Why this recipe works
- This is a delicious way to use your sourdough discard that won’t be used for baking bread so you can reduce sourdough discard waste
- Your starter doesn’t need to be bubbly and ripe for this recipe, making it easy to use the discard from the fridge or from room temperature at different stages of your starter’s ripeness
- The easy biscuit mixing and folding techniques ensure a flaky tender biscuit
- I use all butter for my biscuits for the best flavor
- This is a one-bowl recipe and comes together in about 15 minutes or less (plus the baking time)
What type of fat do you use?
This is a question that you will get different answers to depending on who you ask. Many biscuit aficionados will proclaim that a mixture of half shortening (for flakiness) and half butter (for flavor) is the perfect balance. Some only use shortening, while others use lard exclusively.
So what do I use? Butter..that’s it, and I couldn’t be happier with the results!
Buttermilk Substitutions
You can take regular milk and add 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar to make it bubbly.
For a dairy-free buttermilk sub, simply take almond milk (or cashew milk) and add 1 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar. Stir and let it bubble or curdle for a few minutes.
Flour Substitution
- For this recipe I use spelt flour and all-purpose flour
- But you can substitute whole wheat flour for spelt flour. Even of these flours adds an earthy, nutty flavor to biscuits
- You can use only all-purpose flour in this recipe (I prefer unbleached flour)
Biscuit Tools
- I use some cute biscuit cutters to do the job.
- Pastry cutters make cutting butter into biscuit or pie dough mess-free or use can use a fork too!
These are affiliate links ↑.
How to Mix the Dough
The most important thing to consider when making a flaky and tender biscuit is how you cut the butter or fat in the dough. I’ve also added instructions for folding the dough three times to create flaky layers.
You simply rub the butter into flour with the tips of your fingers, or a fork or pastry cutter. Mix in the buttermilk, and the sourdough culture with the dry ingredients until everything is just combined so as not to overwork the dough.
Below is what it looks like after gently mixing the buttermilk and sourdough culture in with the dry ingredients.
Next you dump the dough onto the counter and pat with your hands, then fold it onto itself three times to create flaky layers.
Now use a biscuit cutter or a glass dusted with flour. If you want to reduce excess dough waste you can also cut the biscuits with a knife into equal squares.
They bake pretty quickly in a hot oven!
Sourdough and Biscuit Recipes
The Lazy Way to Feed a Sourdough Starter
Oh, just look at those tender biscuits! That fig jam was just the perfect sweet topping to counterbalance the earthy aroma and flavor.
Bon Appétit Ya’ll,
Leslie O.
Sourdough Spelt Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups Spelt Flour or whole wheat flour 385 grams
- 2 ½ cups All purpose flour 385 grams
- 2 Tbsp Baking powder 35 grams
- 1 tsp Salt 6 grams
- 8 Tbsp Butter 112 grams
- 1/2 cup Sourdough starter/culture, see note 117 grams
- 2 ½ cups Buttermilk, plus more for brushing 575 grams, see recipe notes for substitutions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Cut the cold butter or cut into small cubes and place in the freezer while you measure the other ingredients.
- In a large bowl, mix the flours, salt, and baking powder together.
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients by using the tips of your fingers to smear them together or use a pastry cutter or fork. The mixture should look crumbly.
- Add the buttermilk and sourdough culture together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon (you might need to use your hands too) until the ingredients just come together. Stop mixing after this so you don't over-develop the gluten. The mixture should be messy and not a smooth ball of dough.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and lay on a floured surface. Pat it out with your hands in a circle. Fold the dough onto itself three times to create flaky layers (watch the video easy for instruction).
- Flour a biscuit cutter well and cut into biscuits. You can also cut them into squares with a knife so that there isn't any extra dough waste.
- Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan and brush the tops with buttermilk or melted butter. Bake for 14-17 minutes or until the biscuits are set and have a bit of color on top. It's better to under bake them and check one for doneness. Biscuits become bricks if over-baked!!
- Serve immediately.
Can the dough be cut into biscuits and then frozen? I usually make spelt biscuits, cut the dough,fteeze and cook as needed. Can i use all spelt flour and omit the yogurt? Looking forward to trying thess.
You can absolutely cut the biscuits and freeze them (unbaked). If you use all spelt flour, the biscuits will be quite a bit heavier and not as tender because whole grain flours have a higher percentage of protein which makes for a stronger gluten structure, hence denser biscuits. You could omit the yogurt, but you will need to add more buttermilk to make sure there is enough moisture. If you want to avoid modern wheat varieties, in the recipe notes below the recipe instructions, there is a note about subbing all purpose flour with an all purpose gluten free flour blend. My favorite is Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.
Bessie! This was an awesome post and I couldn’t agree more! I can’t wait to try these after I make the sourdough starter!
Awesome! Please let me know how they turn out if you give them a try.
This recipe is amazing! I used 100-% spelt, added 1.5 cups of shredded cheese and some garlic and ham. Yum! I wonder if soaking the flour overnight in the milk on the counter would be better- to help digest the phytic acid (similarly to making sourdough bread)