Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuits with Fresh Milled Flour

These sourdough buttermilk biscuits made with fresh milled flour are flaky, delicious, and totally worth it. I’m talking the kind of delicious where you find yourself doing a little dance in the kitchen while accidentally eating a couple before dinner.

If you’ve ever thought biscuits weren’t worth the fuss, this recipe may just change your mind! No complicated tools and no biscuit anxiety. Just simple steps, real ingredients, and a biscuit that’s tender enough to eat straight off the pan but sturdy enough not to fall apart.

Looking for more fresh milled flour recipes? Our Texas Roadhouse Rolls are always a hit, English Muffins or Cornbread never disappoint, or try your hand at Homemade Ciabatta.

On a whole wheat sourdough kick? Give our Sourdough Country Loaf, Sourdough French Bread, Sourdough English Muffins, or Sourdough Challah a go!

New to baking with freshly milled flour? Take a walk through our Beginner’s Guide or our Grain Guide.

Why You’ll Love Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuits

Got sourdough starter waiting for its turn to be used? Pair that with freshly milled flour and some buttermilk, and you’ll be in seriously cozy territory.

• These biscuits are flaky and tender without being dry
• Fresh milled flour adds a nutty, rich flavor you can’t get from white flour
• They work for breakfast, sandwiches, dinner, or snack time

Why Use Sourdough in Buttermilk Biscuits?

Not only does this recipe keep you from wasting any discard, but sourdough starter also adds flavor and moisture, and can improve the texture of your biscuits so they don’t crumble into a mess.

Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

Tools

• Grain mill
• Shredder
• Kitchen scale
• Mixing bowl
• Pastry cutter
• Biscuit Cutter
• Rice flour for dusting
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper or Baking Mats
• Pastry Brush
• Instant read thermometer
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

Pre-Ferment (make the night before)

• 25g Sourdough Starter, active
• 275 g Buttermilk
• 325 g Soft White Wheat
• 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 2 teaspoons Tapioca Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt

Dough

• 275 g Soft White Wheat
• 5 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Tapioca Flour
• 227 g Butter (see notes*)
• 185 g Buttermilk
• All of the pre-ferment

Notes:

• Mixing baking powder, salt, and tapioca is essentially making a self-rising flour
• If you don’t have tapioca flour you can replace with the same amount of cornstarch
• *Be sure to make your butter as cold as possible. I like to freeze my stick(s) of butter the night before baking
• If you’re out of buttermilk, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it sit for a couple of minutes, voila!
• Baking time may need to be adjusted depending on the biscuit sizes, elevation, and oven. Just keep an eye on them while baking!
• Makes about 12-18 biscuits, depending on cut size

How to Make Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuits

Preferment

Pre-Ferment: The night before baking your biscuits, make the preferment by mixing together sourdough, buttermilk, flour, baking powder, salt, and tapioca into a shaggy dough. Cover and let rest overnight. Pop it in the fridge to cool in the morning before you get started on the rest of the recipe.

Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuit Dough

Mill & Mix Flour: You’ll first need to make a self-rising flour blend, but there’s no need to make it in a separate bowl. Just add the dry ingredients to the bowl you plan to use to make the dough. Whisk together milled flour, baking powder, salt, and tapioca flour.

Cut in Butter: Shred or cube cold butter straight into the dry ingredients. You can shred and freeze butter for 30 minutes if you need to get it colder before adding it to the flour.

Use a pastry cutter, or whatever you have on hand, to incorporate until fully coated and crumbly looking. (Yes, I used an herb cutter to cut in my butter because I lost my pastry cutter, but you can also use a fork or your hands!)

Wet Ingredients: Add the buttermilk and all of the preferment to the bowl and cut the ingredients together with the pastry cutter until they just come together into a shaggy dough.

Try not to overmix and don’t worry, there may still be some loose flour, and there are supposed to be chunks of butter shining through – hello layers!

Laminate: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently bring the dough together with your hands and pat it into a rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Dust the top with more rice flour if needed.

Fold each side in like a letter, turn, then pat back out to about 1-inch thick. Repeat 3 more times before cutting your biscuits. Add more flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking to the counter. The more folds, the more layers!

Cutting Biscuits

Cut: When cutting, be sure to push straight down and do not turn! You don’t want to seal the edges and prevent rising. Carefully reroll any scraps until you’ve used all the dough. I like to use a 2.75″ or 3″ biscuit cutter, but you can use a larger size, totally up to you.

Rest: Place biscuits on a lined baking sheet. Close together for softer sides or farther apart for a little crispier edge. Placing them closer together may help prevent any tip-overs, but may require a little more baking time for the center biscuits to fully cook. Cover and put in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Keeping the butter cold helps get that flaky texture.

Bake

Preheat: While your sourdough biscuits are chilling, set your oven to 450°F. A hot oven makes for happy biscuits.

Bake: Right before baking, brush tops with a little buttermilk. Bake for 15-17 minutes (depending on biscuit size), until tall, lightly golden, and an internal temperature of 205-210 degrees. If biscuits are browning too fast, tent with foil.

Cool: Let your sourdough buttermilk biscuits cool on the pan for about five minutes before serving…or don’t. They’re absolutely delicious piping hot!

Variations to Try

• Cheddar & Herb: Add shredded cheddar and chopped fresh herbs to the dough
• Honey Butter Biscuits: Brush with melted butter and a drizzle of honey after baking (better yet, try a little hot honey!)
• Savory Breakfast Biscuits: Mix in a bit of crumbled cooked bacon or sausage to your dough

These sourdough buttermilk biscuits with fresh milled flour are one of those recipes that will definitely become a staple in your home. They’re delicious and satisfying. And whether you slather them with butter, smother them in gravy, or spread them with jam, they’ll be just as delightful.