Sourdough Biscuits with Cheddar and Chives

Last Updated on February 9, 2023

These buttermilk Sourdough Biscuits with Cheddar and Chives are flaky, fluffy, and full of flavor! The best part is that they’re so easy to make, use sourdough discard, and come together in less than 30 minutes.

I grew up in North Carolina where buttermilk biscuits reign supreme. I even learned how to make biscuits in my 7th-grade life-skills class. Talk about a useful craft I’m using to this day!

Hence, I’ve been wanting to make a sourdough biscuit since I started this blog. And finally, I nailed down what I’m looking for in a southern-style biscuit using sourdough discard and an all-time favorite flavor combo of cheddar and chives.

The edges and bottoms of the buttermilk sourdough biscuits get crisp while the interior stays soft and cheesy.

Are these the best sourdough biscuits out there? I think so! And I know you’ll love them if you make them too.

👉 If you like these biscuits, I think you’ll love these Sourdough Strawberry Shortcakes made with flaky sourdough buttermilk biscuits or my Sourdough Sweet Potato Biscuits.

---

Tips for Making the Best Sourdough Biscuits:

Making sourdough biscuits is not unlike making sourdough scones. However, there are some key differences to ensure you get flaky and fluffy biscuits that rise tall.

1. Keep Ingredients Cold:

• Why? Keeping your ingredients as cold as possible while making the biscuits will help them rise, be flaky, and stay tender. This is because the cold layers of butter in the biscuits will create steam when they hit the hot oven. Like pie dough or other pastries, this steam is what creates flaky layers.
• How: Use frozen butter and minimize kneading and warm hand contact (use a fork or whisk to mix), refrigerate the dough if it starts to warm up, and freeze the biscuits for 10 minutes before baking.

2. Don’t Over Mix the Dough:

• Why? Over-kneading or over-mixing biscuit dough will warm the dough ingredients and create gluten. Gluten development will result in a tougher, chewy biscuit and you want soft and tender!
• How: Only knead the biscuit dough a few times until it comes together into a cohesive mass. A shaggy dough is okay and the biscuit dough will come together more as you pat it and cut out the biscuits.

3. Cut Biscuits Straight Down and Don’t Twist:

• Why? Twisting the biscuit cutter will seal off the buttery layers/edges of the biscuits and the biscuits won’t rise as tall nor have as flaky of layers.
• How: Use a floured biscuit cutter or cookie cutter and cut out the biscuits straight down. Then, lift the cutter straight up to remove the biscuit.

4. Use Low Protein Flour:

• Why? Unlike making sourdough bread, gluten development is the enemy of making perfectly soft and tender biscuits. Hence, use low-protein flour to minimize gluten development, which will result in a fluffy biscuit.
• How: If you can get your hands on White Lily all-purpose flour, this is the best flour for baking biscuits that southerners swear by! It’s about 9% protein, so it’s actually quite similar to pastry flour which you could also use in this recipe. I bake with King Arthur All-Purpose flour to stay consistent with all my recipes and it works fine for this biscuit recipe.

5. Measure Ingredients by Weight:

• Why? Measuring baking ingredients by weight is probably the easiest way to become a better baker. For example, measuring a cup of flour or sourdough starter by volume can result in vastly different results based on the brands of flour, how the flour is measured, or how active the sourdough starter is.
• How: Use a baking scale to measure the ingredients separately in this recipe (especially the flour, buttermilk, and sourdough starter).

---

Tools Needed:

Click on the toggles below for more information, recommendations, and possible substitutes.

---

Ingredients Needed:

Click on the toggles below for more information, recommendations, and possible substitutes.

---

How to Make Sourdough Biscuits with Cheddar & Chives:

Follow along with this visual and detailed guide to help you bake these sourdough cheddar biscuits.

1. Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 450ºF (232ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. Whisk together the buttermilk and sourdough starter

Use a fork or whisk to mix together ½ cup (121g) buttermilk and about ¾ cup (150g) sourdough starter in a small mixing bowl until it is a pourable, liquid consistency.

Now, freeze the buttermilk mixture during the next step. This will help keep the biscuit dough as cold as possible as you knead and cut them soon.

3. Mix together the dry ingredients:

In a large mixing bowl, use a fork or whisk to mix together the following dry ingredients:

• 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoons baking soda
• Two tablespoons (9g) chopped, fresh chives
• 1 cup (113g, or 4 oz) freshly grated cheddar cheese

You can use the box grater to grate the cheese directly into the mixing bowl.

4. Grate the butter:

Grate the frozen unsalted butter (one stick, 113g, or 8 TBS) using the large holes of a box grater directly into the dry flour mixture.

Leave the butter wrapper or parchment paper on as you grate the butter so your warm hands don’t melt the butter.

Then, use a fork or whisk to distribute the butter throughout the mixture. Coat the butter with the dry ingredients, dispersing evenly.

5. Pour in the buttermilk mixture & knead:

Pour the cold buttermilk and sourdough starter mixture slowly into the mixing bowl.

While pouring, use a fork to start to bring together the biscuit dough.

At first, the dough will start off dry, but large clumps will begin to form as the mixture is poured in.

Now, use your hands to knead the dough a few times in the bowl until it comes together into a largely cohesive but shaggy dough.

Add a teaspoon or two of buttermilk at a time if the dough is still too dry and not coming together.

6. Cut out the biscuits:

Transfer the dough and any scraggly bits of flour onto a floured work surface and pat it down into a circle about 1 ½ inches thick.

Use a floured 2½-3” biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out 8-10 biscuits.

Cut the biscuits straight down without twisting the biscuit cutter so as to not seal the edges of the biscuits. This ensures you get a good rise and flaky sides.

Finally, with any scraps of dough, reform and cut out more biscuits.

7. Freeze the biscuits:

Space the biscuits about an inch and a half apart onto the prepared baking sheet.

Then, transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze them for 10 minutes.

By the time you’ve cut out the biscuits, the biscuit dough will likely be warmed up (especially if it’s warm in your home). This quick freeze will ensure that the biscuits are cold as they hit the oven and give you a better rise and more flaky biscuit.

8. Top & bake:

After 10 minutes in the freezer, brush the tops of the biscuits with a couple of teaspoons of buttermilk and flaky salt (optional).

The buttermilk brushing will help brown the top of the biscuits.

Bake the sourdough biscuits at 450ºF for 15 minutes.

When done, the tops and edges of the biscuits will be golden brown and the bottoms will slightly darker.

Finally, enjoy warm!

---

How to Store Sourdough Biscuits

Biscuits are best served warm and freshly baked. However, you can easily store the biscuits and make parts of this recipe ahead.

For example, you can freeze the dough once the biscuits are shaped to bake later. Then, store the shaped biscuits in a freezer-safe bag and bake as normal. They may need a couple of more minutes of baking.

Once baked, you can store the biscuits in a brown paper bag or a tightly sealed container where they will keep for a few days. Simply reheat before serving.

---

How to Serve Sourdough Biscuits

I love eating biscuits with a hearty weekend breakfast or brunch. However, these biscuits go well with dinner too!

In fact, they’re quite similar in flavor to Red Lobster biscuits.

The biscuits are great for picnics, summer barbeques, get-togethers, or Sunday brunch.

I like to serve the biscuits with more butter, and keep them simple since they already pack a punch of flavor.

If you enjoy these biscuits, you may also enjoy some of my other sourdough breakfast recipes including Sourdough Apple Butter Muffins, Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones, Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, or Sourdough Pumpkin Waffles.

---

Sourdough Biscuits with Cheddar & Chives FAQs:

---

---

On Instagram? Follow me!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sourdough Brandon (@sourdoughbrandon)

---

---

Other Recipes You Might Like: