Sourdough Tallow Whole Wheat Biscuits
There’s something deeply satisfying about pulling a tray of warm, golden biscuits from the oven—especially when they’re made with ingredients you’ve crafted yourself. These sourdough whole wheat biscuits are a beautiful way to showcase your home-rendered tallow, adding a rich, old-fashioned flavor to the biscuits. Fluffy on the inside with a tender crumb, they’re nourishing enough for breakfast and hearty enough to serve alongside soups or stews. Thanks to the use of freshly-ground whole wheat flour and a slow sourdough fermentation, these biscuits are not only comforting—they’re also easier for your gut to digest and full of nutrients. This is my family’s go-to biscuit recipe that I have been making regularly for the past 10 years and I hope you will love it as much as we do!
Ingredients
You will also need baking powder, baking soda and unrefined salt after the fermenting time is up.
Tips for making these sourdough tallow whole wheat biscuits
- It is essential that the tallow you use is cold. I keep my tallow in jars on the pantry shelf so it is easy to scoop out any time I need it. For this recipe, I measure out the tallow into a bowl and then place it into the freezer for about 15 minutes. This way it is really hard and cold.
- Keep the other ingredients and the mixing bowl cool too. This is especially important if you are making this recipe in the hot summer months.
- Place the bowl of dough in a cool place to ferment. Or ferment it in the refrigerator if your house is warm. Making biscuits is like making pie – if you want light, flaky biscuits you need to keep the fat cold. If you let the dough get warm, it will result in flat, dense biscuits.
- Use sourdough starter that is active and bubbly if you want the health benefits of fermented dough.
- If you have some whey that you need to use up, replace up to half of the milk with whey.
- I roll out the dough to 1 inch thick because I want my biscuits to be thick enough to be sliced horizontally in half and spread with butter or other toppings. We often use them as mini sandwiches, a great alternative to sourdough sandwich bread. However, feel free to make them thicker or thinner if you like. You will need to adjust the baking time accordingly.
- For a more buttery flavor, replace half of the tallow with cold cubed butter.
Directions for making the sourdough tallow whole wheat biscuits
Step 1
Place the whole wheat flour, white flour and COLD tallow in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2
Using a knife or a pastry cutter, cut the fat into the flour until it is the size of peas.
Step 3
Add in the sourdough starter and 1 cup of the milk. The sourdough starter needs to be fairly active and bubbly in order to be able to ferment the dough in the time specified in this recipe. If it isn’t the recipe will still work fine but you won’t get the health benefits of fermentation.
Step 4
Mix it all together with a wooden spoon or a dough whisk. Add the remaining 1/2 cup milk a little at a time until the sides of the bowl are mostly clean and the dough comes together into a rough ball. You may need to use your hands towards the end of the mixing process, but try to avoid it as much as possible (the warmth of your hands will soften the tallow too much).
Step 5
Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave somewhere COOL to ferment for 6-8 hours (or place it in the refrigerator to ferment if necessary). On a few occassions I forgot about my dough in the fridge for up to 24 hours – it still worked fine HOWEVER it made the biscuits decidedly sour in taste. So only do a really long ferment if you like your sourdough baked goods more sour and tangier.
Step 6
After the fermenting time is up, preheat your oven to 220C/240F. Tip the ball of dough onto your counter (don’t flour the counter yet) and flatten it into a rough 2 inch thick circle. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda and salt evenly over the surface of the dough. Fold the dough in half, press down, turn it a quarter turn – repeat this sequence up to 8-10 times, only until the baking powder, soda and salt are incorporated. Don’t overhandle the dough.
Step 6
Cut the ball of dough in half. It will be easier to roll out if you have a small counter like me.
Step 7
Place one half of the dough on a lightly floured counter and roll out into a roughly 1 inch circle (or make it thicker or thinner, depending on how thick you want your finished biscuits to be – they will almost double in height as they bake).
Step 8
Cut out the biscuits with a round biscuit cutter or something similar. I cut out mine with the rim of an old thermos flask. You want something with a sharp edge, so it can make a clean cut. Anything with a rounded edge may pinch down the dough and prevent it from rising well in the oven. Or you could use a knife or a pizza cutter and cut them into squares or rectangles.
Step 9
Place the biscuits on an ungreased baking tray. Leave a little space between them so they don’t stick together as they bake.
Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until risen and golden brown on top. Serve warm cut in half and spread with butter. They are great for any meal really. We eat them for breakfast with some scrambled eggs or for lunch topped with sandwich toppings. They are also great served for dinner with homemade soup or stew (you can dip them in your stew – yum!).
I hope you will enjoy making these sourdough biscuits! Also check out some of my other sourdough recipes:
Sourdough Apple Cinnamon French Toast Casserole
Sourdough Tallow Biscuits
Equipment
- large baking tray
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups white flour
- 12 tbsp cold tallow
- 1 cup active sourdough starter
- 1½ cups whole milk
- 3 tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp unrefined salt
Instructions
- Place the whole wheat flour and the white flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the cold tallow and cut it into the flour, using either a pastry cutter or a knife, until the tallow pieces are the size of peas.
- Add the sourdough starter and 1 cup of milk and combine with a spoon or a dough whisk.
- Add the remaining ½ cup milk a little at a time (you may not need all of it) until the sides of the bowl are mostly clean and the dough starts to come together.
- Using your hands, very briefly knead the dough together until it forms a rough ball.
- Cover and leave the dough to ferment in a cool place (or in the refrigerator if your house is very warm) for 6-8 hours. It is essential that the dough remains cool, otherwise the biscuits won't rise well and will be rather dense.
- When the fermenting time is up, preheat your oven to 220C/420F.
- Tip the dough onto the counter. Flatten it into a roughly 2 inch thick circle. Sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda and salt evenly over the dough.
- Fold the dough about 8-10 times until the baking powder, baking soda and salt are incorporated. This will take some muscle power. Fold the dough in half, press it down, turn the dough 90 degrees, fold in half, press again, turn 90 degrees – repeat this sequence until everything is incorporated.
- Divide the dough in half and place one half of the dough on a lightly floured counter. Roll the dough out into 1 inch thick circle. With a round cookie cutter cut out the biscuits and place them on an ungreased baking tray. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
- Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until well risen and golden on top. Let them cool a little on cookie racks before serving.
- Serve with scrambled eggs for breakfast, with sandwich toppings for lunch, or alongside a soup or a stew for dinner.
Notes
- I like to roll out my biscuits to 1 inch thick because once they rise in the oven, they are thick enough to be cut in half horizontally and spread with butter or used as mini bread slices. However, you can make them thicker or thinner according to your taste. This will change the number of biscuits you end up getting.
- The sourdough starter needs to be fairly active and bubbly to be able to ferment the dough in the time specified. Otherwise the recipe will still work fine but you won’t get the health benefits of fermentation.
