Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (2024)

Bless This Mess Recipes Breads Sourdough

By Melissa

5 from 1 vote

on May 11, 2020, Updated Mar 11, 2024

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This Sourdough Biscuits recipe makes tender, flaky, golden-brown biscuits that are perfect for breakfast and dinner alike. They are nice and crusty on the outside with soft, fluffy insides!

Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (2)

Table of Contents

  • Quick and Easy Sourdough Biscuits
  • What Makes These the Best Sourdough Biscuits?
  • What’s in these Biscuits?
  • How to Make Sourdough Biscuits:
  • Tips for Making Sourdough Biscuits:
  • How to Store Sourdough Biscuits:
  • FAQs:
  • Quick Sourdough Biscuits Recipe

Quick and Easy Sourdough Biscuits

Two words: sourdough biscuits. Oh man, these are a serious heaven-in-your-mouth situation, and if you are actively caring for a sourdough starter, they’re your answer to a FAST biscuit recipe. And one that is oh-so good. Biscuits make everything better, and sourdough biscuits are really where it’s at. That subtle tart flavor mixed with the buttery flakiness of a biscuit is unbelievable! Plus, this recipe is a quickie. No waiting for dough to rise like other traditional sourdough recipes. You just make the dough and they’re ready to bake!

The fun thing is you can use your starter OR your discard in this recipe. (If you want to make your own sourdough starter, find my tutorial right here.) The discard gives it more of a strong sourdough flavor, and I actually prefer to use the starter over the discard. But both are good in their own ways! This is a fun and fast weekday recipe or a great one for a big holiday brunch if you need something that’s comforting but doesn’t take a ton of effort!

Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (3)

What Makes These the Best Sourdough Biscuits?

A few things add to the perfection of these biscuits! First of all, it’s the easiest sourdough recipe you’ll ever bake. If you love the taste of sourdough but don’t have time for a full loaf, this is your answer. Plus, the grated butter does so many things! As it melts, it creates pockets of air for the perfectly flaky, layered biscuits. And you already know butter adds the punch of rich flavor we all need and love in a biscuit. They are SO GOOD!

What’s in these Biscuits?

Sourdough starter or discard:The discard will give them a more sour flavor, and I prefer the starter for the best texture and flavor.

Milk:Milk is the liquid that brings the dough together and gives the taste a rich and hearty element.

All-purpose flour:All-purpose flour allows the dough to become thick and hearty, a biscuit must!

Baking powder:Baking powder helps the biscuits rise and puff up as they bake.

Salt:Salt’s the almighty balancer of flavors in baked goodies.

Butter:The key! Make sure your butter is extra-cold (you can freeze it for a few minutes) and grate it using a cheese grater for the best biscuit texture.

Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (4)

How to Make Sourdough Biscuits:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly butter the bottom of baking dish.
  2. Whisk the sourdough starter/discard and 1/3 cup of milk.
  3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and grated butter in separate bowl.
  4. Add milk mixture to bowl; stir to combine.
  5. Adjust the dough, using additional milk, until dough comes together well but isn’t sticky.
  6. Remove dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface.
  7. Use your hands to gently pat the dough into 6×9-inch rectangle.
  8. Use a sharp knife to cut biscuits into 12 pieces.
  9. Place cut biscuits into prepared pan.
  10. Bake for about 15 minutes until the tops are golden-brown.
  11. Remove the biscuits from the oven and serve hot with butter and jam or with sausage gravy on top.
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Tips for Making Sourdough Biscuits:

  • Use sourdough starter:You CAN use the discard if you like, the choice is yours so use what you like or have on hand.
  • Grate the butter:Grated butter melts in tiny pockets as the biscuits bake, making them uber flaky, airy, and layered.
  • Gently pat out the dough:When preparing the biscuits, very gently pat the dough into a 1-inch rectangle. Pushing too hard will lead to denser, less fluffy biscuits.

How to Store Sourdough Biscuits:

Let the biscuits cool completely before storing in an zipper-topped bag or airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 to 4 months.

FAQs:

What if My Biscuits Aren’t Flaky?

Be sure you get your butter really cold by keeping it in the fridge right until you need it — or even freeze for a few minutes. Then, be sure to grate it with a cheese grater for small little slices of the butter to be incorporated into the dough! This helps create little air pockets for the flakiest biscuits.

How Do I Make My Biscuits Have a Stronger Sourdough Flavor?

Using the sourdough discard, instead of the starter, will lend to a stronger sourdough flavor. Read about how to create your own sourdough starter here.

Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (6)

Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (7)

5 from 1 vote

Quick Sourdough Biscuits

By: Melissa Griffiths

This Sourdough Biscuits recipe makes tender, golden-brown biscuits perfect for breakfast or dinner. They are crusty on the outside with fluffy insides!

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 12 biscuits

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup (225g) sourdough starter or sourdough discard
  • 1/3 cup plus up to 1/3 cup more as needed (80-160g) milk, (I use whole or 2%)
  • 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon (15g) baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
  • 6 tablespoons (85g) very cold butter, grated

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F., and lightly butter the bottom of a baking dish, such as a 12-inch skillet or a 7×11-inch baking dish.

  • In a small mixing bowl, add the sourdough starter (or discard) and 1/3 cup of milk. Whisk well with a fork to combine.

  • In a second medium mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and grated butter. Stir with a fork to combine.

  • Add the milk mixture to the bowl and stir to combine.

  • The texture of the biscuits will depend a lot on the starter/discard that you used.

  • Adjust the dough, using additional milk as needed, until the dough comes together well but isn’t sticky. You can work it with your hands just a little if you’d like to get the last of the flour to come together. It’s better if you are working with a slightly dry dough, opposed to a wet or sticky dough.

  • When the dough mostly comes together, remove it from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface.

  • Use a rolling pin or your hands to gently roll or pat the dough into a rectangle that is roughly 6 inches by 9 inches so that the biscuit dough is about 1 inch thick.

  • Use a sharp knife to cut the biscuits into 12 pieces.

  • Place the cut biscuits into the prepared pan.

  • Bake for about 15 minutes until the tops are golden-brown.

  • Remove the biscuits from the oven and serve hot with butter and jam or with sausage gravy on top.

Notes

  • I like to use my mature bubbly active starter for this recipe. I think it has the best texture and flavor. My starter is considered a 100% hydration starter because I feed it equal parts water and flour. When I use my active starter for this recipe, I use 2/3 cup of milk total.
  • You are free to use your sourdough discard in this recipe. The flavor is generally more sour, and you’ll need to adjust the milk to account for the texture of your discard. Often discard is thinner than mature starter, so make adjustments as needed. You will likely need less milk.
  • This recipe doesn’t work well for a long or overnight rising time. The baking powder will lose it’s leavening power over an extended time.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 of 12 biscuits, Calories: 150kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 251mg, Potassium: 34mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 0.4g, Vitamin A: 186IU, Calcium: 72mg, Iron: 1mg

Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (8)

Other Biscuit Recipes You Might Enjoy

  • Homemade Biscuits and Gravy
  • Breakfast Biscuit Sandwiches for a Crowd
  • The Best Butter Biscuits
  • Homemade Chive Biscuits
  • The Best Buttermilk Biscuits

About Melissa

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Easy Sourdough Biscuits Recipe - Tender Homemade Biscuits! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to soft biscuits? ›

"Pinch the flour and fat together like you're snapping your fingers," he explains. This creates thin sheets of butter that create puff pastry-like layers in your biscuits. For soft and fluffy biscuits, blend the liquid and dry ingredients just until the dough "resembles cottage cheese," Sonoskus says.

What are the two most important things to do to ensure a flaky and tender biscuit? ›

The two keys to success in making the best biscuits are handling the dough as little as possible as well as using very cold solid fat (butter, shortening, or lard) and cold liquid.

What does adding an egg to biscuit dough do? ›

With biscuits, however, the goal is to avoid this chewiness. So, by adding hard-boiled egg yolk to a biscuit recipe, you'll thwart the formation of gluten, thereby resulting in a buttery, flakey crumb that'll dissolve in your mouth.

What are 2 causes of tough biscuits? ›

Tough
  • Gluten in flour overdeveloped. ...
  • Ratio of dry ingredients to fats and liquids too high. ...
  • Used wrong type of flour. ...
  • The wrong kind of measuring cup was used. ...
  • Vegetable oil spread contains less fat and more water than butter or margarine. ...
  • Oven was too hot and product overbaked.

What not to do when making biscuits? ›

5 Mistakes You're Making With Your Biscuits
  1. Mistake #1: Your butter is too warm.
  2. Mistake #2: You're using an inferior flour.
  3. Mistake #3: You use an appliance to mix your batter.
  4. Mistake #4: You don't fold the dough enough.
  5. Mistake #5: You twist your biscuit cutter.
Feb 1, 2019

How do you soften homemade biscuits? ›

The best way to reheat biscuits is in the oven. Yes, it takes a bit more time but only a few minutes.

What ingredient is responsible for the tenderness and flakiness of our biscuits? ›

Butter enriches baked goods by contributing tenderness and moistness, and is responsible for the flakiness in biscuits, pie crusts, and puff pastry. Because of its superior flavor, most bakers select unsalted butter over all other fats for use in baking.

Which liquid makes the best biscuits? ›

Just as important as the fat is the liquid used to make your biscuits. Our Buttermilk Biscuit recipe offers the choice of using milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk is known for making biscuits tender and adding a zippy tang, so we used that for this test.

What kind of flour makes the best biscuits? ›

White wheat in general is around 9-12% protein, while the hard reds are 11-15%. As far as brands of flour, White Lily “all-purpose” flour has been my go-to for biscuit making. It's a soft red winter wheat, and the low protein and low gluten content keep biscuits from becoming too dense.

What happens if you add too much egg to biscuits? ›

If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.

What happens if you add too much egg to dough? ›

So, if you use four extra-large eggs instead of four large eggs, you will add too much egg to a batter, which could result in a product that tastes eggy and is spongy and dense.

What does cream of tartar do in biscuits? ›

In the presence of a liquid, the acidity of the cream of tartar activates the baking soda, causing it to start bubbling away, and that, in turn, is what makes the biscuits rise.

What is the common fault when baking biscuits? ›

Here are 11 mistakes to avoid when baking homemade biscuits:
  1. 01 of 12. Cutting the Butter into Chunks. ...
  2. 02 of 12. Choosing the Wrong Flour. ...
  3. 03 of 12. Forgetting To Chill the Butter and Flour. ...
  4. 04 of 12. Skipping the Buttermilk. ...
  5. 05 of 12. Overworking (or Underworking) the Dough. ...
  6. 06 of 12. ...
  7. 07 of 12. ...
  8. 08 of 12.
Oct 4, 2022

Why are my homemade biscuits tough? ›

This can happen with both homemade and store-bought mixes. Here are some possible reasons why your biscuits are developing a rock hard consistency: Overmixing: If you mix the dough too much, the gluten in the flour can develop too much and create tough, hard biscuits.

How do you keep biscuits from getting hard? ›

We've got a clever trick that will keep your biscuits soft and chewy for longer. The solution is as simple as putting the biscuits in an airtight jar along with a small piece of bread (no more than half a slice). If you don't have an airtight jar, a zip-lock bag also works well.

Is it better to use butter or Crisco for biscuits? ›

The butter version rises the highest — look at those flaky layers! The shortening biscuit is slightly shorter and a bit drier, too. Butter contains a bit of water, which helps create steam and gives baked goods a boost.

Why are my biscuits not light and fluffy? ›

The biscuit mix itself is a simple combination of all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. For light and fluffy biscuits, steer clear of any flour made from 100% hard red wheat; this style is relatively low in starch and high in protein, readily forming gluten in a high-moisture dough.

How do you make chewy biscuits not crunchy? ›

To make your cookies chewy, all you need to do is give your cookies less time in the oven. A cookie that has had less time in the oven will have a chewier texture. You can also add a little more brown sugar as this ingredient has molasses in it, and creates a softer consistency.

How do you make my biscuits rise higher? ›

To bake tall biscuits place you want to place biscuits next to each other, with edges touching on the baking sheet. If you separate the biscuits and bake them too far apart, they won't rise as tall.

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