Aunt Cora's Sourdough Biscuits

These sourdough biscuits are the kind that fed cattle drives and cabin breakfasts across the American West, when a sourdough starter lived on every prospector’s wagon. The recipe uses 1½ cups of starter, which makes it a fantastic destination for excess discard if you’re feeding a starter regularly.

The magic is in the combination of leaveners. Most sourdough biscuits rely entirely on the natural wild yeast in the starter for their rise, which can be unpredictable. This version doubles down with both baking powder and baking soda alongside the sourdough, giving you reliable tall biscuits with the tangy fermented flavor sourdough delivers.

The baking soda specifically reacts with the lactic acid in the starter, neutralizing some of the sour bite while creating extra carbon dioxide for lift. The recipe note about adding more soda if your starter is very sour is the kind of practical wisdom that comes from generations of bakers calibrating to their own wild starters.

Letting the cut biscuits rise over boiling water for 30 minutes is the unusual technique here. The steam warms and humidifies the dough, kicking off a final rise from the wild yeast before they hit the hot oven. Skip this step and the biscuits stay denser.

A hot 425°F (220°C) oven gives that signature tall rise and crispy golden top.

Pro Tips

• Use an active, recently-fed starter; cold starter from the back of the fridge produces flatter biscuits.
• Brush all sides of cut biscuits with melted butter before the steam rise as the recipe instructs; this is what creates the buttery layered exterior.
• Pat the dough rather than rolling for a more rustic texture; rolled dough develops more gluten and toughens.
• Bake on a dark-coated pan for the deepest golden bottoms; light-colored pans give pale, less crispy bottoms.

Variations

• Add 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives or thyme for herbed sourdough biscuits.
• Use butter instead of shortening for a richer, more buttery flavor (with slightly different texture).
• Mix ½ cup of shredded cheddar or grated parmesan into the dough for cheese sourdough biscuits.