About This Recipe

What is a Rolled Biscuit?

A rolled biscuit is a specific type of biscuit that requires rolling out and cutting the dough. This type of biscuit uses cold ingredients and minimal working to create a tall, flaky final biscuit with layers upon layers. Rolled biscuits should rise to twice their height during baking and have a soft and fluffy interior.

What I love about this recipe:

This recipe uses a few simple tricks to get an end result that is tall, fluffy, and flaky. They are incredibly quick to throw together for the oven and are the perfect companion to any breakfast. These biscuits will actually fall over in the oven without the right precautions, which, in my opinion, is a sign of a truly good rolled biscuit.

Why this recipe works

Cold ingredients

Cold ingredients are essential to making this recipe work. Namely, cold butter is key. Having everything cold helps keep the temperature of the dough down while it is being worked, and prevents the butter from getting too warm/melting. Butter releases gases as it warms that aid in the rise and create flaky layers.

All-Purpose flour

All-purpose flour is perfect for a recipe like this because gluten-development is not important. In fact, it is undesirable to develop gluten in a biscuit recipe, as it will lead to elasticity and cracks, as well as take away the desired flake-factor of a biscuit.

Food processor

The food processor is something I choose to use to make the process that much easier. It is the quickest and most efficient way to chop and incorporate butter into the dough quickly. Rolled biscuits can be made by hand by grating frozen butter into the flour, but I find this process tedious, time consuming, and not near as effective.

Pea-Sized Chunks of Butter

Butter chunks that are too big will cause uneven distribution of fat throughout the dough, and may result in pooling or unevenly baked biscuits. However, butter that is too incorporated will lead to a homogenous mixture that does not have near the spring or flakiness desired in a biscuit recipe, resulting in something more like a shortbread cookie. When it comes to biscuits, butter is incredibly important to creating rise and flakiness, and pea-sized chunks create just this.

Creating layers

More layers in the dough results in taller biscuits. Though the mixed dough could simply be pressed out, cut, and baked, I find one round of layer-creating creates taller, better-rising biscuits.

Minimal Working of the dough

I do not include a chilling step in this recipe. Alternatively, I use cold ingredients and work my dough quickly and minimally. This keeps the butter cold, as well as limits gluten-development, which is an important component to flaky biscuits. Minimal working also allows this recipe to be thrown together in under ten minutes, making for a quick breakfast.

Cutting the biscuits

Though I have read that it is important not to twist the cutter as the dough is being cut, in order to prevent sealing, I have found this is not the secret. Instead, I use a sharp cutter and make sure my edges are straight and cut (no round, pressed pieces of dough). This, in addition to all the other factors above, will allow the biscuits to rise up tall, rather than being concealed and domed.

Cast Iron Skillet + Biscuit Placement

These biscuits are so layered and tall that they will actually fall over in the oven without the right placement. Because of this, I chose to use a cast-iron skillet, which is traditional for biscuits in Southern baking. The edges of the skillet provide support for the biscuits as they rise. In addition, it is important that the biscuits are lightly touching one another. As they pop up, they will provide each other support and keep each other rising upward, rather than falling over. They do not need to be mushed together, only lightly touching. In essence, any pan will do, as long as the biscuits have light support on all sides.

Baking temperature + time

I bake these in a 450 F oven for fifteen to eighteen minutes. The hot oven helps provide a beautiful “pop” on these biscuits, and contributes to their tall rise. Though the biscuits are cooked through by fifteen minutes, they will still be soft on the outside. If you prefer a crisper outer edge on your biscuits, go for the longer amount of time.

FAQs

Does the activity of my starter matter in this recipe?

Absolutely not. This recipe can be made with fresh starter that is still active, or older discard that has been sitting in the fridge. For the most accuracy, I recommend weighing your ingredients, but either will work perfectly. Keep in mind that cold ingredients help keep the butter cold while it is being worked, so it is better for the starter to have been in the fridge for some amount of time beforehand.

Why are these biscuits lighter in color?

Milk, buttermilk, or cream (traditional components of rolled biscuits) baked at high temperatures (such as in a recipe like this one) create deeper browning. Since I use sourdough discard in this recipe and do not include milk, buttermilk, or cream, the browning effect is limited. Therefore, the end product is lighter in color. If this bothers you, you can brush one of these liquids on the tops of your biscuits before baking.

How long will it take me to make these?

This recipe takes about ten minutes to whip up, roll out, and place in the skillet, then fifteen minutes to bake. From start to finish, these should be ready in twenty-five minutes.

Rolled Biscuits

Recipe by Caitlin VincentCourse: BreakfastCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Beginner

Prep time

minutes

Baking Time

15-18

minutes

Yield

12-14

biscuits

Ingredients

180 g all-purpose flour (1 ½ cups)
18 g baking powder (1 ½ tbsp)
10 g salt (1 ½ tsp)
1 ½ sticks butter, cold and cubed (¾ cup, 170 g)
340 g sourdough discard, cold (1 ½ cups)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 F.
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
Add the cold, cubed butter and pulse to form pea-sized chunks. Transfer to a bowl.
Add the sourdough discard. Working quickly and minimally, combine all the ingredients until just barely combined and beginning to feel sticky. I use my hands, starting in the bowl and finishing on the counter, but any preferred method will work.
Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thickness, then fold into thirds two times to create nine layers. I start by folding in the left and right sides, then finish with the top and bottom.
Now, roll the dough out to ½ to ¾ inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutters, or use a knife to form your desired shape. I use a 2 ½ inch round biscuit cutter and, depending on how thick I roll out the dough, get 12 to 14 biscuits from this recipe.
Take the extra dough scraps, press or roll out, and continue making biscuits until all the dough is used up.
Place the biscuits in a 9 or 10 inch cast iron skillet, making sure they are touching each other and the sides of the skillet lightly. The biscuits should not be squished into each other, only lightly touching a single object in each cardinal direction.
Bake for 15-18 minutes.
Enjoy!
How to store: These are best eaten fresh, but will store on the counter for one to two days. Alternatively, freeze prepared and unbaked biscuits and bake the morning you want to eat them!