You won’t believe the flaky, buttery layers in these Sourdough Discard Biscuits. These homemade biscuits are so simple to make and are made so much better with a little tang from sourdough discard.

This is the biscuit recipe I’ve been searching for my entire life. Before making these, I thought the perfect biscuits could only come from a can. Flaky with layers upon layers of buttery, rich crumb and a slight sourdough tang, you won't believe how easy they are to make! I promise after you make these Sourdough Biscuits, you’ll come up with an excuse to eat biscuits every day.

Baking with your sourdough discard
Biscuits are a type of quick bread leavened using chemical leaveners (baking soda and baking powder) instead of biological leaveners (commercial yeast or sourdough). Because you won’t be using your sourdough to make these biscuits rise you can bake with your sourdough discard straight from the refrigerator without activating or feeding it first.
If you love quick breads, try my recipe for Sourdough Discard Scones and Sourdough Butter Swim Biscuits.

What you'll need
Sourdough discard - adds a lovely tang to the rich butteriness of these biscuits
Buttermilk - for super tender fluffy biscuits, always use buttermilk, the acidity reacts with the baking powder giving you pillowy soft biscuits that are out of this world! You can substitute milk in a pinch but your biscuits won't be as tender.
Unsalted butter - imparts tons of flavor while the fat molecules coat the flour which prevents gluten development. As your biscuits bake, the water from the butter evaporates which creates hundreds of flaky layers. Remember to keep your butter cold!
All-purpose flour - all-purpose has the perfect amount of protein in it to create fluffy biscuits that maintain their structure, I would not recommend substituting whole wheat, but in a pinch you can use pastry or cake flour
Baking powder - main leavening agent that reacts with the buttermilk, it tenderizes the dough makes these biscuits rise and gives them a fluffy crumb
Baking soda - helps your biscuits brown better and balances the acidic flavors in the bake
Granulated sugar - adds a little bit of sweetness
Salt - brings out the flavor of the butter and discard

Step-by-step Instructions
For the best chances of success, keep your ingredients cold.

1. Dissolve the sourdough discard in milk

2. Cut the butter into the flour and incorporate the milk mixture until all of the flour is hydrated

3. Roll the biscuit dough out to a 1-inch thick rectangle and divide the dough into four portions. Stack the biscuit dough, so you have 4 layers of dough.

4. Flatten the dough out into a 1-inch rectangle about 12 by 6 inches. Trim the edges and divide the dough into a 4 x 3 grid and you should end up with 12 biscuits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your leaveners are past their prime. Baking soda and baking powder have a shelf life and after a point are no longer viable. Test your leaveners by combining a teaspoon with a drop of vinegar, if it fizzes it's still good and you can still use it. If it does not it will no longer make your bread rise and it should be thrown away.
Your butter got too warm. As your biscuits bake, ideally the water in your butter will evaporate and your dough will puff up into individual flaky layers. However, if your butter gets too hot from too much handling, the butter will simply melt out of your dough. If your butter begins to feel too soft as you're working the dough, simply refrigerate it for 15 minutes before continuing.
Biscuits require a light hand. Working your dough too much will develop the gluten in your dough which will result in dense biscuits.
Biscuits and scones are both quick breads. Scone recipes usually include eggs while biscuits do not.
No, biological leaveners such as sourdough starters require a combination of time and gluten development to make baked goods rise. As yeast ferments, it releases CO2 which gets trapped by strong gluten networks in the dough. Gluten development will negatively affect the texture of your biscuits.

Sourdough Discard Biscuits
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- bench scraper
Ingredients
Dough
- 120 grams sourdough discard
- 180 grams buttermilk see note
- 226 grams unsalted butter chilled, cut into ½ inch pieces
- 388 grams all-purpose flour
- 10 grams baking powder
- 2 grams baking soda
- 12 grams granulated sugar
- 6 grams salt
Egg wash
- 28 grams milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Prep: Line an 18 by 13 inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the dough: Stir your sourdough discard into the buttermilk until no traces of sourdough remain, set aside.
- In a large-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.
- Incorporate pieces of chilled butter into the flour mixture using your finger tips or a pastry cutter. You should end up with flour coated butter pieces of varying sizes.
- Create a well in the center of the flour mixture, incorporate the milk mixture until all of the flour is hydrated. Lightly knead the dough in the bowl until the dough clumps together and most of the flour is hydrated (a few dry bits are ok, don't overwork or your biscuits may turn out tough).
- Laminate the dough: Turn dough out onto a clean surface and pat into a 1 inch-thick square (you don't have to be exact). Using a knife or bench scraper, cut dough into 4 pieces. Stack pieces on top of one another, sandwiching any loose dry bits of dough between layers, and press down to flatten.
- Shape the dough: Lift up dough with bench scraper and dust surface with flour. Roll dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle and trim a thin border around sides of dough to create clean edges. Cut into a 4x3 grid to make 12 biscuits.
- Chill the dough: Preheat your oven to 425 F. Transfer biscuits to a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing 2" apart; freeze while your oven preheats, about 20 minutes.
- Bake: Brush tops of biscuits with a mixture of milk and egg. Reduce oven temperature to 400 F and bake biscuits until deep golden brown on bottom and golden on top, 20–25 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition

Deb says
You can grate cold butter into the flour mix. Best pastry hack ever. No need to cut it in with a pastry cutter. Use the coarse side of the grater.
Make It Dough says
Ooh great tip, Deb! I'm scheming on a 100% whole grain version of this recipe, I'll try your method for that.
Amanda says
These biscuits are delicious! I didn't get quite the rise you did but plan to try again. I did notice you mention mixing sugar in but don't have it listed in your ingredients. I'm also trying to print the recipe and can't find a print version. Do you have a feature that allows me to print a 1-2 page copy of the recipe with a picture of the biscuits without all the extra details? When I print from this page it's 3-4 pages long.
Make It Dough says
Glad you enjoyed the biscuits! Are your raising agents fresh? Or did you use buttermilk? The reaction between the acids and basics in the recipe usually helps with the height in these biscuits. I'm sorry but I don't currently have that feature!
Heather says
Can I sub the buttermilk for yoghurt?
Make It Dough says
You can, but you may have to add more of the thickness of yogurt in comparison to buttermilk. I'd add water a little bit at a time until your dough comes together 😁
maggie says
I see comments about buttermilk but the recipe calls for whole milk. I am confused... I want to make these but have only 2% milk. Will that work or do I need whole milk or buttermilk?
Make It Dough says
2% should work fine!
Maggie says
Thank you. Now how much sugar? Not in ingredient list but mentioned in the instructions
Make It Dough says
Just updated the recipe! Thanks for pointing that out!