Do you love making sourdough?  Wondering what to do with your sourdough discard?  This is the recipe for you!

 

These sourdough biscuits have become a staple in my kitchen.  I feed my starter daily, so at the end of the week I typically have a quart container of discard that I’m ready to use.  Never throw your discard away-there are so many uses!   This recipe is really easy and the biscuits are crazy good!  Delicious as bacon-egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwiches, smothered in sausage gravy, spread with a touch of raspberry jelly, or simply toasted-be sure to give these a try!

 

What you’ll need:

Flour

Unbleached all-purpose flour is the best option for these biscuits.

Baking Powder

Because these come together quickly, baking powder is necessary for extra high rise in the oven.

Salt

My go to when baking is Mortons Coarse Kosher salt.

Butter

One of the keys to the flaky texture in these biscuits is starting with very cold butter, diced into 1/2 inch cubes.  Its the perfect size to “pinch” and cold butter will yield the perfect texture.  For this recipe, I prefer a European style butter-the flavor works really well with the sourdough.

Sourdough Discard

The star ingredient!  This recipe was designed to use a substantial amount of sourdough discard-so it is essential to have.  After a week of feeding my starter, I usually have enough to make two batches of biscuits.

How to make the biscuits:

Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk thoroughly to evenly disperse the baking powder.  Add the diced butter to the bowl and toss to coat in the flour. 

Pro tip: With your fingers, pinch the butter into the flour until all of the cubes have turned into thin ribbons.  This process helps to create sheets of butter throughout the dough that will steam and puff up in the oven. This step is the secret to crispy, flaky texture! 

 

Toss the mixture to lighten and pour in the sourdough discard.  Stir the mixture with a spatula until a shaggy dough forms.  When it becomes too thick to stir, start to knead the dough by hand.  Be sure to incorporate any flour remaining at the bottom of the bowl and stop as soon as the dry bits are all mixed in.  

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to a 1 inch thick square. 

Pro tip: Use a bench scraper to straighten the edges, sharpen the corners, and divide the dough into four equal size pieces.  Stack the pieces together and roll out into to a 1 inch thick rectangle that is 5 x 12 inches wide.  This step is the secret to pull apart layers!

 

Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out the rounds.  Reform the scraps into another rectangle, divide in half, stack together, and roll out slightly.  Continue cutting out rounds until all of the dough has been used.  

Transfer the rounds to a parchment lined baking sheet and chill for at least 30 minutes before baking.  

Pull from the refrigerator and immediately place into the center of an oven preheated to 425º F.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until perfectly golden on top.
Enjoy hot out of the oven, or allow to cool and store covered at room temperature or freeze.  To reheat, slice and pop in a toaster!