)

Instructions

Start by preheating your oven to 425°F and set out a cast iron skillet or a baking sheet.

In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until they’re well combined. 

Cut the butter in with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles damp sand.

Add in the sourdough starter and buttermilk and mix it in with a fork until it’s well combined and there’s no visibly dry flour.

Turn the biscuit dough out onto a lightly floured counter. If it’s not quite holding together, press it together into one large disc of dough.

Fold the disc of dough over, roll it out slightly, then fold it again. Roll the dough out to between 1/2″ and 3/4″ thick.

Using a 2 3/4” round cutter to cut as many biscuits as you can from it. Press together the edges into another ball of dough and roll it out again, cutting it into as many biscuits as possible. Discard any remaining dough.

Place the biscuits in the cast iron skillet, then press the extra dough into a ball. Re-roll it and cut out as many more biscuits as you can get from it, then discard any leftover dough.

Bake the biscuits immediately, or chill them until you’re ready to bake. Bake the biscuits for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Remove them from the oven.

These sourdough biscuits are best eaten fresh and warm, but they will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container or bag.

Notes

  • Use cold starter. Actually, the colder all the ingredients are, the better! Flaky biscuits come from the butter staying in small pieces and not completely mixed into the flour. When the biscuits are baked, the heat causes the steam from the butter to evaporate, creating puffy layers. So keeping your ingredients and dough cold helps the butter not mix into the dough, giving you flakier, puffier biscuits.
  • If you want crispy edges on your biscuits, place them in a pan with space between them. If you’d prefer softer biscuits, place them in the pan so that the edges are barely touching. As they bake, they’ll rise and press together.
  • When you’re cutting your biscuits, don’t twist after you cut. Twisting effectively seals the edges of the biscuits, which prevents them from rising as high as the otherwise might. So just press down and pull up on your cutter.
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: sourdough, biscuits, butter, southern