Skillet Baked Sourdough Biscuits

About a month ago, finding myself with an empty jar, I decided to attempt a sourdough starter. It's not the first time I've done this. After several failed attempts in New Hampshire and Boston, I thought I had given up on sourdough. Then walking past San Francisco's famous Boudin Bakery, I found myself wistfully imagining pulling dark crusty loaves out of the oven on a foggy winter day. San Francisco is the home of sourdough, I told myself. Just a little bit of that magic must have floated over the Bay, right? 

Maybe so. Because this time my starter was successful. It would be impossible to describe my method here because what I've been doing with flour and water and sugar over the past month has been less a method and more of a negotiation involving three different flours, tap water, bottled water, wet towels, and a warm oven until the morning I went to feed the thing and smelled that magical sour-sweetness.

Then I had a whole new problem: What would I do with the thing?

I put off figuring that out as long as I could, but this morning there was no more room in the jar, and I faced a difficult choice. I could either throw away as much as I put in or I could actually do something with the starter. Since I didn't want to wait 18+ hours for bread, I went for biscuits.

This recipe, like the starter that birthed it, is a product of trial and error and is infinitely futzable as long as the dough is firm and dry but not crumbly.

Skillet Baked Sourdough Biscuits






1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
4 T unsalted butter
~1 c. sourdough starter
vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl cut butter into everything but the sourdough starter until it is a sandy consistency.

Mix in sourdough starter and knead for a minute or two until the dough cleans the bowl, but not too much or your biscuits will be tough.

Divide dough into 12 pieces and roll into balls.

Roll dough balls in oil and arrange in an 8 in. cast iron skillet. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Bake for 30 minutes or until tops are brown.


Makes 12 biscuits.