[Sourdough biscuits] Old fashioned Sourdough Biscuits like the past - Great accompaniment for Soup or Steak

How was your Victoria day?

I wanted to bake sourdough biscuits for the fourth weekend in a row, but didn't have a chance.

Instead, I baked a Victoria sponge cake, yes, upon request. Remi who always is curious of all kinds of foods and wants to eat different things everyday is my inspiration for cooking & baking, indeed. Remi asked, since a week ago, if we could have a Victoria Sponge cake for Victoria day breakfast. We sometimes eat cakes for breakfast, as I try hard not to eat sweet treats in the evening. 

So I baked sponge cake last night and spread jam and whipped cream in the morning just before the breakfast. It's so good, especially with black tea, I can understand why queen Victoria often had a piece of this cake with her afternoon tea.

You can see the recipe of my Victoria sponge cake here.

It was a busy day working at backyard and having a barbecue lunch that  I couldn't make any sourdough biscuits or bread this weekend. So, I didn't have a choice but throwing a cup of sourdough starter before replenishing withe a cup of flour and a half cup of water. :( As I wrote already in my sourdough starter recipe post, you need to feed your starter regularly, at least once a week, as it is a living thing, i.e. bacteria. If you don't want to end up with too much starter, you need to get rid of one or two cups of starter, before replenishing with the same amount of flour and water, by using it for baking, or less preferably, throwing out.

I'll make a big loaf of sourdough bread next weekend. I will post a sourdough bread recipe soon. It's really good, too. Today let me show you a very easy sourdough biscuit recipe as I said last week.

Before the sourdough bread recipe, here goes a recipe for the sourdough biscuits. When you have good sourdough starter, it takes little time and effort to make delicious sourdough biscuits. It smells really good, and you will be surprised how little butter you need to make these biscuits with heavenly flavour. If you are not ready with sourdough starter, you can check how to make sourdough starter here.

 Here goes the recipe for the old fashioned sourdough biscuits

(adapted from Along the trail)

Ingredients

 2 cups all purpose flour

 2 cups sourdough starter

 1 tablespoon baking powder

 1 tablespoon sugar

 1 teaspoon salt

 2-3 tablespoons butter, soft at room temperature, for rubbing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. Grease well a cast iron skillet, Dutch oven or baking dish.

3. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together into a large bowl.

4. Stir sourdough starter well, before scooping out your portion.

5. Pour the starter into the flour and mix well. 

Now dough is ready. The dough should be sticky and wet but able to hold a shape when rolled.

6. Now rub soft butter on your hands. 

With hands well buttered, roll 2"-2+ 1/2" size balls of dough between your palms. 

7. Place into the greased dish or skillet. Crowd all the rolled balls in. Don't worry, they won’t stick together from baking. Let the dough rest for 10 to 15 minutes before baking.

8. Place in hot oven to bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

9. Biscuits are done when golden brown on top. (I place the biscuits under a broiler for a few minutes at the end of baking, to get the golden brown top.)

These biscuits are the best when they are just out of the oven. Serve hot with butter and jam. I served biscuits with breakfast gravy the other weekend. It was also delicious.

And as you may have guessed it already, it's a superb accompaniment for a bowl of any soup!

(The above is Italian wedding soup of which recipe is here)

Happy baking!

Sourdough Biscuits