Sourdough Biscuits [buttery + flaky]

There is something oh so comforting about baking flaky sourdough biscuits. This easy sourdough recipe will fill your kitchen with the most delicious aroma, not mention filling your belly with wonderful homemade comfort food. And all with that unique sourdough tang.

These homemade sourdough biscuits are perfect to smother with homemade butter or even cultured butter. They also make the tastiest breakfast sandwiches.

If you have sourdough starter left over from making homemade sourdough bread, why not make a batch of flaky sourdough biscuits! You can use either sourdough discard or sourdough starter.

If you love comforting sourdough recipes, you might also like to try these sourdough chocolate chip cookies, sourdough chocolate brownies, sourdough waffles, sourdough cornbread, sourdough apple pie and sourdough banana bread. Oh and if you have leftover buttermilk, try making this Sourdough Irish Soda Bread!

What Are Homemade Biscuits?

Now this may seem like a very obvious question. But the truth is, the answer to this question really depends on where you are from!

In the United States, a biscuit refers to a flaky, buttery "quick bread" that is leavened with baking powder and baking soda. They are very popular in the South and are often eaten with gravy. You can read more about American biscuits here.

In other parts of the world, the American biscuit is called a scone and the word biscuit is used to refer to a cookie. It all gets a bit confusing! For example, in Australia, they love Anzac Biscuits. But these aren't the same biscuits as this recipe, they are an oatmeal type cookie baked with golden syrup.

This recipe is for an American style biscuit, leavened with baking powder and baking soda and flavored with some sourdough discard.

If you're looking for a scone, try these chocolate chip sourdough scones.

How To Make Flaky Sourdough Biscuits

Making flaky sourdough biscuits is a relatively simple process, and one you can do in very little time. My advice is to have everything ready before you start so that you're not letting the butter warm up much at all.

Here's how to make buttery sourdough biscuits:

1. Preheat your oven to 190C (374F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
   
2. Grate the butter with a box grater and set aside in the freezer until you're ready for it.
   
3. Place flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix with a large spoon until well combined.
   
4. Take your butter out of the freezer and place into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Cut the cold butter through the flour. It's best to do this with a pastry cutter or spatula, but you can use your fingers if you prefer (but be fast as you don't want the butter to melt).
   
5. Now tip the buttermilk and sourdough starter into the butter and flour mix (you don't have to mix them together first). Bring together with a rubber spatula until it's a dry shaggy dough (I start with 80g of buttermilk and add a touch more if I need it).
   
6. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough gently so that it comes together - just don't let that butter get too warm! Make sure you fold the dough on top of itself so that you get plenty of layers.
   
7. Gently roll the dough out into a thick rectangle (around 2 cm / ¾ inch) and press out rounds using a sharp biscuit cutter or a glass. Don't twist the dough, just press straight down.
   
8. Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place into the oven at 190C for around 19 minutes (it will vary slightly depending on your oven).
   
9. Brush the tops with melted butter when they come out of the oven ... and enjoy!

Tips for the Best Sourdough Biscuits

For the flakiest, most buttery sourdough biscuits there are a few things you need to make sure you do.

• make sure your butter is COLD! In fact, take it from the fridge, grate it and then pop it in the freezer! The colder it is, the better your sourdough biscuits will be.
  
• buttermilk will give you the best flavor and texture, but if you don't have any buttermilk you can use whole milk with a dash of white vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes before adding to your sourdough biscuit dough. I love adding the buttermilk from making cultured butter to these biscuits - it develops the beautiful fermented flavor even more!
  
• For the flakiest, tallest biscuits, you can cut the dough into four strips and stack them on top of each other before you roll the dough out. This will give you plenty of layers when they rise.
  
• Don't twist the biscuit or cookie cutter. If you twist it, it will seal the edges of the dough and stop them from rising as much as they could. Just push the cutter straight down and then back up. You really want something with a sharp edge, so a glass is better than a mason jar if you don't have a biscuit cutter.

Does The Discard Help The Sourdough Biscuits Rise?

While sourdough starter contains wild yeast, the only thing that the sourdough starter or sourdough discard does in this recipe is give the biscuits a more sour flavor. The main leavening agent for sourdough biscuits is actually baking powder and baking soda. The sourdough discard will give these homemade biscuits a beautiful, more complex flavor.

Should I Use Sourdough Discard or Active Sourdough Starter?

It really doesn't make any difference to this recipe - you can use whatever you have on hand.

This is a great way to use up leftover sourdough starter if you've made too much for your bread recipe or to use up some discard after feeding your sourdough starter.

How Do I Eat Sourdough Biscuits?

You can really eat these biscuits in any way you choose ... but here are some ideas:

• Enjoy them warm out of the oven with homemade butter and your favorite jam (I love apricot).
  
• Spread them with whipped honey cinnamon butter.
  
• Use them for making breakfast sandwiches.
  
• Serve them as a side dish for your favorite comfort foods like stews and soups. They are great to mop up sauces and gravy.