Quick to whip up and freezer friendly, make this Easy Sourdough Biscuit Recipe using your sourdough discard! Buttery, soft, light and fluffy, these are the star at the breakfast table! vegetarian or vegan
A quintessential comfort food, easy sourdough biscuits are so simple to pull together. The wow factor comes from the sourdough discard incorporated into the dough. So hang on to that discard! It’s a practical way to use up sourdough discard tucked away in the back of the refrigerator.
Ingredients for Homemade Sourdough Biscuits
With a few pantry staples, this sourdough biscuit recipe can be whipped up in no time. Make them dairy full or dairy free! Here’s what you’ll need to make these sourdough starter biscuits:
- All Purpose Unbleached Flour
- Salt
- Baking Soda and Powder
- Sugar
- Cold Unsalted Butter or Vegan Butter
- Sourdough Discard
- Dairy or Plant Milk
The images taken on this post are with regular butter, but the vegan biscuits I tested look just the same and taste fabulous!
How to Make Sourdough Biscuits from Scratch
Get out your largest mixing bowl, favorite flour, bench scraper and biscuit cutter! Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and make room in the freezer. Here’s how to make the fluffiest sourdough discard biscuit recipe:
- First, whisk the sourdough discard and milk together.
- Second, in a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda.
- Third, cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients. I like using my hands here, but a fork or pastry cutter may be used instead.
- Fourth, once the flour and butter is incorporated, there should be small (pea size) and larger pieces (almond size) of butter remaining, coated in flour. Make a well in the center and pour in the sourdough starter/milk mixture. Gently mix, scooping up, folding and pressing the dough.
- Fifth, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until a cohesive dough forms. Roll or pat the dough out into about a 3/4″ thick disk. Cut the biscuits and transfer them to the parchment paper-lined sheet pan.
- PRO TIP: Next, freeze the biscuits for at least 15 minutes.
- Last, bake the biscuits until lightly golden.
Best of all, these easy sourdough biscuits can go straight from freezer to oven! A triumph!
Things for Slathering
- Homemade Pumpkin Butter
- Blueberry Jam
- Honey
- Tomato Shallot Jam by Floating Kitchen
- Rhubarb Maple Conserve
- Blood Orange Jam by The View From Great Island
Can You Freeze Sourdough Biscuits?
SOURDOUGH BISCUIT DOUGH: Yes! Simply cut the dough into biscuits, lay on a parchment lined sheet pan then freeze. Once frozen, transfer the biscuits to a freezer container and store in the freezer for up to three weeks. Best of all, homemade sourdough biscuits go from freezer to oven with beautiful results!
PREVIOUSLY BAKED BISCUITS: Yes! After baking the sourdough biscuits, allow them to cool completely. Once cool, transfer the biscuits to a freezer container and store in the freezer for up to three weeks. Thaw biscuits at room temperature, then wrap the biscuits in foil and rewarm. Also, you can slice the biscuit in half and toast them!
A Few Recipe Notes
- Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuits: To boost the sourness of these biscuits, and to DIY buttermilk, add two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar into the milk and sourdough discard mixture.
- Vegan / Dairy Free Sourdough Biscuits: Yes Please! Use vegan butter (I tested this recipe with Earth Balance) and reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 tsp. Also, use plant milk. I like homemade unsweetened cashew milk, half diluted with water.
- Need a Sourdough Starter? My friend Emily has a recipe/how to on her blog!
- Work quickly when working the butter into the flour. The butter should remain cold and pliable throughout the mixing process. If the butter starts getting melty, pop the whole bowl in the freezer (before adding any liquid) for about 10 minutes.
- When kneading the dough, use a folding and pressing motion, scooping up bits of flour and butter from the bottom of the bowl and pressing the dough over and on top of itself. This helps build fluffy layers.
- Handle the dough as little as possible to get it to the cohesive mass for cutting. It’s okay if it’s a bit messy.
Biscuit Making Tools
Tools I use to whip this sourdough biscuit recipe up in a flash! (these are affiliate links)
- Bench Scraper
- Rolling Pin
- 2 1/2″ Biscuit Cutter
- Large Mixing Bowl – I dropped this on my kitchen floor and it did not break – omg!
- Parchment Paper
- Sheet Pan
- Pastry Board – I use this SO much!
Easy Sourdough Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1/2 C (155g) Sourdough Discard
- 1 C (230g) Milk plant or dairy - I use unsweetened homemade cashew milk 1/2 diluted with water
- 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar optional - for a little more sourness
- 2 3/4 C (420g) Unbleached All Purpose Flour
- 2 Tbs Cane Sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Fine Sea Salt use 1/4 tsp if using vegan butter* (see note)
- 1 1/2 Stick (175g / 3/4 C) Unsalted Butter or Vegan Butter (like Earth Balance), cold, just from the fridge, cut into 1/2" pieces
Instructions
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Make room in the freezer for the sheet pan.
- In a spouted measuring cup add sourdough discard, milk and optional apple cider vinegar. Whisk. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda. To the flour mixture, add cold butter. I like using my hands here, but a fork or pastry cutter may be used instead. Start incorporating the butter pinching and mashing the butter pieces in between your fingers, working quickly so the butter stays cold. The point is to coat the butter in flour, pinching and tossing the pieces. Once the flour and butter is incorporated, there should be small (pea size) and larger pieces (almond size) of butter remaining, coated in flour. If the butter starts to melt, put the whole bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm the butter back up.
- Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and pour in the sourdough starter/milk mixture, reserving a few tablespoons. Gently mix, scooping up, folding and pressing the dough. Add the remaining milk and incorporate it into the dough if the mixture seems a little dry.
- Once the dough forms a cohesive mass, flour your work surface and turn the dough out. Flour the top of the dough and knead it a few times (folding and pressing) until a cohesive dough forms. Pat and form the dough into a round. Lightly flour the top again and roll or pat the dough out into about a 3/4" (1.9cm) thick disk. Cut the biscuits with a 2 1/2" (6.3cm) biscuit cutter and transfer them to the parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Freeze the biscuits for at least 15 minutes. At this point the biscuits can be frozen solid, and held in a lidded container for up to three weeks. Bake partially frozen and completely frozen biscuits the same, straight from the freezer.
- While the biscuits are in the freezer, preheat the oven to 375F (190C) and arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Bake the biscuits straight from the freezer on a parchment lined sheet pan for 17-19 minutes or until golden. The internal temperature will be between 190F-200F when done (87C-93C). Share warm, right out of the oven.
- Store baked biscuits at room temperature in a covered container for up to two days or in the freezer for up to three weeks. Biscuits are best right out of the oven, but if needed, they can be gently reheated at 350F (175C) for about 10-15 minutes. Wrap in foil when reheating to retain their softness.
Great ! I come back from my honeymoon to the States and I tasted the biscuits buttermilk (I seen a lot of recipes on the blogs but in France, we don’t have these biscuits)
I love that ! Thanks for this recipe
I hope taste it soon
Have nice day
Elodie
These looks great, Traci. I love anything sourdough and I don’t think I’ve ever had a sourdough biscuit. Looking forward to trying these. Love that you can freeze them – that’s a great tip. These would be great for Thanksgiving! You could make them ahead and then warm them up before dinner. Pinning!
Oh myyyy they’re soooo nice, Geraldine! They give already SO delicious biscuits a little more somethn’ – as if biscuits could be any better! Having some in the freezer make whipping these up even easier! Thank you for pinnin, G!
Why do you have “sourdough discard”? If you only feed the starter with the amount of starter you’ll need for the recipe, then there’s never any discard. I save about a quarter cup of starter and if I need 200 grams of starter, I add 100 grams flour and 100 grams water. No discard.
Hi Joy! Thank you for your note. I use discard to add flavor to all kinds of recipes, when not relying on a ‘ripe’ starter for leavening. So, I always make a little more starter than I need and store it in the fridge until I’m ready to make pancakes, waffles, or crackers for example. That way I always have some discard on hand, and I don’t have to wait for a starter to ripen when I need a bit quickly. You can use your regular starter for this recipe, just stir your starter down, if you like. This recipe is simply the way I manage my starter and recipe. I hope this helps!
These look so fluffy and delicious! And must-make for soup season. Always gotta have something for dunking!
Oh yes! On top of soup or as a side! Drooling, Liz! :D
Sourdough biscuits! I don’t know who could resist these. I can practically smell them through the screen. These would definitely be a huge hit at Thanksgiving or anytime!
Irresistible, Jean! I’m thinking these would be fabulous on top of a pot pie! :D