Learn how to make delicious sourdough biscuits. These buttery biscuits are so flavorful and tender, they make the perfect breakfast. Just add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Creating and maintaining a sourdough starter may seem really hard and difficult to begin with. But once you get going, you will see how easy it really is, and maintaining it will just become part of your routine.

Mine is still alive after 8 years, and it’s as old as one of my kids.

Even with our move in January to the new farmhouse, we’ve kept ours alive! Honestly, once you get an established starter, it is pretty resilient.

We’ve talked a lot recently about sourdough, and that’s because it is such a staple in our house.

We make sourdough everything. From pancakes, to bread, to flat bread, you name a bread product, and we probably make a sourdough version. It is just a healthier way to eat grains that our whole family really enjoys.

I love starting this sourdough biscuit recipe in the morning – the day before I want to bake them; that way, the next morning, they are ready to go.

There is truly nothing like a delicious breakfast with some long-fermented sourdough biscuits, topped with homemade jam, butter, or honey.

Benefits Of Sourdough

Soaking, sprouting, or fermenting wheat reduces the amount of phytic acid in wheat products. Properly preparing grains makes them easier to digest, and allows you to more easily absorb nutrients.

Long-fermented sourdough helps break down the phytic acid and the gluten even more. Those who are sensitive to gluten may be able to tolerate sourdough products that have been fermented for 24 hours. It also adds a depth of flavor that you can not get from a store without going to an artisan bakery.

You can find out how to make a sourdough starter here.

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Adapting Recipes For Long-Fermentation:

Say you already have a recipe you love, like pancakes or biscuits, and you want to make it a sourdough recipe that is long-fermented.

To alter the recipe, you want to mix the sourdough starter, all the grains the recipe calls for, and the liquid component of the recipe like melted coconut oil, honey, water, etc., and let that combination sit on the counter before adding the rest of your ingredients the next day.

Personally, I would be comfortable adding in raw milk at this step, but if it is pasteurized milk, then I’m not sure about that. Use your own discretion if your recipe calls for dairy.

If you just combine all the flour and the sourdough starter, you may find that the dough becomes too dry, so it is a good idea to combine all the liquid ingredients together with the flour.

Some recipes may just seem too dry, even after adding all the liquids. You can account for this if it calls for sugar; you could try to swap honey in for the sugar to give it more liquid, or you may just have to add as much of the flour as you possibly can to the starter, and then the next day add in the rest of it. That way, you have soaked most of the flour, but not all of it.

I normally do not add eggs in as part of the liquid, since I do not want those sitting out for 8-24 hours on the counter.

Hopefully that makes sense, but those are just a few tips that have helped me adapt sourdough recipe to be long-fermented recipes.

Tips For Making Sourdough Biscuits

• Use your hands to mix it up. Hands are my favorite kitchen tool. They are so… handy (wink, wink). You can also use a fork or even a food processor.
• If you have a gluten sensitivity, try to ferment these biscuits for 24 hours. If you are not comfortable with fermenting 24 hours with milk, you could substitute the milk for water.
• This recipe can use active starter or discard. Usually, I make just sourdough discard biscuits since I’m not a meal planner.
• Cut your biscuits using a biscuit cutter, mason jar, cookie cutter… really, anything round, or you could just cut them into squares.
• If you don’t have time to long ferment. No problem. You can easily just mix them up and bake without having them to ferment.

FAQ:

Why are my sourdough biscuits flat?

Most likely it is the result of old baking powder and/or baking soda. If they are not fresh then they may not rise the dough as much or at all.

How do you make the sourdough flavor stronger?

To add more of that delicious sourdough tang, ferment the dough longer. Making a quick biscuit will only give you a slightly sour flavor. Whereas long fermenting (12-24 hours) the grains in a warm spot gives the wild yeast time to ferment the flour and develop that flavor.

What can you do with sourdough discard?

There are so many things you can make with sourdough discard. Check out these 30+ Discard Recipes.

How long is sourdough discard good for?

Discard can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. If it starts to grow mold, throw it out. If it has a dark liquid on top of the starter, this is called a hooch. Pour the liquid out and then feed the discard. It is still fine to use. 

Why is sourdough so special?

Sourdough is so special because not only does it make the grains easier to digest, but it also is more nutritious that non-fermented grains. This is due to grains containing phytic acid. Phytic acids prevents our bodies from absorbing the nutrients found in grains like B vitamins, folate, iron, zinc, etc. During the fermentation process, the phytic acid breaks down and the nutrients become more bioavailable.

How do you make biscuits flaky?

The best way to make biscuits flaky is by making sure the butter is really cold, grate the butter with a cheese grater (this ensures that you will have to work it in with your hands less keeping the butter colder), and folding it when rolling out. The folding process also adds layers of butter and flour adding to the flakiness.

Ingredients:

Cold butter: The colder the better. This helps with the flakiness of the biscuits. You can place the cubed butter into the freezer for a few minutes before making this recipe to get it extra cold.

Flour: I used freshly milled whole wheat white flour. You could use all-purpose flour.

Sourdough discard: For this recipe you can use active sourdough starter or discard.

Honey or sugar: Both of these would work, I like using honey since it is a natural unrefined sweetener.

Salt: Don’t skip this. Ever had a biscuit without salt? They are terribly bland and not very tasty.

Baking powder and baking soda: Even though these are sourdough biscuits, the rise comes from leaveners. Since there is no kneading, unlike bread, there is less gluten formation, and in return less rising happens. So “chemical” leaveners are needed to help the process.

Milk or buttermilk: Buttermilk will add another depth of tanginess. Milk also works just fine.

How To Make Long-Fermented (Overnight) Sourdough Biscuits

Chop up cold butter into chunks or grate with a cheese grater. Add the butter to a large bowl.

Add flour to the butter.

Cut butter into flour; I usually just use my hands to massage the flour and butter together until it starts to form a ball.

Add 1 cup of sourdough starter.

Add honey, milk or buttermilk, and stir until nicely incorporated.

Place a clean tea towel over bowl and allow to sit at room temperature at least 8-24 hours. This is based on your level of tolerance to gluten and also your taste preference. The longer it sits out, the more sour it will get.

The next day, add baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the fermented dough.

Mix everything together well. I like to use my fingers.

Roll out biscuits onto a lightly floured surface and cut. I like to use an antique measuring cup, but you could also use a mason jar, or anything round. You will have to roll it out and cut a few times in order to cut all the dough.

Place onto a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or a glass baking dish. This is just like the sourdough peach cobbler recipe.

For a little added height, you can allow the biscuits to rise again for 30 minutes to an hour in a warm place before baking.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 14 -20 minutes.

How To Make Quick Sourdough Biscuits

Chop up cold butter into chunks and add to a large bowl.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the to the butter.

Cut butter into flour.

Add 1 cup of sourdough starter, milk, and honey and mix everything together well.

Lightly flour a clean work surface, roll and cut out dough.

Place onto a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, baking sheet, or a glass baking dish.

Bake right away or allow the biscuits to rise for 30 minutes to an hour in a warm spot.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 14 -20 minutes until the edges start to turn a golden brown.

Also, try my einkorn biscuits for a more digestible quick recipe.

Find More Farmhouse Family Favorite Sourdough Recipes:

• Lemon Sourdough Pound Cake
• How To Make Sourdough Waffles
• Sourdough Pizza | Mini Pizzas on Sourdough English Muffin
• Cinnamon Maple Sourdough Apple Pie
• How to Make Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone