Recipes

Sourdough biscuits

These flaky biscuits are a great way to use up a large amount of sourdough discard. As you feed your starter, keep the discarded portion in a container in the fridge until you have enough saved up to bake a batch of biscuits!

Ingredients

225g (1 1/3 cup +1 Tbsp) Almanac General Purpose Flour (a portion of other Almanac whole grain flours may be substituted)
6g (1 tsp) salt
15g (1.5 Tbsp) baking powder
210g (15 Tbsp) cold unsalted organic butter
445g (1 2/3 cup) refrigerated, unfed sourdough starter

    Step 1

    Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. 

    Step 2

    Cut cold butter into cubes and toss in flour mixture. Using a pastry blender (or by pulsing in a food processor) cut butter into flour until it is mostly kidney-bean sized chunks. Do not cut butter too small or your biscuits will not be as flaky.

    Step 3

    Add cold starter and mix with a rubber spatula until very little dry flour remains, but avoid over-mixing. Add one or two tablespoons of water if dough seems overly dry and flour will not fully incorporate.

    Step 4

    Turn out onto floured surface and proceed with two rounds of letter folds, as follows: roll into a rectangle 1/4" thick, fold dough into thirds (refer to photos), and roll out to 1/4" thickness again, then fold into thirds, and roll out into a rectangle approximately 1/2" thick.

    Step 5

    Using a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or bench scraper, trim off edges of dough (helps promote an even rise) and cut into 12 squares of equal size. If you used room temperature starter, be sure to chill biscuits completely before baking.

    Step 6

    Place on to a parchment lined baking sheet and brush tops with cream, avoiding sides. Bake at 425, in the top third of oven for 18-20 minutes, or until tops are golden. Do not be concerned if butter leaks out during baking, it will be reabsorbed and create a lovely crisp bottom!