Use up your discarded starter in these quick and easy Sourdough Biscuits. Buttery, flaky and full of flavor, these are made with sour cream and scallions. Vegan adaptable with a video!
If there is something”past” that needs to be seen or healed back into wholeness, it will arise in the present experience. We do not have to dig up pebbles from a streambed. ~ Dorothy Hunt
These flaky buttery Sourdough Biscuits are studded with scallions and have the best texture and flavor. A great way to use up that sourdough discard! If I’m being truthful they are pretty dangerous to have around, because it’s impossible not to devour them once they are made.
Sourdough Biscuits |60-second Video
So be warned!
This is for those of you who are ready to do something with your sourdough discard, or sourdough starter in addition to making the Sourdough Bread-which I keep hearing is working out for you! So happy and excited for you!
A true feat! Hooray!
New to sourdough starter?
Sourdough Starter is often referred to as “wild yeast”, made from flour and water and the wild yeast in the air around us,and it is typically used as the “yeast” when baking Sourdough Bread. The sourdough “discard” – the part of the starter that often goes to waste- can be used to make flavorful biscuits, waffles and pancakes.
What can you do with sourdough discard?
- Make Sourdough Waffles!
- Make Sourdough Pancakes!
- Make Sourdough Scones!
- Make Sourdough Buns!
- Make Sourdough Tortillas!
It starts with butter, flour, salt and baking powder. Use your fingers and break apart into uneven crumbs, no bigger than a pea.
Add scallions if you like, or chives are nice too.
Mix 3/4 cup starter with 1/2 cup sour cream. You can also use yogurt, vegan yogurt, vegan sour cream, or buttermilk. The sour cream really gives a lovely flavor here with the scallions- just sayin’. 🙂
Then combine into a shaggy ball.
Place onto a floured surface. Sprinkle with flour.
Knead twice- for like 2 seconds. Pat flat into a 3/4 inch rectangle. Then fold up into thirds like an envelope. Pat it down and repeat 2 times. The third time, pat the folded “envelope” into a rectangle 5 by 9 inches and about 1 1/2 inches thick.
Using a biscuit cutter, or sharp knife, cut this into 6 pieces.
Place onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until golden, about 20 -25 minutes.
Internal temp should reach 205F.
My favorite biscuit ever!!!! Flakey, flavorful and so easy.
How long can you keep sourdough discard?
Keep sourdough discard in the fridge for 7-10 days without feeding. Don’t feed the “discard” (only feed the starter that you plan to use for bread). Use the discard up in sourdough pancakes and sourdough waffles. Yes, you can add to the discard.
Enjoy! Such a great way to use up your sourdough starter or discard!
You may also enjoy:
- Sourdough Waffles
- Banana Bread (Vegan and Sourdough!)
- Rosemary Olive Sourdough Bread
- Savory Cheddar Scones with caramelized onions
- Leek Bread!
- No-Knead Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Buns
- Sourdough Tortillas
- Sourdough Pancakes
Sourdough Biscuits
An easy recipe for Sourdough Biscuits with scallions using discard or sourdough starter. These buttery biscuits can be made in 45 minutes!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: baked
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: northwest
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup (180g) All-Purpose Flour (or bread flour) , fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon salt (use a little less if using salted butter)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted, cold butter (or use vegan butter), cut into 1/4-inch slices. (113.5 grams) See notes!
- 1/4–1/2 cup chopped scallions or chives (optional, of course)
- 3/4 cup (170g) discard or sourdough starter, unfed
- 1/2 cup sour cream (or sub vegan sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder.
- Work in the cut cold butter into the flour using your fingers until it is unevenly crumbly, with the biggest crumbs the size of peas. Mix in the scallions if using.
- Place 3/4 cup starter and 1/2 cup sour cream in a bowl and mix with a fork ( it doesn’t have to be perfectly mixed together).
- Pour this into the flour mixture and using a fork, mix until the dough comes together into a very shaggy ball.
- Place the ball on a well-floured surface, sprinkle with flour and knead gently just to incorporate ( for 5 seconds- don’t over knead). Pat into a 6 x 10-inch rectangle. Fold up the sides into thirds like a tri-fold envelope and pat again into a 6 x10 inch rectangle. Fold up the sides into thirds again. Re-flour your work surface, adding more if needed. Pat into an 8 x 5-inch rectangle about 1 1/2 inches tall. Cut into 6 equal pieces.
- Place on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check at 15-20 minutes, rotating pan if necessary. Keep baking until biscuits are beautifully golden and internal temp reaches 205F.
Notes
A friend of mine makes this with 3/4 and sometimes 1/2 the butter- and it still turns out. A little less flakey but still pretty good.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 291
- Sugar: 0.6 g
- Sodium: 408.5 mg
- Fat: 18.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 11.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.4 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 4.8 g
- Cholesterol: 47.4 mg
Keywords: sourdough biscuits, sourdough recipes, sourdough discard recipes, discard recipes, best sourdough biscuits, best vegan biscuits
These were amazing!! I sent a picture to my brother and he said, “can you make these for me when I come visit?” Can’t wait to make these again 🙂 thanks Sylvia!!
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Great to hear!
We absolutely love this sourdough biscuits recipe. My husband calls them crack biscuits! Lol
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Great to hear!
I love these! But I have a ton of left over starter. Just got it going. Do I freeze these before or after they are cooked?
I would freeze after!
These were fantastic! The only changes I made were to add 1.5 cups of cheddar cheese and use buttermilk instead of sour cream. This made a wonderful dinner. With I could add a photo because they look so beautiful and taste wonderful.
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Perfect Maureen! Glad these worked for you!
These biscuits wete amazing! Needless to say, I will be making more🙂
Awesome Valerie!
Is there a way to substitute all or part of the butter with olive oil?
Hi Paula- a friend of mine makes these using half the butter. You could try that. Keep everything else the same. Not sure how olive oil would affect the liquid ratio.
Can you freeze these biscuits?
Yes, these should freeze just fine!
i used chopped scallions and parsley and brushed the hot biscuits with scape gee when they were straight out of the oven. ooh la la…
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Awesome Heather!
Best biscuits that I have ever tasted! Light, flaky and easy to make. THANK YOU!!
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Yay! So glad you liked them Melanie!
I have made these biscuits over and over and over !!!!! Winner!!! I made your starter about a year ago and have made the no knead bread ( given loaves during Covid) to members of my church and delighted my husband with biscuits!!
Delicious
Thank you so much
Kim 💕
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Yay Kim!!! Glad this is working for you!
SO yummy! I used an unfed starter, and these were so deliciously sour. My young kids devoured these plain. Didn’t use the scallions this time, but probably will next time.
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Glad you enjoyed Megan!
Wanting a quick breakfast, I made these today using starter that has been sitting in my fridge, unfed, for over a month… They came out fantastic!
The whole story: the way I usually use my starter leaves me no discard. But this starter has been through a lot: it had to travel from the US to Poland, upon arrival it got fed in preparation for baking, and then I found out that my oven had died… After that, I was away, and busy, and so it sat in the back of the fridge until I got a new oven and more time… A few days ago, a bit of it got used for some bread (so I knew it was still alive!), but since I had previously done a feeding without baking, I had way more than I needed. So I made these biscuits.
I am not a biscuit maker, so I didn’t quite know what to expect, but these rose nicely and came out light and fluffy and beautiful and very yummy! I wouldn’t call them flaky (which is what I have heard real biscuits should be), but I am not even sure what that means… I loved these and will purposely create some discard to be able to make them again. 🙂 Thank you!
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Your starter has indeed been through a lot Hania! Glad you enjoyed the biscuits!
My third time to use this recipe, and we love these biscuits! And I always double it! It’s so fun to bake biscuits the slow and beautiful buttery way of days gone by! I use homemade butter, and the buttermilk that comes with it when I am preparing it!
Thank you!
(PS – The video attached is actually one for harissa paste! It also looks yummy!)
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Glad you like the biscuits Vicki! Will check on the video- it just may have scrolled through to the next one. 😉
This is such a perfect biscuit that it is the only recipe I use! Do you have any suggestions of spreads to put on the biscuit and make it an appetizer?
How about brie or cambozola and fig jam? 😉
Hi Slyvia, what kind of difference will it make if i use unfed/discard vs fed sourdough starter? Thanks for the recipe!
It shouldn’t matter too much here!
I’m new at sourdough and biscuit making. These were easy and excellent! Just like your sourdough bread recipe! Had to hide them from my husband before our company came.
Has anyone tried to make the dough the night before and bake them in the morning?
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Thanks Bonnie!
Heavens, this is delish! SO glad i doubled it! Thank you for the recipe! Added grated mozzarella with chive from the garden. Magic x
Awesome!
yummy with crabapple jelly
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Yum!
Hi Sylvia, thank you for sharing such an amazingly easy recipe! I baked a double batch today and they turned out great. Will be sharing them with my family tomorrow! I dare say these are even better than those i have bought as takeaways from restaurants. Thank you again and stay safe and healthy 🙂
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Thanks and glad you liked them Ainie!
So delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I would like to make a triple batch for an upcoming breakfast gathering and was wondering if I could prepare them the night before and keep them unbaked in the fridge and pop them in the oven in the morning. Thanks.
I think that should work fine, but truthfully haven’t tried? I bet it would be fine!
This is my go to recipe and my go to blog for all the people ingetnhooked on sourdough starter!😁. I even play with it a little like adding jalapeños and cheddar cheese and garlic powder. Also, I sometimes substitute the butter for 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 canola oil for a more heart healthy version (I date a cardiologist, and you know how they are about butter!)😒. These biscuits are definitely boyfriend tested and mother approved. The instructions are great as well. The only thing I will add is I tried doing this with buttermilk and I think the combo of the sourdough and buttermilk make the biscuits too sour. I stick with yoghurt. Thanks for the recipe
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Delicious! Mine weren’t quite as fluffy as yours, but a super tasty way to use that discard.
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My husband requests these on Father’s Day and his birthday. These biscuits always turn out great!
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thanks Kylie!