Tangy and moist, these Sourdough Discard Scones are another great way to use up some of your extra sourdough starter. You can use this base recipe to create dozens of different flavor combinations of these delicious scones!
What's In These Scones?
There aren't many ingredients at all in these scones, so it's important to make sure you are using really high quality ingredients.
Sourdough Discard- Discard is the extra sourdough starter that you would get rid of when you are feeding your starter. There are so many uses for it. This Sourdough Discard Pizza Dough is one of my all time favorite recipes, and these bagels are a staple in my house almost every weekend! You'll want to use the starter before you feed it in this recipe. Meaning it should not be bubbly, but rather in a state where it will lend it's flavor to the recipe, rather than it's rising capabilities.
Butter- You'll use one stick of butter in this recipe. I like salted butter in this recipe because it lends it flavor better and brings out the tanginess of the starter. Try to find a high quality butter to use if you can.
Sour Cream- Here's the magic in this recipe. Along with the sourdough starter, the sour cream makes these scones moist and delicious. If you don't have sour cream, you can use buttermilk as well. Make sure that you are using full fat sour cream, as the low fat or fat free versions will not give you as good of a texture and flavor. The sour cream also activates the baking soda to give these scones a good rise.
Let's Make Them!
First, you'll want to make sure your butter is frozen. Grating the butter gives the best distribution of butter throughout the dough. Use a good quality box grater and be careful because they can be very sharp. Grate the butter into a bowl using the box grater.
Add the flour and mix everything so the butter is coated with the flour. Add the sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Mix to combine.
Next, things get a little messy! Add the sourdough starter and the sour cream. I like to use my hands here, but you can use a spoon if you would like. At first the dough will feel very dry. Keep mixing gently until the dough is wetter and you are able to form it into either one large disk, or two small disks (for mini scones like I did) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Cut the disks into triangles, you can usually get 8 mini scones out of each disk. The dough will be pretty crumbly and you may have some leftover flour hanging out, that's totally fine!
Brush the tops of the scones with some milk and dust with granulated sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees. Serve immediately with your favorite butter and jam!
What Else Can You Add in?
Oh my gosh the possibilities are endless!
- Blueberry Scones- Add in ½ cup of blueberries, fresh or frozen, to the dough.
- Chocolate Chip Scones- Add ½ cup of chocolate chips to the dough, top with more chocolate chips for an even more chocolaty flavor.
- Cranberry Orange Scones- Grate the zest of one orange into the dough and add ½ cup of fresh cranberries or ¼ cup of dried cranberries.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones- Grate the zest of two lemons into the dough and add one tablespoon of poppy seeds.
Let me know if you have any other ideas! The possibilities really are endless!
Questions About This Recipe?
Sure! If you wanted to make this recipe but do not have sourdough starter, I would double the amount of sour cream and add one egg to better bind the dough together.
Definitely not! If you wanted to make them into one large disk instead of two small disks you could certainly do that! With kids, I find the mini are easier and they eat the whole thing, instead of wasting the extra.
You can freeze them in Ziploc bags once they are baked and they will last for about 3 months in the freezer. On the counter, they will last in a Ziploc bag for about 5 days. It's best to bake them and eat them as soon as possible for the best possible flavor.
Other Recipes to Try!
Did you give this recipe a try? I’d love to hear from you! Give me a shout on Instagram or Facebook and let me know (@Lynnswayoflife) !
- Peanut Butter and Banana Oat Bars
- Cinnamon Streusel Banana Bread
- Pina Colada Smoothie
- Baked Peanut Butter Donuts
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Sourdough Discard Scones
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Salted Butter Frozen
- 2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ Cup Sugar Plus more for dusting
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Cup Sourdough Discard Not Active
- ¼ Cup Full Fat Sour Cream
- ¼ Cup Full Fat Milk For Brushing Before Baking
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Using a box grater, grate the frozen butter into a large bowl. Add the flour and coat the butter in the flour.
- Add the sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix to combine.
- Using your hands or a large spoon, add the sourdough discard and sour cream. Gently mix to combine everything. The dough will be very dry at first, but keep working it. The dough is perfect when it is just holding together and most of the flour is incorporated.
- Divide the dough into two disks if you are making mini scones, or one disk if you are making larger scones. Cut each disk into 8 triangles.
- Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately.
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