Fresh Milled Sourdough Biscuits
A basic fresh milled kamut sourdough biscuit recipe with a make ahead or bake right away option
Good morning, friends. It sure has been a rainy week here in Virginia. I have enjoyed watching the rain fall and the extra time to get some indoor projects done. I just placed an order for all of my fall vegetable garden seeds and am looking forward to getting the summer garden cleaned out and switched over. While autumn is one of my favorite times of the year, I am not quite ready for summer to be over. It’s felt too short, as always. I am grateful that in less than two weeks we have our annual vacation with my side of the family - cue a cabin jam packed full of people, all of the food, the most amazing scent of pine needles and cool mountain air. I can hardly wait.
Thank you, again, for supporting my work. Feel free to forward this recipe to anyone who you think might love it, so that they can get in on all the fun! Have a great weekend and enjoy the recipe! ~ Hannah
Make Ahead (or not) Fresh Milled Sourdough Biscuits
Biscuits are one of the simplest, most nostalgic foods. They can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner - with so many options. Some of my favorites include:
Hot out of the oven with butter and jam
Ham or sausage biscuit
Egg, bacon, and cheese biscuit
Biscuits and gravy
Chicken salad biscuit sandwich
Egg salad biscuit sandwich
Summer berry shortcake
When experimenting with fresh milled flour, there are certain recipes that convert super easily and those that take a bit more adjusting. I spent a good amount of time working on this recipe. I decided to include a couple of options for how you can go about making these.
Option one is to mix the dough, minus the sourdough starter, press out, cut, and bake right away.
Option two is to omit the baking powder when mixing, press out, cut and let the biscuits sit out for 4- 6 hours at room temperature, then move to the refrigerator and bake the following morning.
For option two, I proofed the biscuits on the counter at 2 hours, 4 hours, and 6 hours before moving to the fridge. I will say between 4 and 6 hours there was not a huge difference in the rise - but both were a big difference from the 2 hour proof.
I really enjoyed both recipe options, with the first being more fluffy, of course, from the addition of baking powder. The second option, thought not as fluffy, has such a wonderful texture and flavor thanks to the sourdough starter bacteria going to work and fermenting the dough as it proofs in the fridge overnight. It is a bit less like a biscuit, and more bready, kind of similar to an english muffin. I had a hard time not pinching off a piece and slathering it in butter every time I walked through the kitchen as I was developing this recipe.
Let me know what version is your favorite, and if you have any other biscuit favorites to add to the list!
Make Ahead (or not) Fresh Milled Sourdough Biscuits
Makes 8-9 biscuits
TOOLS
Food processor or medium size bowl with knife or pastry cutter
Small parchment lined baking sheet
Biscuit cutter or small mason jar
INGREDIENTS
3 cups fresh milled kamut flour - Azure recently quit carrying kamut wheat berries so I’ve been ordering from Country Life
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar (omit for savory biscuits)
8 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
100 grams fresh sourdough starter (omit for quick biscuits)
240 grams or one cup of cold milk or buttermilk
2 tsp baking powder - optional
METHOD
Combine flour, salt, and sugar, and baking powder if adding. Add cubed butter and pulse 20 times in a food processor, or cut in with pastry cutter until mixture is coarse. Add sourdough starter, if making the long ferment version, and pulse 6-8 more times, or mix in until combined. Add cold milk and pulse until dough comes together. Dump out on counter and press out with hands. Fold dough over itself again and press down into about an 8”x6”x 1” thick rectangle. Cut six small to medium sized biscuits, then combine dough scraps and cut two to three more. This amount of dough will make between 8-9 biscuits, depending on the size of your biscuit cutter.
Place biscuits on a baking sheet and bake at 375º for 15-16 minutes if doing the quick version.
If you are doing the make ahead version without baking powder, leave them out on the counter for 4-6 hours and then move to the fridge overnight. I like to preheat my oven as hot as it will go and then bring the temperature down to 375º just before moving the biscuits into the oven. Bake for 16 minutes, and enjoy right away!
