Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuits

Before heading to bed, but while you still have a little energy, prep the biscuits. Combine starter and buttermilk in a large glass or ceramic bowl. With a large spoon or spatula, gently stir in the 1 cup of flour until the batter is smooth and fairly lump-free. It does not have to be perfect. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside, hopefully in a fairly warm spot, like your oven with the light left on.

Also… Mix all of the dry ingredients except the cold butter in a medium-sized Tupperware container or bowl. It should be large enough that you can use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut in the butter without spilling stuff everywhere, because that’s the next step. Toss in the diced butter, and, using the aforementioned pastry cutter, fork, or two knives, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like flour with a few small crumbs and little pea shapes of butter in it. Put the lid on the Tupperware container (or cover you bowl), and put it in the fridge.

Get a good night’s sleep. You deserve it!

In the morning, preheat your oven to 400F. Place a cookie sheet in the oven as it is preheating.

The starter mixture should have risen a bit, and will resemble a bubbly sponge. Pour the flour mixture into the starter mixture, and mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix!

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead gently a time or two, just until most of the straggly bits of dough are incorporated. Roll or pat out into a rectangle about 1/2 inch high. Seriously, any thicker, and they will rise so high they’ll topple over while they bake. Trust me!

Cut the dough with a biscuit cutter into desired shapes. Re-roll the scraps of dough and repeat the cutting process, until you’ve used as much of the dough as you can. Note: At this point you can freeze the biscuits, or even refrigerate them in a covered container for a day or so, until you are ready to bake them. I tend to bake half the recipe and save half for later.

If using an egg wash, brush each biscuit lightly with a little beaten egg. Carefully remove the hot cookie sheet from the oven, and place the biscuits on it, leaving a small gap between the biscuits as they will rise as they bake. For 2 inch biscuits, bake for 15 minutes, or until deep golden brown. If yours are larger or smaller, adjust the time accordingly.

If using melted butter instead of the egg wash, brush the biscuits with butter right when they come out of the oven.

Enjoy!

For Maple-Bacon Biscuits, add the crumbled cooked bacon and maple syrup to the wet starter mixture before adding the dry ingredients. Then you can follow original recipe from there, but add a splash of maple syrup to the beaten egg before brushing it on the biscuits. Don’t brush melted butter on the top of the biscuits afterwards – skip this step.

For Cheddar-Scallion Biscuits, add the grated cheese, black pepper and scallions to the dry mixture before combining it with the wet starter. Follow original recipe from there. For the tops of the biscuits: I like the egg wash with this version, too, but melted butter is never a bad idea.