These easy Sourdough Discard Biscuits are flaky and buttery with a hint of delicious tanginess. The simple dough takes minutes to pull together and the biscuits can be baked straight away or stashed in the refrigerator to bake the next morning (or frozen even longer!). Serve these tender biscuits warm with butter and honey for a nostalgic treat or with eggs and bacon for a hearty breakfast.
Recipe Background and Details
Warm biscuits with butter and honey is a treat my grandma served me countless times from the time I was a little girl all the way up until her passing in 2020. It is one of the most nostalgic tastes I can think of and one my daughter loves as much as I do. Every time I make biscuits my daughter says, "it smells like Nini's house in here." And then we reminisce about her and her breakfasts which were the absolute best. So when I set out to make this sourdough discard biscuit recipe I knew it had to live up to those standards and I'm happy to report it does! Grab all the info below along with my tips for the perfect biscuits.
Serve these with honey and butter or with my homemade Mulberry Jam for a delicious treat!
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step-by-step instructions
- Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add butter.
- Coat butter with flour mixture and press butter cubes between your thumb and index finger to create flat petals of butter. If using grated butter, skip this step.
- Mix butter into dry ingredients until you have it all flattened and dispersed.
- Mix sourdough starter with milk in a small measuring cup or bowl and drizzle this wet mixture into the dry mixture while stirring with a fork until a shaggy dough forms.
- Dump dough onto floured surface.
- Shape dough into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Divide in half and stack one half on top of the other and press again into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Repeat this one or two more times. This creates really pronounced layers in the finished biscuits.
- After stacking a few times, press dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle one final time and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. You don't have to do this, but I highly recommend it. Alternatively you can cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours.
- After dough has chilled, cut into biscuits with a 2 ½ inch cutter. Or you can cut the rectangle into 9 squares which I often do. Do not twist your cutter. Just go straight down and back up. Likewise if you are cutting with a knife or bench scraper, don't use a sawing motion - just go straight down and back up.
- Reshape any scraps by stacking them on top of each other and pressing down. The reshaped biscuits might look a little more craggy than the first cutting, but if you stack the scraps rather than squish them together from the sides, they will be just as flaky.
- Place biscuits on parchment lined tray very close together but not touching. Brush with milk and bake in preheated oven. If using these for something sweet like shortcakes, a sprinkle of sugar on top is nice.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden.
See full sourdough discard biscuit instructions and make-ahead tips in recipe card.
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Sourdough Discard Biscuits Recipe
These easy Sourdough Discard Biscuits are flaky and buttery with a hint of delicious tanginess. The simple dough takes minutes to pull together and they can be baked straight away or stashed in the refrigerator to bake the next morning. Serve these delicious biscuits warm with butter and honey for a nostalgic treat or with eggs and bacon for a hearty breakfast.
- Total Time: 40 minutes plus chilling
- Yield: 9 biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)
4 ounces (113 grams) unsalted butter, very cold
1 cup (280 grams) sourdough discard*
½ cup whole milk plus a bit more for brushing
Instructions
- Mix sourdough starter and milk together in a glass measuring cup and set aside.
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add butter cubes or grated butter.
- Press butter cubes between your thumb and index finger to create flat petals of butter. If using grated butter you can skip this step.
- Mix butter into dry ingredients until you have it all flattened and dispersed. It's ok if some pieces are smaller/larger than others as long as they are almost all in small, flat pieces. You can also use a pastry cutter, but I love using my fingers to create those little petals as it results in the best flakiness.
- Drizzle in milk and starter mixture while stirring with a fork until a shaggy dough forms. If you feel your dough is wet enough, you may not need to add all of the mixture - this will strongly depend on how hydrated your starter is.
- Dump dough onto floured surface.
- Shape dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Divide in half and stack one half on top of the other and press again into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Repeat this one or two more times. This step is optional but it creates really pronounced layers in the finished biscuits. If you skip it you will still have wonderful, tender biscuits. Also, if you want to simply scoop the biscuit dough and make drop biscuits you can do that as well and skip the shaping and stacking altogether.
- After stacking a few times, press dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle one final time and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. You don't have to do this, but I highly recommend it. Alternatively you can cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours.
- When dough is chilled and you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- After dough has chilled, cut into biscuits with a floured 2 ½ inch cutter. Or you can cut the rectangle into 9 squares which I often do. Do not twist your cutter. Just go straight down and back up. Likewise if you are cutting with a knife or bench scraper, don't use a sawing motion - just go straight down and back up.
- Reshape any scraps by stacking them on top of each other and pressing down to a 1-inch thickness before cutting. The reshaped biscuits might look a little more craggy on top than the first cutting, but if you stack the scraps rather than squish them together, they will be just as flaky.
- Place biscuits on parchment lined tray very close together but not touching. Brush tops with milk. If using these for something sweet like shortcakes, a sprinkle of sugar on top is nice.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden and no wetness shows on the sides. This will take 15-18 minutes.
Notes
*You can use your active starter as well. If using active, bubbly starter, stir it down very well to knock the bubbles out before measuring if measuring by volume. If measuring by weight, you will use the same amount whether using discard or active.
Short Term Make Ahead Option: Once you get to the point of having the biscuits shaped, you can cover them tightly and place in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours before baking. If your starter is pretty active you will also get some fermentation benefits during this time and you'll have a tangier tasting biscuit.
Long Term Make Ahead Option (freezer): If you want to freeze these biscuits to bake at a later date, get them shaped and freeze them on parchment in a single layer. Once frozen solid transfer the biscuits to freezer bags or containers. Bake from frozen within 3 months.
Baked biscuits will keep at room temperature in an airtight container or bag for 2-3 days. They can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Baked biscuits can also be frozen for up to one month if wrapped very well.
Top Tips
Start with cold ingredients: cold butter, cold milk, cold sourdough starter
Stir with a fork while drizzling in the wet ingredients: I do this with my scones recipes as well and it works like a charm to mix gently and thoroughly without overmixing.
Cut and stack your dough a few times: I also do this with my scone recipes and it is a guaranteed way to get beautiful layers.
Chill the dough before cutting: I have tested this both ways - cutting the biscuits and then chilling or chilling and then cutting. Hands down the latter produces a taller, flakier biscuit.
Chill the dough before baking: This is another flakiness insurance step. As you work with the butter and shape the dough, the butter comes to room temperature. You want the butter to be as cold as possible before going into the oven. This is what creates steam and that steam creates little pockets and layers of flakiness. If you skip this step you'll still have a great biscuit, it just won't be as flaky as it could be.
Place the biscuits very close together but not touching: This allows the biscuits to grow up together while baking and ensures the best rise.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes plus chilling
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: sourdough, breakfast
- Method: baking, sourdough
- Cuisine: American
Wedy says
Definitely making this recipe again!!
Lisa says
Made these for the second time today. We enjoyed the first batch but I thought they were a little dense. I’m new to sourdough and still getting a feel for using my starter, plus, I convert recipes to make them vegan and make adjustments (and sometimes this changes things w/ original recipes.)
Fast forward to second attempt…I reread the recipe, notes, AND reviews and realized a couple of errors I made: cut the biscuits w/o twisting (duh!) and there’s a difference in weighing discard vs active starter - I did not know! By the time I was ready to bake, I wanted to go to bed so covered them and popped them in the fridge overnight. The biscuits turned out amazing this morning! They have a beautiful, golden crust and are fluffy and tender inside w/ great layers!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Lisa! This is the best news! I really appreciate you giving this recipe a second try and coming back to leave this great feedback. Thank you so much!! - Anita
Andrea says
These are amazing!! I used organic whole kernel fresh ground wheat and organic turkey red flour and the texture and flavor is wonderful!
J Schwark says
thank you so much for sharing this! I've struggled with throwing away perfectly good sourdough discard, so I've been on the hunt for good recipes. The biscuits are nice and crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside with a wonderful flavor. I can't wait to make several of the other recipes that you've created.
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Julie! I'm so happy to read this! Thanks for giving my recipe a try and for coming back here to leave this kind comment. I hope you love all of the other recipes you try! Thanks again - Anita
Amy Cherry says
These biscuits are next on my list to make. I don’t see what temp to put oven on. Also, can these be baked on an iron griddle! Side note: loving the English muffins and tortillas!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Amy! It is in step 9 in the recipe card - 400 degrees F. 🙂 Yes, you can bake them on cast iron. Let me know how you like them! Thanks for your kind words! I'd love if you could leave a comment and rating over on those recipes!! Thanks again! - Anita
Amy Cherry says
Could these biscuits be mixed up in the morning, placed in refrigerator until ready to bake this evening? Also, not sure I need parchment on my cast iron griddle. However, it does seem my dough is a little wet so maybe parchment would be in order. I just made half a batch (didn’t have enough discard).
Thank you!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Amy! Yes, you can absolutely make them now and stash them in the fridge until evening. You can skip the parchment if your cast iron is well-seasoned. Maybe melt a little extra butter in the skillet before adding the biscuits to be sure they don't stick. I hope you love them! - Anita
Sadie says
These are very good, and easy to make. The outside crust is buttery crisp. The inside is moist, soft and fluffy. The crumb is slightly different from a traditional baking powder biscuit. It's not as dry and flaky. Stacking the layers is a great tip to add height and lightness.
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Thanks Sadie! I'm so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to leave such a nice comment!
Valerie says
Do you use the same bake method if baking after having them stored in the freezer for a longer period of time?
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Yes, they will bake straight from frozen - but I recommend baking them within three months of freezing for best results. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Lezli says
Great recipe, I just wish I wouldn't have preheated my oven only to read that the biscuit dough needs to chill in the freezer. Just wasting gas lol.
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Lezli. I'm glad you liked the recipe. Yes, it would make sense for me to move the preheating instructions down lower in the recipe. Thanks for drawing my attention to that and sorry about your wasted gas. Take care. - Anita
Steph says
I made these biscuits this weekend. I’d give them 10 stars if I could and my family agrees! They are incredibly delicious and easy to make! It’s my new biscuit recipe go to and bonus that it uses up my sourdough discard.
Jenny says
How do you bake from frozen?
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Jenny. You'll bake them straight from the freezer as instructed in the recipe card (same as unfrozen). 🙂
Lindsay says
My biscuits turned out great yesterday, I cooked 4 and froze the rest. Using the frozen ones for pot pie topping tonight! Thanks for the amazing recipe.
Cheryl says
This is the first discard biscuit recipe I've made and the biscuits are delicious. Thank you! I made my starter with whole wheat flour so even though I used unbleached white flour to make the biscuits, you can taste the nutty flavour of whole wheat sourdough. I took my discard out of the fridge last night and let it come up to room temperature and made the biscuits this morning. No chilling, no fuss. I didn't have whole milk so I used 2%...worked fine. So yummy! Can't wait to try another of your recipes.
Krista Atwood says
These are really good! And easy to make. I’ve made them twice. The first time I was pinched for time and didn’t freeze the butter and just diced it small. They turned out good but not as good as the second time I tried this recipe. The second time I grated my butter and stuck it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then I mixed the dry ingredients into the butter and put in the freezer for 30 minutes and then incorporate the dry into the wet and baked and they came out fluffy and delicious. This will be my go to recipe now! Love them!
Mallory says
Yum! These turned out well
Addy says
allllll of your recipes have been amazing!!!
Shannon says
Made these this morning for the first time. I doubled the recipe to use up my current discard and so glad I did. Quality control taster hubby says 2 thumbs up on his first biscuit and snuck 2 more just to be sure:) Easy no fuss recipe, more than satisfying high rise with lots of flakey layers (I forgot the milk wash) and will be trying herb adds next time.
Brittany Pirtle says
Can you substitute the sugar with honey? If so how would you incorporate into the recipe?
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi - yes you can. I'd recommend combining it thoroughly with your starter and milk mixture before adding it to the flour and butter mixture. If your honey is on the harder side, warm it up a bit so it incorporates more easily. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂
Rachel says
If I use buttermilk do I need to adjust the rest of the ingredients or would it be a 1 for 1 swap? I plan to make these today, thank you for sharing!!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Rachel! It will be an equal swap. The buttermilk will make them even more tender! 🙂 Let me know how it goes! Thanks for giving them a try!
Lisa Scott says
First time making one of your recipes. Went with the biscuits, eventhough I usually go with a buttermilk recipe. Came out good but mixed feelings on which of the biscuits I prefer. Placed in freezer as suggested, I used a perfect size drinking glass for cutting. Reworked the left over folding 3 times again. The reworked rose higher and had more layered looks, and ofcourse got browner on top. Was pleased with your recipe and will use again. Thank you, Lisa
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Thanks Lisa! I'm glad you enjoyed the recipe and thank you for this detailed feedback. Try buttermilk next time - it will work well in this recipe. 🙂 Take care and thanks again! - Anita
Andrew Armstrong says
Your note about using less discard doesn’t make sense. I cup of a bubbly starter would be less than discard due to the bubbles but 280 grams of active started will result in 280 grams order inactive starter eventually. Beyond that I’m excited to try this, love biscuits and need to use up that discard. Thanks!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hey there. Sorry that didn't make sense to you. I think you may have read that note wrong. I do say to use less active starter as it is bubbly and full of air and weighs less than flat, unbubbly discard. So a cup of bubbly starter will weigh about 140-160 grams usually. A full cup of discard weighs about double as there are no bubbles. Active starter and discard are typically measured differently and I like to give both options. If you were to stir your active starter down really well to mimic the texture of discard, you'd get closer to the 280 gram per 1 cup mark. Here is a handy little conversion chart: https://littlespoonfarm.com/baking-conversion-chart/. I hope that makes sense and we aren't over-complicating a simple biscuit recipe. 🙂 Thanks! - Anita
Angelina Newton says
Flavor was impeccable, texture so flaky and delicious, my family and I devoured them! Excellent simple recipe! Thank you for sharing.
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Woohoo! I am so happy you loved these! Thank you for this amazing feedback - it means the world! Happy New Year! Big hugs - Anita
Brenda says
I followed your recipe to the letter, and these biscuits were amazing!!! We enjoyed them this morning with sausage gravy. Delicious! Thank you for a wonderful recipe and instructions!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Brenda! You are so welcome and thank you for this kind feedback! I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe. Sausage gravy on biscuits is just the BEST! Wishing you and your family a very happy new year! Big hugs and thanks again - Anita
Mrs Reddick says
These were amazingly delicious!!!
Soft light and fluffy. Best biscuits so far!!!
Summer says
If I freeze the dough to bake at a later date, should I bake them frozen or let them thaw out first? Thanks!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Summer! Yes the biscuits can be frozen for up to 3 months and can be baked straight from frozen in a preheated oven. Thanks for the great question!
Mark says
Anita, first time sour dough anything baker here. I have some sour sourdough I have been working and wanted to do something with the discard and found your recipe online. In step 5 you say to "drizzle wet..." is this the 1 cup of SD discard?
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Mark! I like to mix the starter with the milk to create the wet mixture that will be drizzled over the dry ingredients. I need to make that more clear! Thanks for catching that and for your question. Good luck with your sourdough baking!! Let me know if you have any other questions. - Anita
Crazy distracted mama says
Ooh no!!! I forgot to add the milk ♀️♀️ will it be ok??
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi! If the batter seems moist enough and you were able to shape them into biscuits I think it will be fine!
Anndee says
By far my favorite discard recipe. Even when I don’t have time to roll these babies out I just plop them on the baking sheet and they bake so fluffy! I fed my starter just for discard to keep for these biscuits.
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Anndee! I am so happy to read this! I love that you make drop biscuits with this recipe. I also love them that way and it is a big time saver! Thank you for the feedback and the 5 stars! xo - Anita
Kaylynn says
These came out so crisp on top and fluffy with the layers! Will be making again. Used my starter for the very first time and so successful with this recipe. Perfect with the sausage gravy I paired it with. <3
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Kaylynn! I am so happy you enjoyed these buttery, flaky biscuits! Sausage gravy sounds like the perfect pairing! YUM! Thank you for this wonderful feedback. xo - Anita
Michele says
delicious and easy!!!!!
anita | wild thistle kitchen says
Hi Michele! I am so happy you enjoyed this biscuit recipe! Thank you! - Anita