Sourdough Discard Scones

My Sourdough Discard Scones are soft, tender, buttery and so easy to whip up! Bake them straight away or give them an overnight chill. Shown here with strawberries and lemon, these scones can be customized with your favorite add-ins or left plain for a simple treat.

Recipe Background and Details

If you know me you know I love creating and sharing scone recipes! I also love finding ways to use my sourdough starter when I don't feel like committing to a complicated bread recipe. Well I finally combined those two loves into this delicious recipe.

I also pride myself on giving options in my recipes - a choose-your-own-adventure recipe is the best kind of recipe in my opinion. So these scones have timing and shaping options as well as flavor options. More on that below!

If you are new to sourdough or interested in starting, be sure to check out my Easy Sourdough Starter Guide. And if you are looking for more ways to use your sourdough discard, give these popular recipes a try:  Sourdough Discard Soft Pretzels, Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls, Sourdough Discard Pizza Crust, Sourdough Discard Crackers, Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread, and Sourdough Discard Banana Bread

Ingredients

The base ingredients for sourdough discard scones are simple and pretty standard for scones with the special addition of sourdough starter. The strawberry and lemon are delicious, but optional.

• all purpose flour
• sugar
• salt
• baking powder
• butter
• sourdough starter
• cream, half and half, or milk
• egg
• vanilla extract
• flavorings/add-ins: now here is where you can choose your own adventure! Chocolate chips, berries, dried fruits, spices, extracts, zests - check out my Easiest Scone recipe for a long list of ideas.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions - how to make sourdough discard scones

I took inspiration from my easiest scone recipe and made these an easy drop scone but I give shaping options below if you prefer an overnight chill and either a wedge scone or a square/rectangle scone.

Mixing the Scone Dough

Mix wet ingredients and set aside. Stir dry ingredients together in large bowl, add shredded butter followed by wet ingredients. Mix well with a fork. Add any add-ins such as berries, chocolate chips, etc and mix once more to combine. Give the dough a gentle squeeze and make sure all dry bits are incorporated. Don't knead it, but encourage it to come together. Resist the urge to add more cream unless you have a lot of dry flour left. You do not want a wet, gloopy scone dough.

Shaping the Scone Dough - options

Here again is where you can choose your own adventure. You can scoop these straight from the bowl onto the baking tray and bake right now. That's what I did for these photos. It is the easiest, quickest option and the scones turn out beautifully. You can chill the whole bowl of dough and scoop them the next day as well.

If you prefer a wedge shaped scone, you can shape the dough into a 1-inch thick disk and cut into 8 wedges. OR you can pat the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle and cut them into rounds, squares, rectangles, or triangles. There are many ways to shape a scone and I have examples of all of them if you want to browse around the scone archives. The scoop and drop method is by far the simplest and I love it these days.

For an Overnight Chill/Ferment

If you are using a very mature and recently fed starter that has not been in your fridge for weeks/months, you can actually do an overnight chill and get some fermentation benefits. Just shape the scones, cover tightly, and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

You can do this regardless, but you won't get any fermentation if you have a brand new (less than one week) or a very neglected (no judgment from me!) starter. Either way the chilling is beneficial for the texture of the scone as it gives the butter time to chill and the flour a chance to fully hydrate. And it's just a nice make-ahead option.

Substitutions and Variations

Like I wrote above, this is the base recipe for a sourdough discard scone. I chose strawberries and lemon because I had Mother's Day on my mind. You can use any berry you love, or chocolate chips, dried fruit, etc. See this post for a long list of mix-ins and topping suggestions.

Make Ahead, Freezing, Storage Options

Baked scones will keep covered at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Make ahead/overnight chill options:

For scoop and drop scones: The dough can be mixed and refrigerated in the bowl, covered, for 12-24 hours before scooping and baking.

For wedge or cut-out scones, Shape scones, cover, and refrigerate for 12-24 hours before baking.

Make ahead freezer option:

Shaped and unbaked scones can be frozen for up to 3 months. Freeze them in a single layer until solid before transferring to freezer bag. Bake straight from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time if needed.

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Sourdough Discard Scones Recipe

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My Sourdough Discard Scones are soft, tender, and buttery. Totally customizable, they can be baked straight away or after an overnight chill. 

• Total Time: 45 minutes active time
• Yield: 12 scones

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

2 ½ cups (300 grams) all purpose flour

⅓ cup sugar (67 grams), plus extra for topping

½ teaspoon kosher salt (about 2 grams)

1 ½ tablespoons (18 grams) baking powder

4 ounces (113 grams, 1 standard stick) butter, very cold and either shredded or cubed

Wet Ingredients:

½ cup (140 grams) sourdough starter, preferably cold

¼ cup (60 grams) heavy cream, cold

1 egg, cold

1 tablespoon (13 grams) vanilla extract

Optional flavorings, add-ins:

1 cup of add-in of choice (choc chips, berries, dried fruit, etc)

spices, zests, extracts of choice

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Instructions

1. If baking right away, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup and set aside. If using any extracts add them to the wet ingredients.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. If using any spices or zests, add them now.
4. Add grated butter and mix well to combine and coat all butter pieces with flour. If using cubed butter, cut it into the flour with a fork, pastry cutter, or your fingers until you have very small pieces of butter throughout.
5. Drizzle wet ingredients into dry mixture while mixing and tossing with a fork making sure to stir all the way to the bottom to avoid any dry patches. When dough comes together add your add-ins such as chocolate chips, berries, etc. See blog post for details.
6. Scoop dough using a large dough scooper or ¼ cup measure into 12 equal mounds. Place on parchment lined sheet, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 20 minutes until golden and cooked through. They will spread a bit so space them about ½ inch apart.

Scone shaping options:

If you prefer a wedge shaped scone, you can shape the dough into a 1-inch thick disk and cut into 8 wedges. OR you can pat the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle and cut them into rounds, squares, rectangles, or triangles. 

Make ahead/overnight chill options:

For scoop and drop scones: The dough can be mixed and refrigerated in the bowl for 12-24 hours before scooping and baking.

For wedge or cut-out scones, shape scones, cover, and refrigerate for 12-24 hours before baking.

If you are using a very mature and recently fed starter that has not been in your fridge for weeks/months, you can actually do an longer chill and get some fermentation benefits. Just shape the scones, cover tightly, and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking.

Make ahead freezer option:

Shaped and unbaked scones can be frozen for up to 3 months. Freeze them in a single layer until solid before transferring to freezer bag. Bake straight from frozen, adding a few minutes to the baking time if needed.

• Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Category: scones, sourdough, baking, Mother's Day
• Method: baking
• Cuisine: American