These whole wheat sourdough biscuits are melt-in-your-mouth delicious! This recipe is made entirely from freshly milled flour and is best fermented overnight. It’s easy and makes the most scrumptious buttery and fluffy biscuit ever!
I’ve had my sourdough starter for about four years now, and I can’t say enough about how easy it is to maintain. My aunt, who passed down the starter, has never used a scale, so I had to figure out how to keep it alive and active. Although I was a novice, it survived and still thrives! Needless to say, I’m still able to maintain it with my simple feedings.
It’s a healthier way to eat whole grains, and soaking the hearty grains with sourdough makes it much easier to work with!
What Goes with Sourdough Biscuits:
We love eating sourdough biscuits the old-fashioned way, slathered with homemade mayonnaise, scrambled eggs, green onions, and thick ham slices. Occasionally, we’ll enjoy biscuits and gravy or some egg sandwiches, but biscuits are a staple at our farmhouse.
They also make a great snack smeared with hazelnut spread or jam.
Sourdough Biscuits Recipe
I’ve tried many biscuit recipes using 100% freshly milled flour, and none were quite right…
You see, working with whole wheat flour is a whole different ball game. Whenever I attempted the basic non-sourdough recipes, my biscuits were always crumbly and never close to the white flour biscuits I so enjoyed. I tried it with soft wheat, no sourdough, you name it! None made superior biscuits, but we still ate them.
It wasn’t until a friend shared a recipe for sourdough biscuits with me that I realized that sourdough hydrates freshly milled flour. The extra leavening from sourdough, along with baking powder, makes the most fluffy biscuits using whole grains!
So, I converted the original white flour recipe to whole wheat flour and couldn’t be more pleased! This sourdough biscuit recipe took months to perfect, and I’m sharing all the tips to help you!
You must try these overnight sourdough biscuits using freshly milled flour; they are the best wholesome biscuits! This recipe does take some planning, so make it the day before and bake it early the next morning for a quick breakfast!
Benefits of Sourdough In Whole Grains:
Soaking freshly milled flour with sourdough reduces the amount of phytic acid, making it easier to digest the wheat. The fermentation also makes more nutrients readily available, which makes everything better!
The longer you ferment, the more you break down the phytic acid and gluten. Long fermentation is excellent for people with gluten sensitivities, as you can ferment the dough for up to 24 hours. Sourdough breads have a lot of flavor and rise high from the natural leavening.
Sourdough Biscuit Ingredients:
- Active Sourdough Starter- you could make these into sourdough discard biscuits if your starter is inactive. Add a pinch of baking soda to help with the rise.
- Whole wheat flour—preferably freshly milled flour from hard white wheat berries. Using a hard wheat variety gives these biscuits structure and is so similar to white flour biscuits. You could mix half-soft wheat and half-hard white for an all-purpose blend.
- Cold Butter- grated and worked into the flour.
- Whole Milk- is rich and creamy.
- Baking powder- I like the ease of using one leavening ingredient.
- Salt: I use sea salt.
True Story: The best sourdough biscuit recipe I’ve had came about by complete accident. I accidentally added everything together and did not work the butter into the flour. That day, I had the most flaky and crispy biscuit! I used a bit more flour and refrigerated the dough for only a couple of hours after making it. You will be surprised how crisp they turn out!
How To Make Sourdough Biscuits using Freshly Milled Flour:
I love how quick whole wheat biscuits are to make after refrigeration! Start the dough the day before you want to bake these buttery biscuits!
- In a medium glass bowl, add the butter to the flour.
- Cut the butter into the flour until it looks crumbly and clumps together if you squeeze it with your hands.
- Add 1 cup of sourdough, milk, baking powder, and salt.
- Mix it only until combined, and the flour is moistened.
- Cover and ferment overnight in the fridge, or refrigerate the dough for 2 hours before baking.
- Laminate the dough by cutting the dough into four equal pieces. Overlay the diagonal pieces over each other and press down to a 1/2-inch thickness, forming a rectangle.
- Cut 8 square biscuits or use a 2-inch biscuit cutter to make circles. Pat together scraps to cut out additional biscuits.
- Arrange into a 10-inch cast-iron pan. Bake in a preheated 400°F for 20 minutes.
Storing Whole Wheat Sourdough Biscuits:
Store sourdough biscuits in a bread bag at room temperature for up to 2 days. Biscuits are at their best the day of baking; if you want soft biscuits, freeze them the day of. To reheat, place room-temperature biscuits in a baking dish covered with foil (to keep them soft) and bake at 350°F for 8 minutes.
Q&A
How To Make Biscuits with Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough discard is simply an excess starter or a part of the starter that must be removed in order for it to become active again. Depending on how hungry the starter is, the biscuits can still rise from the discard. You can use an active sourdough starter or sourdough discard for these biscuits; the baking powder is the primary leavening for these sourdough biscuits. If used as a discard, the biscuits may not be as fluffy.
Can I Freeze Sourdough Biscuits?
Yes, you can freeze already baked and cooled sourdough biscuits in an airtight bag for up to 3 months in the freezer. I do not recommend freezing the dough as that can kill the natural leavening from the sourdough and baking powder. I would par-bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes and then freeze them so that I could finish baking them after the freezer.
How Long To Bake Whole Wheat Sourdough Biscuits?
There’s no need to preheat the cast-iron skillet. Preheat the oven to 400°F and place all the biscuits in an ungreased cast-iron skillet. Bake for 20 minutes. I found that 15 minutes was underdone in my oven. The bottoms should be nicely browned and golden.
How To Make Flaky Whole Wheat Biscuits?
The key to flaky biscuits is to use cold butter and laminate it by creating layers of dough. To laminate biscuit dough, lay two pieces of dough on top of each other and press them down to the desired thickness of your biscuits. I like to cut biscuits into squares, so I don’t deal with scraps. Leftover scraps can easily be overworked after rolling out and won’t make fluffy biscuits.
Tips for Making Homemade Sourdough Biscuits Using Freshly Milled Wheat:
- Cool the flour if it’s coming straight out of the grain mill. You don’t want to cut the butter into warm flour.
- For extra fluffy biscuits, bring the dough to room temperature (about two hours) or allow the biscuits to rise after shaping for 30-45 minutes.
- This recipe works best with a fed starter. Feed your starter in the early morning to make the biscuit dough at noon. I usually feed mine around 6:00 AM and start the dough around lunch.
- You bake the biscuits immediately or refrigerate them for at least 2 hours or overnight before baking.
- For easy sourdough biscuits, cut them into squares. This eliminates scraps.
- Long-fermented sourdough biscuits are best to use within 2-3 days. They will be tangier and can turn brown from the leavening.
- You can make these into drop biscuits by dropping them down into a cast iron with a tablespoon.
- Brush tops with two tablespoons of melted butter before serving.
- To make fluffy biscuits, choose a grain with a stronger gluten structure, such as hard white wheat. Mixing low-gluten grains (soft wheat) in part is better than using them fully, as your biscuits can be too crumbly.
- Stir in 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese for savory biscuits.
- Use a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet when baking.
- I feed my sourdough starter with King Arthur flour. Using unbleached bread flour strengthens my starter.
More Sourdough recipes To Make with Freshly Milled Flour:
I make most of breads from sourdough. White flour quick breads get really fluffy without starter, however, I find that sourdough makes exceptional whole grain bread because it hydrates it and breaks down the hard to digest componets in flour.
Sourdough Biscuits with Freshly Milled Flour
Equipment
- 1 10-inch cast-iron skillet
- 1 Bench scraper
- 1 medium glass bowl with a lid
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 6 Tbsp cold butter
- 1 cup active sourdough starter (or discard)
- 2/3 cup milk (cold)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Directions:
In a medium glass bowl, cut the butter into cooled flour. Add the starter, milk, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with your hands just until the flour is moistened. The dough will look wet and sticky. Cover and refrigerate the dough overnight or at least 2 hours.- Transfer the dough onto a pastry mat and cut it into four equal pieces.
- Laminate the dough by overlaying the diagonal pieces over each other and press down to a 1/2-inch thickness, forming a rectangle.
- Cut 8 square biscuits using a bench scraper, or you can use a 2-inch biscuit cutter and pat together scraps to cut out additional biscuits. Arrange biscuits into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
- Bake the biscuits at 400°F for 20 minutes. Brush the tops with two tablespoons of melted butter and serve warm.
Notes
- Cool the flour after milling before adding the cold butter.
- If you want to bake immediately, add 300 grams of freshly milled flour and 189 grams of starter. Mix the cold butter into the batter instead of the flour. This makes ultra-crisp and flaky biscuits.
