If you are searching for a delicious long fermented biscuit recipe, look no further! Use a potato flake sourdough starter to ferment these biscuits for the best flavor and digestibility. A fluffy and tasty addition to your breakfast plate or along side your week night dinner.

A lot of people have heard of sourdough. However, not many people are familiar with potato flake sourdough. It is my absolute favorite way to make any and all things bread. You’ll find a lot of recipes here on my blog using a potato flake starter.
I use it to make pancakes, english muffins, cinnamon rolls, even Texas style kolaches. If it’s a bread, we probably will make it using our potato flake starter.
Learning how to make and maintain a potato flake starter can seem a bit daunting at first. Believe me, I felt that way. Now that I have learned how to use it, this starter hasn’t failed me yet! It’s actually quite easy once you get the hang of it.
There is almost nothing better than having a long fermented biscuit along side some eggs and bacon, or simply just topped with butter and jelly. Save some of the left overs, if there are any, and make a chicken and biscuit.

Why long fermented?
While you could easily whip up some biscuits without fermenting the grains. Allowing your dough to rise naturally, through the fermentation process that occurs because of the starter, your final bread product will be much easier to digest. It also allows you to absorb the nutrients easier.
If you don’t have a potato flake starter, maybe you can get one from a friend, or make your own with these instructions.

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Tools you will need:
Medium mixing bowl
Cast iron skillet or round baking pan
Ingredients:
All purpose flour: If you want to use whole wheat flour instead, you might need to reduce the amount of flour.
Sugar: You could also replace with honey.
Milk: You could also use buttermilk in place of milk
Cold butter: You want to have cold butter to cut into the dough to help the biscuits have that flaky texture. Keep it in the fridge until right before use.
Melted butter: This will be used to brush the tops of the biscuits. Don’t skip this!
Potato flake starter: Discard or active is fine for this recipe. You don’t want to use really old discard though. One week old discard, maybe two would work fine.
Salt:I used table salt. Pink Himalayan or sea salt would work fine as well. Don’t leave out the salt. This brings so much flavor to the biscuits!
Baking powder: Additional leavening agent for the second rise in the oven.
Baking soda: Additional leavening agent for the second rise in the oven.
How to make long fermented biscuits:

Add 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a bowl. Mix together.
Cube 1/3 of a cup of cold butter and add to the bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are no chunks of butter and it looks a bit like sand.
Add in the other ingredients, 1/4 of a cup of milk and 3/4 of a cup of starter, to the bowl. Using a wooden spoon mix ingredients until mostly incorporated. At this point it is easier to use your hand.
I try to avoid using my hands for as long as possible, because I don’t want the heat from my hands to start melting the butter in the dough.
Cover with an air tight cover, like plastic wrap, and allow it ferment for about 8-12 hours.
After bulk fermentation:

Lay the dough out and sprinkle the leavening agents on top. Add 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
Knead the dough until well mixed. This will taken some effort, because as soon as you add these ingredients, the texture of the dough will change due to the reaction of the added ingredients and the starter.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and also preheat a cast iron skillet just until warm to the touch. Preheating the skillet will help the biscuits start to rise before ever going into the oven.
Roll the dough out to about 1/2 an inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or a drinking glass, cut out your biscuits.
Arrange the biscuits in the skillet and allow them to sit out for about 15-20 minutes before baking for a better rise.
Transfer the biscuits to the oven. About halfway through. Baste the biscuits with the butter and return to the oven.
The biscuits should bake for about 20 minutes, or just until golden brown. If your biscuits are on the smaller side, you will only need to bake them for 15 minutes. Keep and eye on them so they don’t get overdone and dried out.
Once the biscuits are done, remove them from the oven and baste with butter one more time.
Remove them from the skillet and serve along side a savory breakfast, a southern dinner, or simply just top them with butter and jelly.

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Potato Flake Sourdough Long Fermented Biscuits
Equipment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Pastry cutter
- Biscuit cutter
- Cast iron skillet or round baking pan
Ingredients
- 2 Cups All purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Sugar you could also use honey
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 1/3 cup Cold butter
- 3 tablespoons Melted butter This will be used to brush the tops of the biscuits. Don't skip this!
- 3/4 cup Potato flake starter Discard or active is fine
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 teaspoons Baking powder
- 1 teaspoons Baking soda
Instructions
For the bulk ferment:
- Add 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a bowl. Mix together.
- Cube 1/3 of a cup of cold butter and add to the bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are no chunks of butter and it looks a bit like sand.
- Add in the other ingredients, 1/4 of a cup of milk and 3/4 of a cup of starter, to the bowl. Using a wooden spoon mix ingredients until mostly incorporated. At this point it is easier to use your hand.
- Cover with an air tight cover, like plastic wrap, and allow it ferment for about 8-12 hours.
After bulk fermentation:
- Lay the dough out and sprinkle the leavening agents on top. Add 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
- Knead the dough until well mixed.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and also preheat a cast iron skillet just until warm to the touch.
- Roll the dough out to about 1/2 an inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or a drinking glass, cut out your biscuits.
- Arrange the biscuits in the skillet and allow them to sit out for about 15-20 minutes before baking for a better rise.
- Transfer the biscuits to the oven. About halfway through. Baste the biscuits with the butter and return to the oven.
- The biscuits should bake for about 20 minutes, or just until golden brown. If your biscuits are on the smaller side, you will only need to bake them for 15 minutes. Keep and eye on them so they don’t get overdone and dried out.
- Once the biscuits are done, remove them from the oven and baste with butter one more time.
- Remove them from the skillet and serve!
Notes

Can the biscuits be made with gluten free flour?
I haven’t had much luck with gluten free flour in the bread loaves, but haven’t tried them in the biscuits. So, I can’t say for certain. Let us know if you give it a try!
I’m SO excited to try these! I recently joined your Potatoe Flake Sourdough group on Facebook. I have never been able to get my homemade biscuits to rise just right and I’ve never heard of making them with potato flake sourdough discard. I just mixed the dough up and set it aside for the first rise. I don’t know how the biscuits will taste yet, but the dough is melt in your mouth! I think I’m going to plan our entire supper around these!
Edit to previous comment:
These did not dissapoint! They taste a but more bread like than traditional biscuits, but my dreams of making cat head biscuits in my cast iron skillet came true. Comments from my sons include:
Youngest: Not bad. They would be better with some cheese and sausage.
Oldest son: We have biscuits?! OH! MMMMMM! These are great! Wow.
Me: Your brother thought they were just ok.
Oldest son: But he ate 4 of them before I could get any! *shoots accusing look at younger brother*
Youngest son: Erupts into giggles and runs away.
Can you freeze the biscuits to bake later?
I have not tried this. Personally I would bake just slightly under. (fully baked but not fully golden on tops) allow to cool, freeze and then reheat in a 350 oven for a few mins.