Sourdough Scones
Sourdough Scones have a special flavor and the perfect scone texture. A proper scone should neither be too biscuit-y nor too muffiny, but should fall somewhere between the two. A little sourdough discard is all you need to make the best scones ever.
As I mentioned in my post for English Scones, my basic scone recipe is adapted from a recipe given to me by a British mum. I used that recipe for 7 years when I worked in a British tea shop.
I made adjustments to the original recipe so it could work in a US kitchen with US ingredients and measurements. I can tell you I get great feedback from everyone who tastes these scones.
Now, I’ve made these scones even better by adding a little sourdough discard to the recipe.
If you don’t already have one, I can show you how to make a sourdough starter and how to feed a sourdough starter.
How to make Sourdough Scones
- Mix the sourdough discard into the buttermilk.
- Pour the buttermilk & discard into the flour base.
- Toss until almost combined
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
- Knead a couple of times to bring the dough together.
- Brush the scones with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar before baking.
- Bake until the scones are golden brown.
Pastry Chef Tips for making Sourdough Scones
- Use real buttermilk if you can. The tangy flavor and tenderizing acidity works perfectly with the sourdough discard to make these the best scones ever. Buttermilk substitutes will work, but the real thing gives the best flavor.
- Mix the dough by hand. Mixing by hand ensures that you won’t over mix the dough and form too much gluten.
- Pat the dough by hand instead of using a rolling pin. This also ensures that the dough won’t be over worked.
- To work ahead, mix the recipe until the point where you add the buttermilk. Later you can mix the dough, roll, cut and bake.
Storage
Scones are best the day they are baked. Leftovers can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost and then warm in the oven to get the best texture. Do not refrigerate scones.
I know you hate to throw away that sourdough discard. Check out these recipes that use sourdough discard.
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Sourdough Scone Recipe
Ingredients
- 22 ½ oz unbleached all purpose flour ( 4 ½ cups, see note)
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 4 oz granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 oz unsalted butter (cold, cut into 1″ chunks)
- 8 oz buttermilk (1 cup)
- 8 oz sourdough discard (1 cup)
- 2 eggs
- Demerara Sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Line two ½ sheet pans with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 22 ½ oz unbleached all purpose flour, 2 tablespoons baking powder, 4 oz granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss in 6 oz unsalted butter chunks. Mix in the butter until the bits are the size of a pea.
- Whisk together 8 oz buttermilk, 8 oz sourdough discard and 2 eggs. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients all at once and mix until just barely combined. Some loose flour may remain at the bottom of the bowl. DON'T OVER MIX.
- Dump the dough onto a floured surface and finish kneading by hand just until all the loose flour is absorbed. Use your hands to pat the dough until it is ¾" thick. Use a 2½"-3" biscuit cutter to cut scones. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting until all the dough is used.
- Line the scones onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1" space between. Brush the tops of the scones with buttermilk and sprinkle with Demerara or granulated sugar.
- Bake on the middle racks of the oven, flipping the trays after 10 minutes (see note). The scones are ready when they are golden brown and sound hollow when the bottom is tapped. Total baking time 15-20 minutes.
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I am confuse – want to make these, but in my experience 1 1/2 TBS butter would be 12 oz. not 6. What am I missing?
It’s 1 1/2 sticks of butter. Here is the US, a stick of butter is 4 oz, so 1 1/2 sticks is 6 oz.
Hi There, Can the sourdough discard be refrigerated prior to use or should I be taking it right out of the starter before feeding it when it’s still a little bubbly? I’ve got a container in the fridge that I’ve been adding to for a couple weeks. I need to find something to do with it.
Thanks!
Whenever you remove some of the starter to refresh and feed the main batch, that stuff you remove is the discard. You can do as the name implies and throw it away, or you can bake with it. If you’ve been saving it up in the fridge and it’s still alive, just not very lively, go ahead and use it. I wouldn’t use it if it smells unpleasantly strong or if the “hooch” (the liquid on top) is dark gray. If there are any streaks of pink or orange in the discard you must throw it out as that’s a sign of bad bacteria.
These were amazing! I’m always looking for good ways to use my sourdough starter discard, and the man of the house is a big fan of scones. I’ve made scones before, but these are my new favorite. Didn’t have buttermilk in the house, so used 2% milk with a little bit of lemon juice as a substitute. Took the advice to double the baking sheet so they didn’t brown too much on the bottom. I made a half recipe which gave me ten 2-1/2″ scones. They all fit on one half sheet tray and took about 25 minutes in a well heated 375 oven. The crumb and flavor are perfect! Thanks so much.
Hi eileen this looks wonderful … do you think these could be made eggfree? what substitute would you recommend?
You could use a commercial egg substitute.
how will I add bananas to the scone batter. Do I change the wet ingredients amounts?
Yes, you’d need to change the recipe. This would require a bit of trial and error and testing to get right. I can’t say off the top of my head how to get a good balance.