Sourdough discard biscuits

Sourdough discard biscuits give you tall, flaky, buttermilk-style biscuits using up the unfed starter you would otherwise pour out. The recipe leans on two rules: keep every wet ingredient cold, and handle the dough as little as possible. Mix 240 g flour with cold butter, fold in 150 g discard and 120 g buttermilk, then bake at 220C/425F for 16-20 minutes. You get crisp tops, soft middles, and layers you can peel apart.

Cold discard straight from the fridge is exactly what you want here. It does not need to be active or bubbly, so this is a good home for the portion you skim off when feeding your starter. The discard adds tang and a little extra tenderness without changing how the biscuits rise.

Ingredients

Weigh everything in grams. Biscuits are fussy about butter-to-flour ratio, and a scale removes the guesswork.

• 240 g all-purpose flour
• 12 g baking powder
• 3 g baking soda
• 5 g fine salt
• 10 g sugar
• 115 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 150 g sourdough discard (100% hydration), cold
• 120 g cold buttermilk, plus a little for brushing

No buttermilk? Stir 5 g of lemon juice or vinegar into 120 g of milk and let it sit 5 minutes. The discard already brings acidity, so the biscuits stay tender either way.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220C/425F and line a sheet with parchment.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Cut the cold cubed butter into the flour. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter and stop when the pieces range from pea-sized down to flat flakes. Those flakes are what steam into layers.
4. Stir the cold discard and cold buttermilk together in a separate cup, then pour into the flour. Mix with a fork just until a shaggy, scrappy dough comes together. Some dry patches are fine.
5. Tip the dough onto a floured surface. Pat it into a rough rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, and pat out again. Repeat two or three times. This builds the layers without overworking the gluten.
6. Pat to about 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick. Cut straight down with a 6 cm (2.5 inch) cutter and do not twist, since twisting seals the edges and stops the rise. Gather the scraps, press gently, and cut the rest.
7. Arrange the biscuits so their sides touch on the sheet. They support each other and climb taller. Brush the tops with a little buttermilk.
8. Bake 16-20 minutes until the tops are deep gold and the sides feel set. Cool about 5 minutes, then pull them apart and serve warm.

Timings are estimates. Ovens drift and dough thickness changes the bake, so judge by color and a firm side rather than the clock.

Tips for flaky layers

The whole game is cold butter and a light hand. If your kitchen is warm and the dough turns greasy while you work, slide the cut biscuits into the freezer for 10 minutes before baking. Firm butter going into a hot oven is what creates lift.

Skip the twist when cutting. A clean downward press keeps the cut edges open so the layers can split and rise.

Storage

Biscuits are best the day they bake. Once cool, keep leftovers in a sealed container at room temperature for a day or two, or freeze them baked and reheat at 175C/350F for 8-10 minutes. You can also cut them, freeze raw, and bake straight from frozen, adding a few minutes.

Need more ways to clear the jar? Browse the discard recipes hub, or scale this batch with the hydration calculator to keep the wet-to-dry balance steady.