Sourdough Biscuits
These biscuits get their flaky layers from cold butter and their tang from sourdough discard. No yeast, no waiting around -- the baking powder and baking soda handle the rise. They come together fast, bake fast, and disappear even faster.
Ingredients
- 300gall-purpose flour(100%)
- 120gsourdough discard-- cold from the fridge
- 85gunsalted butter (cold, cubed)(28%)
- 80gbuttermilk (cold)
- 8g (about 2 teaspoons)baking powder
- 3g (about 1/2 teaspoon)baking soda
- 5gsalt
Instructions
- 1
Preheat your oven to 220C (425F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- 2
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- 3
Add the cold cubed butter to the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to work the butter in until you have a mix of pea-sized and flat, flaky pieces. The variety in butter size is what creates layers.
Work fast and keep the butter cold. If your kitchen is warm, pop the bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes between steps.
- 4
Add the sourdough discard and cold buttermilk. Stir with a fork until the dough just comes together. It should look shaggy and feel a bit dry. Don't overmix -- visible butter chunks are exactly what you want.
- 5
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Pat it into a rectangle about 2cm thick. Fold it in thirds (like a letter), then rotate 90 degrees and pat it out again. Repeat this fold 3-4 times total. This builds the layers.
- 6
Pat the dough to a final thickness of about 3cm (thicker than you think). Cut with a sharp 7cm (2.75") biscuit cutter. Press straight down -- don't twist, or you'll seal the layers shut. Place on the prepared baking sheet with sides touching for taller biscuits, or 2cm apart for crispier edges.
- 7
Bake for 14-18 minutes until tall, golden, and flaky. The sides should look layered.
- 8
Brush with melted butter immediately. Serve warm with butter, honey, jam, or use them for breakfast sandwiches.
Tips
Cold ingredients are everything. Cold butter creates steam in the oven, and that steam is what puffs up the layers. If your butter melts into the dough, you lose the flake.
Don't twist the cutter. A clean, straight cut lets the layers rise evenly. Twisting pinches the edges shut.
Gather the scraps gently, stack them (don't ball them up), and cut again. Second-cut biscuits won't be quite as flaky but they're still good.
For cheddar biscuits, fold in 75g of shredded sharp cheddar during the last fold. Drop biscuits (no cutting) work great for this variation.