Buttery Sourdough Biscuits

Buttery Sourdough Biscuits: These big, tender, palm-sized sourdough biscuits are perfect for a breakfast sandwich. Their sourdough tang pairs nicely with egg, ham, sausage, or whatever you choose to stuff them with. Better yet — the recipe uses your “discard” sourdough, the extra starter you might otherwise throw away during the feeding process.

Prep:10 mins

Bake: 20 to 23 mins

Total: 30 mins

Yield: 6 to 7 large biscuits

Ingredients Buttery Sourdough Biscuits

1 cup (120g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, cold
1 cup (227g) sourdough starter, unfed/discard*

Instructions Buttery Sourdough Biscuits

Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the upper third. Grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.
Add the starter, mixing gently until the dough is cohesive.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (a piece of parchment works well), and gently pat it into a 6″ round about 1″-thick.
Use a sharp 2 3/8″ biscuit cutter to cut four rounds, cutting them as close to one another as possible. Gently push and pat the scraps into a 2 1/2″ x 5″ rectangle. Cut two more biscuits. Push and pat the remaining scraps into a 1″-thick biscuit; it’ll be slightly smaller than the others.
Place the sourdough biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2″ between them; they’ll spread as they bake.
Bake the sourdough biscuits in the upper third of your oven for 20 to 23 minutes, until they’re golden brown.
Remove the sourdough biscuits from the oven, and serve warm. Or cool completely, wrap in plastic, and store at room temperature for several days. Freeze, well-wrapped, for longer storage.

Tips Buttery Sourdough Biscuits

Don’t have any starter? Here’s a recipe for homemade sourdough starter. If you’re making it from scratch, you’ll need to feed it for 5 to 7 days before it’s ready for baking. Want a head start? Purchase our classic fresh sourdough starter — it’ll be ready for baking soon after it arrives at your door. Looking for tips, techniques, and all kinds of great information about sourdough baking.
To add a subtle, nutty, whole grain flavor to these biscuits, substitute 20g (about 3 tablespoons) medium rye flour or buckwheat flour for an equal amount of the all-purpose flour in the recipe. No other changes are necessary.
Feel free to make smaller sourdough biscuits, if desired; they’ll need slightly less time in the oven than the larger biscuits.
Sourdough starters can vary in how liquid they are. If your biscuit dough seems very dry, dribble in a bit of milk or buttermilk until it comes together.
Join King Arthur baker Martin Philip and his family as they bake Sourdough Biscuits together, start to finish.