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Sourdough Spelt Biscuits

Put your sourdough discard to delicious use by making flaky sourdough discard biscuits!
Course Baking, Breakfast, Breakfast/Brunch
Cuisine Southern American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 10 biscuits
Author Bessie Bakes

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.
    butter, baking powder, salt, and sourdough discard in bowls
  • 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.
    Cutting butter into biscuit dough
  • 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.
    Sourdough discard biscuit dough in a bowl
  • 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).
    Folding biscuit dough for flaky layers
  • 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.
    Cutting biscuit dough
  • 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!!
    Sourdough discard biscuits baked on sheet pan
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

For the sourdough starter:

If you feed your starter everyday, then you want to use the starter that you discard  during a feeding for this recipe.  You don't have to worry about it being really bubbly because we aren't concerned with creating a gluten structure.

For a buttermilk sub:

If you don't have buttermilk, measure regular milk and add 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and let curdle or bubble for a few minutes.
For a dairy-free buttermilk, take almond milk (for the best flavor) and add 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar and let bubble or curdle for a few minutes.