Flaky Sourdough Discard Biscuits
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Move over, ordinary biscuits! These sourdough discard biscuits offer a delightful twist on the classic. They’re not just delicious – they’re incredibly easy to make, too.
Imagine: buttery, tender, and flaky biscuits crafted with just six pantry staples. Plus, they help you use your sourdough discard!
A Sourdough Twist On Biscuits!
We love our Southern Buttermilk Biscuits, but we are always looking for ways to use our sourdough discard. These savory, buttery, flaky biscuits are the perfect breakfast that combines our love of sourdough and breakfast treats!
Plus, you can pair them with our homemade jams (strawberry and raspberry are our favorites!) or Belgian waffles for an incredible breakfast spread.
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Biscuits:
These biscuits aren’t just a way to use up discard; they’re
- Easy and Quick To Make: Made with just a handful of pantry staples and your discard, these biscuits are budget-friendly and require minimal prep work!
- Flaky Perfection: Cold butter and a light touch create layers of flaky goodness that melt in your mouth with every bite.
- Tangy Twist: The sourdough discard adds a subtle tang that complements the richness of the butter, offering a unique and delightful flavor profile.
- Super Versatile: Enjoy them warm with butter for breakfast, build a hearty breakfast sandwich, or serve them alongside dinner for a delicious side dish.
- No Leftovers (Probably 😉): These irresistible biscuits are perfect for satisfying cravings throughout the day, from breakfast to a late-night snack.
You Only Need 6 Ingredients!
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder & Soda
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Sourdough Discard
- Buttermilk
What Exactly is Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough starters are beloved for their tangy flavor and ability to create beautiful breads. But what about the leftover discard?
So, what is discard? When you feed your sourdough starter, you discard a portion of the older starter to make room for fresh flour and water. Anything leftover about 5 hours after feeding is generally considered discard. This leftover portion is still bursting with active yeast and natural bacteria, making it a perfect ingredient for recipes like these delicious biscuits!
While discard might not be ideal for building a new loaf of multigrain sourdough bread due to its increased acidity, it’s a goldmine for flavorful recipes. These sourdough discard biscuits are a testament to that!
Success Tips For Sourdough Biscuits:
We have been making biscuits 30+ years and we have learned the tried-and-true tricks will turn your flat, dry biscuits into the best biscuits ever. This is everything we’ve learned:
- Combine the sourdough and milk: When we first started making these biscuits, we found it difficult to incorporate the sourdough starter into the dough. To avoid this, we found that whisking the buttermilk and sourdough together loosens the starter just enough to incorporate it easily into the dough.
- Grating in cold butter: Our biggest secret to flaky, buttery biscuits! Not only does grating in the butter ensure the perfect pockets of butter, but using cold butter creates steam as it melts in the oven…which means, you have extra flaky biscuits!
- Don’t overmix: This one is SO important! Never overwork your biscuit dough. Over-handling your biscuits leads to hard, flat biscuits. Use a very light hand when mixing. We recommend using a rubber spatula to keep the warmth of your hands away from the butter!
- Folding method: Another secret to flaky biscuits! You’ll find more info on this below.
- Don’t twist the cutter: Have you ever done everything right with a biscuit recipe but still have it come out flat? Well, twisting the biscuit cutter can seal the edges of the biscuits and keep it from rising properly! So, make sure you have a sharp cutter and apply even pressure to cut through the dough.
- Place the biscuits together: By placing the biscuits next each other on the pan, the biscuits will rise upwards instead of outwards to create taller, flakier biscuits!
The Secret To Flaky Layers
Don’t skip folding! Once you turn out the dough, this is is a crucial step for flaky biscuits. This will take you no longer than 2 minutes and it creates the delicious layers!
First, we shape the dough into a rectangle. Then, fold bottom ⅓ of dough up, then top ⅓ down. Repeat this step 2-3 times for the best biscuits!
✳ Recipe FAQ’s
More Breakfast Recipes:
When you make these Sourdough Biscuits, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.
Happy baking!
x, Caylie
Flaky Sourdough Discard Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, very cold
- 1½ cups sourdough starter, cool
- ½ cup buttermilk, cold
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400℉/200℃.
- Spray sheet pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk starter and buttermilk together until buttermilk is fully incorporated. Set aside.
- Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Grate butter into flour mixture.
- Toss together lightly.
- Add starter mixture.
- Stir together gently.
- Turn out onto floured surface.
- Sprinkle top with flour.
- Roll to about ½ inch thick.
- Fold bottom ⅓ of dough up, then top ⅓ down.
- Turn over.
- Repeat the rolling and folding process 2-3 more times.
- Roll dough to ¾ inch thick.
- Cut with a 3-inch cutter and place on prepared sheet pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Brush tops with melted butter, if desired.
Notes + Tips!
- Cold, Cold, Cold: This is super important! Use cold butter for the best results. Cold butter creates steam during baking, resulting in those beautiful flaky layers.
- Don’t Overwork the Dough: Mix just until the ingredients are combined. Overmixing develops the gluten, leading to tough and dense biscuits.
- Don’t Twist The Cutter: If you twist the cutter when cutting the biscuits, this will seal the edges and keep the biscuits from rising.
- Don’t Peek: Resist the urge to open the oven door too frequently while the biscuits are baking. This can disrupt the rise and prevent them from reaching their full potential.
- Brush The Tops (Optional): For a golden brown exterior, brush the tops of your biscuits with melted butter or milk before baking.
- Chill If Needed: If your kitchen is warm, consider chilling the dough for 20-30 minutes before baking. This allows the cold butter to solidify again and creates better lift.
- Preheat Properly: A preheated oven is essential for even baking and those flaky layers.
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Just made these this morning. They turned out great! Crispy on the outside and so soft on the inside. Thanks for sharing. I saw lots of comments where people stated they didn’t rise, I did not have any trouble with them rising.
Hi Mandie! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe 🥰! x, Caylie
I am anxious to make these biscuits, can the be made as drop biscuits?
Hi Sharon! You can absolutely make them as drop biscuits. However, they will not be flaky and they may not cook through. We’ve not done it this way, so we can make no guarantees they will turn out. If you make them as drop biscuits, please let us know how they turn out.
I should have paid attention to the comments. Good flavor but no rise. I ended up with basically savory cookies. New baking powder and recently opened baking soda. Very disappointed.
Hi Mandy! I’m sorry you are having a problem with the rise. If you, or anybody else in this comment section that’s had this problem, could walk me through exactly what you are doing, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve tried, and I can’t replicate the problem. If you’re leavenings are fresh, the only other things that come to mind are you are using a different type of starter than I am or the cutter you are using is dull. Also, if you twist the cutter, it will seal the edges of the biscuits and they won’t rise.
Taste pretty good, but as many others have said, they did not rise. My baking soda and powder are basically new.
Hi Kellie! I’m not sure what is going on. I’m out of town right now; but when I get back next week, I’ll remake them and see if I can figure it out. I’ll let you know what my results are.
These have a great taste, but like the other comments, I didn’t get much rise and they’re not very fluffy. My baking powder and soda are brand new.
So I have tried this recipe several times trying to get it to work and I found that the MORE you knead it the better they rise.
Huge hit in my household. This will be on repeat. Very easy recipe to make. The directions were super friendly. My kids fought over these.
The recipe itself is super easy to follow and they turned out yummy but for some reason my biscuits didn’t rise much. Is there something i can do next time that will help with that? I completely followed the directions step by step.
Hi Camryn! Check the dates on your baking powder and baking soda and make sure they are active. You can do this by adding a bit of baking powder to hot water. If it bubbles and fizzes, it’s good. Check your baking soda by adding a bit to vinegar (just plain distilled vinegar is all you need). If it bubbles and fizzes, it’s good. If that’s not the problem, let me know and I will help you troubleshoot.
Taste great but they didn’t rise🥴. I must have done something wrong.
Hi Karen! Make sure you check to see if you baking powder and baking soda is in date and active. If that isn’t the problem, I’ll be happy to help you troubleshoot.
Can these be long fermented? If so, at what step should I long ferment? Thanks!
Hi Tessa! There’s no fermentation period because the sourdough is really just meant to flavor the dough. That being said, there’s no reason you can’t do the same thing with these that you do with traditional biscuits. Make the dough, cut it, and place it on the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. I wouldn’t go longer than that. Let me know if you have any other questions.
The flavor was delicious! Mine were not puffy but I may have rolled too thin. Plus has to use mason jar ring for cutter. Certainly will try again! Thank you.
I made these for the 1st time tonight for dinner. Excellent biscuit with our Steak dinner. Added butter and a little honey when they came out of the oven! Yum!
Hi Linda! That sounds lovely 😊 I’m glad you enjoyed these biscuits!! x, Caylie
Delicious recipe!!
Hi Ginger! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed these biscuits 🥰 x, Caylie
Are they supposed to rise up because mine just looked like disks. Clearly I did something wrong
Hi Andrea! They should definitely not look like discs. Without knowing exactly what you did, all I can do is guess. Check your baking powder and baking soda to make sure they are in date and active. The sourdough starter shouldn’t really affect the rise. It’s more for flavor, but I don’t know what sourdough starter you are using. Something in that could have affected them. The butter needs to be frozen, or at least very cold. The buttermilk needs to be cold as well. I hope this helps.
I have never tried Sourdough recipes before. First time for everything. I do make this type of biscuit, but another way, and served with a jam of any flavour. Sometimes, add another ingredient to the dough. One friend goes nuts over them….lol.
Brenda
This is the best recipe for sourdough biscuits! I am a beginner with sourdough and these biscuits turn out amazing every time I make them! I’m taking a meal to a friend tonight and these biscuits are on the menu. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
This is the first discard recipe I’ve ever tried, and it turned out great! They melt in your mouth!