Strawberry Shortcake with Sourdough Discard Biscuits

Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits on a plate ready to be shared.

Strawberry Shortcake with Sourdough Discard Biscuits

Tender, light and melt in your mouth, Strawberry Shortcake with Sourdough Biscuits is simple to whip up and is make ahead ready. Use your sourdough discard for these tender shortcake biscuits! This recipe is vegetarian and egg free.

To Stretch This Recipe Further (or to cut the calories): This recipe makes six generous biscuits. Share this recipe in 1/2 portions for a more petite version and save the remaining biscuits for later.

NOTE: Prep time above is an estimate based on my experience making these biscuits. This time can vary depending on baker experience.

*UPDATE 5/21: Regarding baking powder (see notes).

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Sourdough Discard, Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 30

Refrigerate 20

Total Time 1 20

Servings Biscuits

Calories 589kcal

Author Traci York

Ingredients

For the Biscuits:

2/3 C (145g) Heavy Whipping Cream + more for tops
1/3 C (100g) Sourdough Discard 100% hydration, stirred down
1 3/4 C (245g) All Purpose Flour
3 Tbs Cane Sugar + more for tops
1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder aluminum free *see 5/21 update note below
1/2 C (114g / 1 stick) Unsalted Butter cold, just from the fridge, cut into 1/2" pieces
Zest of One Lemon

For the Strawberries:

3 C (425g) Strawberries about 1 1/2 pints
1 - 3 Tbs Cane Sugar to taste
1 Tbs Lemon Juice

For the Whipped Cream:

1 C (210g) Heavy Whipping Cream
1 - 2 Tbs Cane Sugar to taste
1/2 Vanilla Bean Pod, beans scraped or 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Make the Biscuits:

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Make room in the refrigerator for the sheet pan.
In a spouted measuring cup add whipping cream, and sourdough discard (just out of the fridge). Whisk until the starter is incorporated. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. To the flour mixture, add the 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.
To the butter/flour mixture, stir in the lemon zest until evenly distributed.
Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the sourdough/cream mixture. Use a fork to pull the dry flour into the well, then mix until a shaggy dough forms. Put the fork down and use your hand to scoop up the dough and press it over and on top of itself, doing this several times until a shaggy dryish dough forms.
Flour your work surface and turn the dough out. Lightly flour the top of the dough and knead it a few times (folding and pressing) until a cohesive dough forms. Lightly flour the top again and roll or pat the dough out to between 3/4" to just below 1" (1.9cm - 2.5cm) thick disk. Dip the biscuit cutter into flour, then cut the biscuits with a 2 3/4" - 3" (7cm - 7.6cm) biscuit cutter, without twisting the cutter, and transfer to the parchment paper-lined sheet pan, spacing them evenly and a few inches apart. Reroll the dough as needed (I do this twice). Refrigerate the biscuits for at least 20 minutes.
Make Ahead: At this point the biscuits can be frozen, then transferred to a lidded container and held in the freezer for up to three weeks. You can bake completely frozen biscuits straight from the freezer same as you would refrigerated biscuits adding a few minutes on the bake time as needed.
While the biscuits are in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Just before baking, brush the tops of the biscuits with cream and sprinkle a bit of sugar over the top.
Bake the biscuits from refrigerated or previously frozen on a parchment lined sheet pan for 30-35 minutes and until golden (you'll need to bake a few more minutes when baking from frozen - keep an eye on the bottoms and internal temperature). The internal temperature will be between 200F-205F when baked through (93C - 96C).
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 fresh, 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.

For the Strawberries

While the biscuits are in the fridge chilling, trim the green stems away from the strawberry and slice strawberries into rounds or quarters. Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar using some or all of the sugar depending on how sweet your berries are, and/or your taste. The sugar is optional, and sometimes I leave it off, but it helps create a bit of syrup.
Squeeze in the fresh lemon juice and if you like, add an empty vanilla bean pod. Stir, cover, then refrigerate for up to two hours. They will soften the longer they sit.

For the Whipped Cream

In a medium mixing bowl, add the whipping cream, sugar and extract or vanilla beans. Whip until soft peaks form. Make up to one day ahead and store in the fridge in a lidded container.

To Assemble:

Cut a biscuit in half and scoop strawberries over the top. Dollop with cream, then top with the other biscuit half. Pile up more strawberries and cream if desired!

Notes

*UPDATE (5/21): I've adjusted the baking powder from 1 Tbs to 2 1/2 tsp which is reflected in the recipe. After several positive reviews, here and on social, a few bakers noted they tasted an aftertaste of baking powder (something I'd not noticed). I retested the recipe with just a bit less baking powder and the results are a little less fluffy biscuits, but such a delight! Thank you to the makers who brought this to my attention. If you've been making this recipe with success at 1 Tbs of baking powder (this is what I use), feel free to continue using that measurement as the recipe is otherwise unchanged.

Kitchen Tools: I recommend an oven thermometer, food thermometer and weighing your ingredients using a digital kitchen scale for best outcome. Use the scoop and sweep method for volume measurements if a scale is unavailable.

Recipe inspired by The Grand Central Baking Book.

Nutrition