If you love buttery cornbread, flaky biscuits, and sourdough flavors, have I got the recipe for you! These delicious sourdough cornbread biscuits combine the best of all worlds with a tender texture and a sourdough tang. They’re perfect on their own with butter and jam or as a delicious side dish with any meal.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Buttery Cornbread Flavor – Golden cornmeal gives these biscuits that slightly sweet, toasty cornbread flavor, while the sourdough starter or discard adds a little extra depth. They’re flavorful enough to eat warm with just a generous smear of butter.
- Soft Inside, Flaky Outside – These sit somewhere between classic sourdough cornbread and a flaky sourdough biscuit. The cornmeal keeps the crumb soft and tender, while very cold butter creates flaky layers and buttermilk helps the biscuits rise beautifully in the oven.
- Quick and Easy to Make – There’s no fermentation time and no special equipment needed. Just mix the dough in a bowl, grate or cut in the cold butter, shape the biscuits and bake. This makes them an easy addition to dinner, soup or a weekend breakfast.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour
- Cornmeal – I used finely ground cornmeal, but you can also use medium-ground for a bit more texture
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda – Using both together helps give your biscuits more of a rise
- Granulated Sugar and Salt
- Butter – You want your butter to be very cold! I actually freeze my butter and then grate it on a box grater to make it easier to rub through the flour. I always use salted butter, but unsalted is fine also.
- Sourdough Starter or Sourdough Starter Discard – you can use either active starter or sourdough discard in this recipe, they’ll both give your sourdough biscuits a nice tang! I recommend placing it into the freezer for 15 minutes before you mix it into the flour and butter so it’s nice and cold.
- Buttermilk – Buttermilk will give you the best flavor and texture, but if you don’t have any buttermilk you can use whole milk with a dash of white vinegar. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before adding to your sourdough cornbread biscuit dough. I recommend using cultured butter from making cultured butter.
- Egg – Optional, but I like to egg wash my sourdough biscuits before they’re baked for a lovely deep golden brown color.
How To Make Sourdough Cornbread Biscuits
You’ll be surprised by how easy it is to make these sourdough cornbread biscuits! There’s not too much hands on time, and in fact, you can even use a food processor to cut the butter into the flour if you prefer.
Kate’s Pro Tip
Keep The Butter Cold
For golden, flaky biscuits, it’s really important to keep the butter as cold as possible. Freeze it for at least 15 minutes before you start, then grate it using a box grater. Grating the butter makes it much easier to distribute evenly through the flour without warming it up too much, helping to create those flaky layers as the biscuits bake.
Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Then take your butter out of the freezer and place into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Cut the cold butter through the flour using a pastry cutter or use your finger tips to rub it gently into the flour. Make sure the butter doesn’t start to melt. If you feel like it’s become too warm, place the bowl into the freezer for 10 minutes before moving to the next step.
Now stir the sourdough starter and buttermilk into the mixture to form a rough, dry dough. I start with 80 grams of buttermilk and add a touch more if necessary to incorporate all the flour. You want to mix the ingredients until just combined. It’s ok for the dough to be dry and shaggy. If you spend too much time handling the dough, you’ll have tough biscuits.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to form a more cohesive dough, just don’t let the butter warm up too much. You should be able to see the pieces of butter in the dough.
Form the dough into a rough rectangle (you can either use your hands or a rolling pin). Cut the rectangle in half and stack the pieces on top of the other. Roll it out again into a rectangle and repeat the stacking process two or three more times. This is building the flaky layers in your dough which will puff up when they hit the hot oven and cause the butter to steam.
Gently roll the stacked dough out into a thick rectangular shape about one inch tall (about 2.5 cm). Use a sharp biscuit cutter or a glass to cut out rounds of dough. If there’s extra dough, I stack the scraps on top of one another so that they still get the flaky layers. When cutting the biscuits, don’t twist the biscuit or cookie cutter or it’ll compress your dough and seal off the edges. Just push the cutter straight down and then back up. A glass is better than a mason jar if you don’t have a biscuit cutter as you want a nice clean sharp edge. Or, use a sharp knife to cut squares.
Place the biscuits into your prepared cake pan or baking dish, use a brush to gently egg wash, and place into the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (it will vary slightly depending on your oven). Remove when the sourdough biscuits are golden brown.
Kate’s Pro Tip
Let The Biscuits Touch In The Pan
Placing the biscuits close together gives you the best rise! I use a small 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pan to ensure the biscuits are almost touching. A small cast-iron skillet or small square baking dish would also work well.
What To Serve With These Biscuits
These sourdough cornbread biscuits are fabulous eaten in so many ways!
- My family loves them as a snack, fresh out of the oven! We’re partial to spreading them with homemade butter or whipped honey cinnamon butter.
- These biscuits make phenomenal breakfast sandwiches with a fried egg, slice of cheese, and maybe a bit of bacon or sausage. Take them to the next level with this tomato chutney.
- These biscuits are perfect for mopping up sourdough gravy or served alongside your favorite soup.
- You can also use these sourdough cornbread biscuits to make sourdough strawberry shortcakes.
How To Store and Freeze
Freshly baked sourdough cornbread biscuits are best enjoyed the day they’re baked, ideally warm from the oven! They will keep well for up to two days in an airtight container at room temperature. Allow biscuits to cool completely before storing.
You can also make these sourdough cornbread biscuits in advance! After you’ve cut out the biscuits, freeze them on a tray. You can even egg wash them before freezing. Once frozen, transfer to a resealable freezer bag, press as much air out as possible, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can bake them straight from frozen in a preheated oven. I like to make a double batch and freeze half so I have biscuits ready to go in the freezer anytime.
Sourdough Cornbread Biscuits
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Biscuit Cutter
- Small Cake Pans
Ingredients
- 125 g All-Purpose Flour
- 125 g Cornmeal
- 15 g Baking Powder
- 10 g Sugar
- 4 g Baking Soda
- 3 g Salt
- 113 g Butter, (must be very cold)
- 200 g Sourdough Starter, (or sourdough discard)
- 80-100 g Buttermilk, (see notes for alternatives)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220ºC (430ºF) and line a small round cake pan or baking dish with parchment paper. While the oven is preheating, place the pan into the freezer so your biscuits stay cold and get a better rise.
- Grate the butter with a box grater and place it in the freezer until you need it.
- Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Take your butter out of the freezer and place into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Cut the cold butter through the flour.
- Now add the buttermilk and sourdough starter into the mixing bowl and stir together to form a rough dough.
- Tip the rough dough onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to form a more cohesive dough, just don’t let the butter warm up too much. Form the dough out into a rough rectangle. Cut it in half and stack the pieces on top of the other. Roll it out again and repeat the stacking process three or four times.
- Now, gently roll the stacked dough out into a thick rectangle about one inch tall (about 2.5 cm). Use a sharp biscuit cutter or a glass to cut out rounds of dough. If there’s extra dough, I stack the scraps on top of one another so that they still get the flaky layers.
- Place the biscuits into your prepared cake pan or baking dish. Use a brush to gently egg wash, and place into the oven.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (it will vary slightly depending on your oven). Remove when the sourdough biscuits are golden brown.
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