The Best Tender Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones (Shortcake) (2024)

This is the best tender sweet sourdough Discard Scones recipe. This recipe is easy to make and adaptable!

I have served this sweet sourdough scone plain with strawberries and ice cream as a shortcake substitute as well.

So sweet, flaky, and tender, you’ll love how these melt in your mouth! Learn how to make them, 6 tips for success with every bake, and find many other sourdough scone recipes to try.

First, I’ll review sourdough discard, but feel free to skip to the following sections to begin making these!

What is Sourdough Starter Discard?

Sourdough starter discard is the stage of sourdough starter after the starter has been refreshed (process of discarding and feeding) and was an active starter for several hours. Once the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria have digested all the “food” in the starter: the simple carbohydrates from the flour, the gluten connections that hold in those lovely bubbles of carbon dioxide grow weak so the starter collapses lower and lower with every hour. And some microorganisms grow weaker and some die in this process as the food runs out.

This leaves a flat sourdough starter with little to no bubbles, a stronger sour smell, and microorganisms in desperate need of care.

At this stage, the yeast is not in a stage where it can do a good job rising bread unless a specialized bread recipe is used like myNo Knead Sourdoughrecipe. So a small portion, about a tablespoon, is put into a fresh jar and fed to revitalize the starter to make it become active again. The rest of the sourdough starter is known as discard because it’s what can be tossed or set aside since the small portion we carried over will continue the life of our sourdough starter.

Note: Another way to get rid of the bulk of sourdough discard is to pour out about 90% of the old sourdough into a collection jar (I usually have one or two in my fridge) then feed the small portion left in the jar. There’s room in sourdough baking for a wide variety of methods as long as you have down the basic principles of refreshing your sourdough starter: discarding and feeding. To learn more about this, check out my postWhat is a Sourdough Starter?

Check out this other post and video onWhat is sourdough discard?

Why use Sourdough Starter Discard?

You can absolutely just discard the old sourdough starter, but you can also use it in a variety of sourdough recipes to create more flavor and texture. Another benefit of using sourdough starter discard in sourdough recipes is that when used properly, it can make the recipe more digestible.

Since sourdough starter discard doesn’t have the rising power of active sourdough starter, it is commonly used in crackers, cookies, scones, pancakes, and other versions of quick breads when other leavening agents like baking soda, baking powder, eggs, or a combination are used.

Check out these other posts with videos:

• Why use Sourdough Discard?
• How to Store Sourdough Discard for Starter Discard Recipes
• How to use Sourdough Discard

What are scones?

Scones are a pastry made with cold butter that is cut in to form a tender, flaky texture.

They are mixed just until ingredients are combined. Kneading scone dough will result in too much gluten development which makes scones chewy instead of soft and flaky.

American style biscuits are basically a plain savory scone.

Scones can be adapted with different ingredients to become savory or sweet. See my sourdough discard recipes for several sourdough scone recipes!

Fresh-milled Whole Wheat

This recipe is great for experimenting with adding fresh-milled whole wheat.

If you are new to fresh-milled whole wheat or you haven’t heard about it before, check out this page.

I’ve made this with a portion of triticale whole wheat flour from Moon Family Farm as well as with sonora whole wheat flour from Hayden Flour Mills and it made the flavor incredible!

Aside from flavor, two things whole wheat flour will affect are gluten development and texture.

Adding whole-wheat flour reduces the gluten formation we are trying to avoid in scone making, which is good. The bran in the whole wheat flour will hold onto more of the moisture added to make the scones so they will have added softness and stay soft longer.

How to make The Best Tender Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones

Here are the basic ingredients to make sweet sourdough discard scones:

• 210g (1 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour Or a blend of 150g (1 cup) all-purpose and 60g (about a heaping 1/3 cup) triticale whole wheat flour/sonora whole wheat flour(whole wheat adds more flavor and texture)
• 100g (1/2 cup) white cane sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash of fresh grated nutmeg*
• sprinkle of cinnamon*
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
• 100g (about 1/2 cup) sourdough discard
• 25-30g (1 2/3 T. to 2 T.) whole milk, chilled**
• 5g (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract

This recipe makes 6 large flaky scones that are perfect in a strawberry shortcake dessert.

*You can omit the nutmeg or cinnamon spices if you prefer.

**Add the milk slowly. Don’t over-add. See mixing notes. Substituting water is okay. If using whole wheat flour, only add 10g at a time to check dough consistency.

Making the dough for Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones

First, combine your dry ingredients and the sugar in a large mixing bowl. I do not recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe, since it increases the likelihood of overmixing.

Make sure your unsalted butter is cold. Cut your butter into slices or 1/4-inch pieces. Place the pieces of cold butter into the flour mixture. Use two forks or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry mixture until it looks like crumbly sand, with butter pieces that are no bigger than a pea. Work quickly to avoid warming the butter too much.

Add the sourdough discard, whole milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until the dough mixture is beginning to stick together, it’s okay if it still looks crumbly but it shouldn’t look or feel dry. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a bench scraper.

Use hands to quickly mix dough, this helps check moisture and will prepare for the shaping process. Only handle dough until combined so that butter doesn’t melt or become too soft.

See tips for using a food processor.

Shaping Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones

You will cover and chill the bowl of scone dough for 30 to 60 minutes before shaping. This helps make the dough easier to work with and re-chills the butter.

Place a piece of parchment paper on a flat baking tray. Lightly dust the paper with flour and place dough on the prepared baking sheet. Rub a small amount of flour on a rolling pin. The lightly floured surface helps the dough not to stick while shaping, but will be absorbed while the unbaked scones rest in the refrigerator to ferment.

Put the scone dough onto the prepared parchment paper, and quickly press the dough into a block. Try to avoid warming the dough too much.

Roll the dough out into a 6-inch-by-9-inch rectangle about 1-inch thick.

Cut the dough into six 3-inch squares. Move the squares of cut scones 2 to 3 inches apart.

Cover the tops of the scones with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 1 to 12 hours before baking.

Baking Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the plastic wrap and bake the tender scones for 18 to 22 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a scone comes out clean.

Move the sweet scones to a cooling rack for 5 to 15 minutes before serving.

6 Tips for the Best Tender Sweet Sourdough Discard Scones

1. Keeping the butter cold is key in traditional scone recipes as well as this sourdough scone recipe. A few techniques to keep the butter cold and avoid overmixing the scone dough are to use grated frozen butter or use a food processor to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is in small pieces then turn off to add the wet ingredients. Pulse the mixture until it is just combined with no dry spots.
2. The rest in the refrigerator will help make these tender scones more digestible and make the flavors deepen and become more complex. One hour is the minimum. Overnight or 6 to 12 hours will give you the best results with flavor and digestibility.
3. You may notice that this scone recipe does not include eggs. Eggs will make your scones more chewy and puffy, which is great in some recipes. But eggs take away the flaky texture we’re aiming for with this recipe.
4. If you have enough extra sourdough discard, this is a great recipe to double!
5. If you like scones or shortcake with a shiny top, you can brush an egg wash, heavy cream, or mixture of the two on top of the scones before baking. Sprinkle with large granules of sugar for more texture and sweetness, if desired.
6. Because this is an excellent basic scone recipe, it works well for your favorite add-ins. See ideas below.

Customize these Plain Sweet Scones with Additions

Here are some easy to incorporate additions for this recipe:

• Chocolate Chips
• Swap the spices (nutmeg and cinnamon) for lemon zest or orange zest. As a bonus, make a simple lemon glaze (or other citrus glaze) like the one featured here in my Sourdough Easter Egg Bread (Pane di Pasqua) recipe to top them.
• Dried fruit (raisins or cranberries)
• See my Sourdough Summer Berry Scone recipe for adding fresh berries!

More Sourdough Scone Recipes

• Pumpkin Spice Scones (Sourdough Discard)
• Gingerbread Scones with Eggnog Icing (Sourdough Discard)
• Irish-inspired Soda Bread Raisin Scones with sourdough discard (dairy-free)

Savor and Share

These are a perfect treat with afternoon tea, breakfast, or as a dessert.

I hope you enjoy making this recipe or save it to make it later. Make sure to share it with a friend!

If you make it, I’d love to hear about it–you can comment on this post or tag me on instagram @livingbreadbaker!

Need more sourdough help?

A competent guide is the big difference from floundering in sourdough with information overwhelm to having confidence and ease in your sourdough baking.

If you are just starting on your sourdough journey, you can get myfree Quick Start Sourdough Guideto begin learning some of the key terms and concepts in sourdough. Learn the difference between the sourdough stages of active sourdough starter and sourdough discard as well as how to care for a starter.

You can learn and improve your sourdough baking skills withmy books or online courses.

MyIntro. to Sourdough online courseis comprehensive with video tutorials for each stage of the process to help new or aspiring sourdough home bakers gain a solid foundation for sourdough, the traditional way, to learn all the basics, language, techniques, and the process from start to finish to make sourdough bread. My teaching is straight forward and makes the whole process seem simple. I have helped launch hundreds of eager sourdough bakers onto their own inspiring sourdough journeys.

I also have aOnce-a-Week No Knead Sourdough online course, which is my strategy for busy weeks to have sourdough on hand ready to make into country bread, sandwich loaves, English muffins, pizza, bagels, and more! This course is great for absolute sourdough beginners to just get familiarity with sourdough or for veteran sourdough bakers who need to simplify their baking schedule.

Living Bread Baker posts mentioned

What is a Starter?

What is sourdough discard?

Why use Sourdough Discard?

How to Store Sourdough Discard for Starter Discard Recipes

How to use Sourdough Discard

Summer Berry Scones (Sourdough)

Pumpkin Spice Scones (Sourdough Discard)

Gingerbread Scones with Eggnog Icing (Sourdough Discard)

Irish-inspired Soda Bread Raisin Scones with sourdough discard (dairy-free)

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