Comment on Strawberry Shortcake with Sourdough Biscuits by Traci York

Published 2 weeks ago• 7 minute read

Tender, light and melt in your mouth, Strawberry Shortcake with Sourdough Biscuits are simple to whip up and make ahead ready. You’ll use your sourdough discard from your Sourdough Starter, butter, all purpose flour, heavy cream for tenderness and a touch of lemon.

Macerate your strawberries in sugar and vanilla, then spoon over the tender sourdough biscuits with a dollop of whipped cream. Make ahead by freezing the cut dough; frozen biscuits can go straight from freezer to oven! This recipe is vegetarian and egg free. [ watch recipe on the recipe card ]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: “The most tender flaky shortcakes I’ve EVER had!!” ~ Dana

Strawberry Shortcake with Sourdough Biscuits on a plate ready to be shared.

Why is it called discard? I never throw it out. Carefully tucked away in the fridge, I use it in Sourdough Biscuits, Sourdough Blueberry Scones, and Sourdough Discard Buttermilk Pancakes. There’s more on my list too…

So many ways to use sourdough discard to obtain a rustic and delightful sourdough flavor in baked recipes. These strawberry shortcakes are no different. They’re tender, lightly sweetened and the perfect vehicle for juicy strawberries and lightly whipped cream.

If you enjoy sourdough discard recipes, you’ll love this delightful and easy to make dessert.

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Diced butter in a bowl of flour. — 1. mix the dry ingredients, then add the diced butter.

Cutting the butter into the flour using hands. — 1. mix the dry ingredients, then add the diced butter.

To keep these biscuits light and tender, start with cold, straight from the refrigerator ingredients. Sourdough is more difficult to incorporate into cream when mixing cold, but it will ensure the most tender biscuits for this shortcake.

When making biscuits, the goal is to coat the pieces butter in flour like when making pie dough, rather than incorporating it into the flour like a cake or cookie.

Work quickly when working the butter into the flour. The butter should remain cold and pliable throughout the mixing process. If the butter starts getting melty, pop the whole bowl in the freezer (before adding any liquid) for about 10 minutes. This will allow the butter to solidify, then you can carry on.

Biscuit dough on a work surface. — 5. turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.

Cutting scones with a biscuit cutter. — 5. turn the dough out onto a floured work surface.

Strawberries in a bowl. — slice the strawberries, mix with sugar and vanilla allow to rest for at least a few hours.

Sliced strawberries in a bowl with sugar sprinkled over the top. — slice the strawberries, mix with sugar and vanilla allow to rest for at least a few hours.

I’ve read much about this topic, and it’s sometimes difficult to discern the technical difference between the two. They’re both considered quick breads, and can go sweet or savory. My takeaways are:

tend to be dryer than biscuits, contain more sugar if sweet and often have some sort of inclusion like fruit, nuts and/or zest. They’re typically made with eggs.

are light, sometimes flaky and moist with a less sweet flavor profile than scones (if sweet). They’re made with butter, lard or some other fat and milk, cream or buttermilk. They typically don’t contain eggs.

This sourdough biscuit recipe is somewhat of a crossover. I’ve incorporated butter and cream with a hint of lemon zest into the dough creating a short dough that’s tender, light and melt in your mouth. These biscuits are flakyish and moist!

Sourdough Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits on a plate ready to be shared.

: I recommend a digital oven thermometer with an air probe and weighing your ingredients using a digital kitchen scale for best outcome (affiliate links).

Flour your work surface and turn the dough out. Lightly flour the top of the dough and knead it a few times (folding and pressing) until a cohesive dough forms. Lightly flour the top again and roll the dough with a rolling pin or pat the dough out to between 3/4" to just below 1" (1.9cm – 2.5cm) thick disk. Dip the biscuit cutter into flour, then cut the biscuits with a 2 3/4" – 3" (7cm – 7.6cm) biscuit cutter, without twisting the cutter, and transfer to the parchment paper-lined sheet pan, spacing them evenly and a few inches apart. Reroll the dough as needed (I do this twice). Refrigerate the biscuits for at least 20 minutes. *Note* if your butter seems soft you can pop the biscuits in the freezer rather than the refrigerator. The colder the biscuits are, the better they'll rise once you put them in the oven.

At this point the biscuits can be frozen, then transferred to a lidded container and held in the freezer for up to three weeks. You can bake completely frozen biscuits straight from the freezer same as you would refrigerated biscuits adding a few minutes on the bake time as needed.

While the biscuits are in the fridge/freezer, preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Just before baking, brush the tops of the biscuits with cream and sprinkle a bit of sugar over the top.

Bake the biscuits from refrigerated or previously frozen on a parchment lined sheet pan for 30-35 minutes and until golden (you'll need to bake a few more minutes when baking from frozen – keep an eye on the bottoms and internal temperature). The internal temperature will be between 200F-205F when baked through (93C – 96C).

Store baked biscuits at room temperature in a covered container for up to two days or in the freezer for up to three weeks. Biscuits are best fresh, but if needed, they can be gently reheated at 350F (175C) for about 10-15 minutes. Wrap in foil when reheating to retain their softness.

For the Strawberries

While the biscuits are in the fridge chilling, trim the green stems away from the strawberry and slice strawberries into rounds or quarters. Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar using some or all of the sugar depending on how sweet your berries are, and/or your taste. The sugar is optional, and sometimes I leave it off, but it helps create a bit of syrup.
Squeeze in the fresh lemon juice and if you like, add an empty vanilla bean pod. Stir, cover, then refrigerate for up to two hours. They will soften the longer they sit.

For the Whipped Cream

In a medium mixing bowl, add the whipping cream, sugar and extract or vanilla beans. Whip until soft peaks form. Make up to one day ahead and store in the fridge in a lidded container.

To Assemble:

Cut a biscuit in half and scoop strawberries over the top. Dollop with cream, then top with the other biscuit half. Pile up more strawberries and cream if desired!

I’ve adjusted the baking powder from 1 Tbs to 2 1/2 tsp which is reflected in the recipe. After several positive reviews, here and on social, a few bakers noted they tasted an aftertaste of baking powder (something I’d not noticed). I retested the recipe with just a bit less baking powder and the results are a little less fluffy biscuits, but such a delight! Thank you to the makers who brought this to my attention. If you’ve been making this recipe with success at 1 Tbs of baking powder (this is what I use), feel free to continue using that measurement as the recipe is otherwise unchanged.

: I recommend an oven thermometer, food thermometer and weighing your ingredients using a digital kitchen scale for best outcome. Use the scoop and sweep method for volume measurements if a scale is unavailable.

Recipe inspired by The Grand Central Baking Book.

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