Buttery Sourdough Skillet Biscuits

Martha says these biscuits are, “Very delicious!” and the reason, of course, is the butter. So though the recipe suggests you can use lard or shortening, for best flavor, use butter.

Martha also changes up the tradition of cutting cold butter into the two-and-a-half cups of all-purpose flour. “I use a half a cup of warm butter so I can just squish it up with my hands, ” she explains, But you can definitely do this recipe with cold butter. Just cut it up into little pieces, especially if you’re doing it in a stand mixer. Just let it mix, until it cuts in beautifully.”

But, she says, “I just like to get my hands in there, squishing the butter up all around, and pretty soon your flour starts to turn yellow. It’s got that buttery color and a few chunks of butter, which I love inside my biscuit. That’s yummy.”

Once the flour takes on a yellow hue and it’s crumbly, it is time “to make our biscuit sponge that is going to sit through the night (or through the day, whichever you like).

First, she says, in another container “take a tablespoon of sugar or honey, and a whole cup of milk (she prefers almond milk, but you could even use water), and a half cup of activated start.”

As she dips her cup into the starter she looks at it affectionately and says, “So then this beautiful start here. Oh, I just am always in awe when I see an activated start, I think is the coolest looking thing. “

“Work this together,” she explains, “with your hands. “You are probably gasping, right?

“What recipe doesn’t Martha use her hands to mix it? You can just use a fork, right” she smiles while stirring the starter into the sweetened milk with one hand in a claw-like fashion.

Then she combines this liquid with the flour. “So what you want to do is mix the milk and the start together first. Then work that into the flour. Once that’s worked in, to scrape around sides and mix it just enough that you don’t have big clumps of flour. It doesn’t have to be perfectly done. You just want all the flour to be wet as it sits for the fermentation part.

“Okay are going to cover this and let it sit overnight, (or for at least eight hours, we could go 10, but you don’t want to go any fewer than eight), just to make sure that it gets fermented properly.”

In the morning or after “it has been raising for eight hours. It pretty much doubles in size. And so now we need to add our baking soda, salt, and baking powder. But first mix this in a little cup,” before adding it to the sponge.

She uses half a teaspoon of baking soda, “three-quarters of a teaspoon of our quality salt, and then a teaspoon and a half of baking powder. When you use baking powder, I always like to use one that is aluminum-free. The Rumford brand is aluminum-free and is really good brand.

“So we’re literally just sprinkling this powder mixture over the top, and then we’re going to need it in with our hands and it’s going to deflate because of the ferment, but don’t worry. You’ll see it get a little bubbly on the surface as you’re mixing it in. From the reaction of the acid during fermentation and the alkaline from the baking soda.

Sourdough Skillet Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup [113g] Sourdough Starter
• 2 1/2 cups [313g] All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup [113g] butter, lard or shortening
• 3 Tbsp [42] butter for brushing after baking
• 1 cup [240 ml] whole or almond milk
• 1 Tbsp [12.5g] honey or sweetener of choice
• 3/4 tsp [4g] salt
• 1 1/2 tsp [6g] baking powder
• 1/2 tsp [3g] baking soda
• vegetable oil for your work surface and tools

Long Ferment (Biscuit Sponge)

1. Cut room temperature butter (or another fat choice) into 2½ cups of flour using your stand mixer, or with your hands, until the flour is crumbly; if using butter it will take on a uniform yellow hew and small bits of butter should be expected in the mix.
2. Mix in a tablespoon of sugar or honey, one cup of milk, and half a cup of active starter. Mix this with your hands until all the flour is moistened in.
3. Cover lightly and allow the dough to ferment overnight, but at least 8–10 hours for a proper ferment.
4. It will just about double in bulk when ready.

Biscuit Dough (next day or after 8-10 hours of fermentation)

1. Mix baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
2. Sprinkle this over the sponge and poke and squish these dry ingredients into the dough. This does deflate the sponge into a soft dough which should be kneaded a few times to incorporate the dry ingredients just added.
3. Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C) with a cast-iron skillet inside
4. Coat a working surface with vegetable oil and pat dough into a square (do NOT roll it out).
5. Oil a bench knife or pizza cutter and cut dough into 9-12 squares.
6. Pull the skillet from the oven and allow three tablespoons of butter to melt in the hot pan.
7. Quickly dip the biscuits into the hot butter. Flip them over as you go coating each side. Then place it back in the oven to bake for 16-19 minutes.
8. Brush tops with melted butter and serve warm.