Welcome to another day of 2020, the year when everyone learned what sourdough discard was. Or at least some of us. Either way, one of yesterday's true highlights was getting rid of a full cup of discard by making Sourdough Discard Scones.
The recipe is from a magazine called Bake from Scratch. I followed it pretty closely, but started with ¼ cup of cream rather than ½, because if there’s anything to know about scone making it's that the amount of liquid is a suggestion. It turns out ¼ cup was all that was needed. I also skipped using a food processor and just added the butter my usual way, which is to shred it cold from the stick.
The scones have a very distinct sourdough flavor. If you like cream cheese, this is a fantastic dough to use for berries and cream cheese scones. Just add small chunks of very firm, cold, cream cheese along with the berries when you are folding them in. The cream cheese stays in the dough as little chunks.
If you want to freeze your Sourdough Discard Scones, you can freeze them baked or freeze the dough triangles. Baking from frozen, the time should jump to about 22 minutes.
If you are still looking for a good starter, again -- I recommend the one on Serious Eats.
Recipe
Sourdough Discard Scones
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour 190 grams
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 35 grams
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter 70 grams, from a cold stick
- 1 cup sourdough starter discard 220-280 grams**
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream plus more as needed (60 grams)
- Mix ins such as frozen blueberries nuts, chocolate chips and small chunks of cold cream cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir very well so that everything is evenly distributed. Using a flat grater, grate butter into the mixture and toss gently so that mixture is crumbly and butter is evenly dispersed throughout.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in 1 cup (275 grams) of sourdough discard. Pour ¼ cup of cream on top of the discard, then stir to mix. If it feels extremely dry, add more cream as needed. Dough should be pretty floury at this point and not overly wet, but it should hold together.
- Turn onto a pastry mat and knead gently to make a dough. You may or may not need to flour the surface or mat quite yet. Press flour mixture into a big rectangle and use a flat spatula or a bench scraper to fold it into thirds. Press down again and repeat, folding into thirds so that loose flour or butter is pulled in by the dough. Do this three times or until everything is cohesive. If you need to add more cream, add a little. If you need more flour, put some on the mat.
- Pat into one large rectangle and sprinkle your add-ins over the rectangle. If you want to do two flavors, divide the dough in half and put different flavors on each half. Fold the dough again into thirds, covering the add-ins.
- Shape and pat dough into an 8-inch circle, about 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges and put on the parchment lined baking pan. Brush top of scones with cream and sprinkle with sparkly sugar. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until scones are lightly browned around the edges. Note: It may take up to 24 minutes depending on your oven, size of scones and temperature of the batter. Just start checking at 15 minutes and bake longer as needed.
Anna says
Jill, that sounds fantastic! I need to get another sourdough starter going so I'll have more discard.
Jill says
I made a carrot cake version of these with 3/4 cup of grated carrots, generous dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, and 1 extra tablespoon of sugar. They were delicious!!! The texture and flavor were magnificent!!
Anna says
Tom, the original version called for 1/2 cup of cream, but I have learned it's always best to start with less liquid and add more gradually. At first I was dumping in the full 1/2 cup, so I've revised the directions to say add 1/4 cup and add more gradually as needed. I like flakier scones, so I err on the side of too little cream than too much. So it says 1/4 cup in the directions now, but you may need up to 1/2 cup. I hope that clarifies it a bit.
Tom says
The ingredient list calls for 1/4 cup heavy cream, but Step 3 of the instructions states 1/2 cup. Which is it?
Sue says
Those sound so good! I never got on the sourdough band wagon so won’t be able to make these but I’m definitely going back to click on the link for Cream Cheese Scones.