Sourdough Discard Peach Cobbler Recipe (Video)

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This sourdough discard peach cobbler recipe is one of our favorite desserts especially when peaches are fresh in the summertime.  It’s simple and easy to make, and the sweet cream biscuits that make up the cobbler topping are so delicious.  One of my favorite parts about this sourdough discard peach cobbler is that the lightly-sweetened sourdough biscuits can be mixed up ahead of time.  This saves me time when making a last minute dessert for a weeknight dinner, or a family gathering.  Making the topping ahead of time also allows the sourdough to long ferment, making the flour in the biscuits much easier for your body to digest.  You can also make this sourdough peach cobbler recipe with home-canned peaches if you want a taste of summer even when fresh peaches aren’t readily available.

Our family grows or raises most of our own food on our 40 acre homestead in Nebraska.  We have an orchard with apple, pear, peach, cherry and other fruit trees.  On the years when the peach trees don’t produce because of late frost, I usually purchase peaches from a local farm stand for both canning and fresh eating.  Peaches are a treat at our house, and they are even more delicious when made into this sweet treat and served with homemade ice cream.

Why I Love This Sourdough Discard Peach Cobbler Recipe

Simple and Easy Recipe

Summer is so busy for our family, that oftentimes I find it hard to find the time for making extra things like this delicious summertime dessert.  So I appreciate simple and easy recipes that save me time while allowing us to enjoy the flavors of peach season.

Can Be Prepped Ahead Of Time

As I mentioned earlier, you can make the biscuit dough ahead of time and allow it to long ferment in the refrigerator for up to a week.  This gives you the added health benefit of the biscuits being easier for your body to digest.  And it is just as easy as pulling out some store bought biscuits to put on top of this delicious recipe, except that you don’t have to go to the store to buy them which saves you money and time.  

Can Be Made Without Prepping Ahead

If you’re like me, and forget to plan ahead sometimes, you can certainly just mix up this entire recipe and bake it right away.  You’ll lose out on the long fermented sourdough benefits, but if you’re not diabetic, or gluten intolerant, then it probably won’t matter.

Cast Iron Pan

I like to make this easy peach cobbler in my 12” cast iron skillet, because I can easily put it in the oven to caramelize the peaches, butter and sugar while I prep the biscuits.  Sourdough and cast iron were made for each other, and the sourdough always bakes up so nicely in the evenly heated cast iron pan.

Fresh or Canned Peaches

This recipe can also be made in the winter when peaches aren’t readily available.  I just use canned peaches that are drained well, and add just a bit more flour to the peach filling mixture to make sure that it thickens up the extra juice from the canned peaches.

Sourdough Discard or Active Starter

The sweet cream biscuits on the top of this cobbler can be made with sourdough discard because they depend on baking soda and baking powder to raise them.  The secret to flaky biscuits is to make them with all cold ingredients.  The butter that is layered in the flour puffs up and helps to make them flaky.  This is another reason to use cold sourdough discard from the refrigerator.

What is Sourdough Discard?  

Sourdough starter discard is fermented flour and water that has to be removed or discarded from your sourdough starter before you can feed your starter more flour and water.  It should never actually be thrown out (or discarded) though, because it can be used in hundreds of different recipes.  I always try to keep a fair amount of sourdough discard in a jar in my refrigerator. That way anytime I want to make this sourdough discard peach cobbler or any other discard recipe, I can do so quickly.  Most recipes that call for sourdough discard rely on something else to actually “raise” the end product if applicable. In this case, we’re using baking powder and baking soda as the leavening agent to make light and fluffy biscuits.

For more of our favorite sourdough discard recipes, click here.

What Are The Health Benefits of Sourdough?

Anytime you add a fermented element like sourdough to a recipe, it becomes more nutritious because it contains live probiotics and good bacteria that help with gut health and digestion.  Gluten and phytic acid are naturally present in wheat, and are usually what is to blame for people not being able to digest gluten well.  When the grain is fermented through the sourdough process, the gluten and phytic acid are broken down, making it easier to digest.  A lot of people that struggle with gluten intolerance (not people with celiac), can digest food made with sourdough without any issue, especially if the recipe is allowed to sit out for a few hours and “long ferment”.   Diabetics also find that foods made with long fermented sourdough are not as likely to raise their blood sugar, and in some cases may lower it.

In addition, phytic acid is an anti-nutrient that blocks absorption of the nutrients found in wheat. During the sourdough fermentation process, the phytic acid gets broken down and the nutrients are more bio-available to the body. This is why baking with sourdough is so important for our health.

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Simple Ingredients

Fresh Juicy Peaches – you can also used canned peaches, but the depth of flavor in fresh peaches makes this dessert especially delicious

Brown Sugar

All Purpose Flour – I like to buy my flour in bulk from Azure Standard

Cinnamon – I buy my spices in bulk from Azure Standard also

Salt – Redmond salt with all of it’s natural minerals is my favorite

Butter – I like to use my own homemade butter from my Jersey milk cows.  It’s best if the butter is cold and either grated or thinly sliced.

Sourdough starter – learn how to make your own sourdough starter here.

Heavy Cream – I use the cream from my Jersey cows.

Tools You May Need

Ice Cream Maker

Cast Iron Skillet

Food Processor or large mixing bowl – this is optional, but can make the biscuit making process faster

Knife

Spatula

Rolling Pin

Biscuit Cutter – you can also use a mason jar turned upside down to cut out the biscuits

Pastry brush – for brushing on butter after baking

Plastic Wrap

How To Make Sourdough Discard Peach Cobbler

Prep Cobbler Dough

Place flour, grated or thinly sliced cold butter, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until butter is evenly distributed through the dry ingredients.  You can also do this in a bowl using a fork or pastry cutter.

Add sourdough starter to the dry ingredients and mix only until combined.  You don’t want to overmix biscuits or they can get tough.

Wrap cobbler dough in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes and up to one week.

When Ready To Make The Cobbler

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

If you’re planning to serve this cobbler with homemade ice cream, now is a good time to start it so it’ll be ready to serve at the same time.

Roughly chop peaches and place in cast iron skillet.  Add butter, sugar and flour and cinnamon and gently stir.  

Place skillet in the preheated oven to bake for about 10 minutes while you prepare the biscuits.  This will help to caramelize the peaches.

Roll out the biscuit dough until it’s about ½” thick on a lightly flour surface using a rolling pin.

Using a biscuit cutter or a wide-mouth mason jar, cut out biscuit topping.  

Remove cast iron skillet from oven, and place biscuits on top of the peaches.

Place skillet back in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Brush biscuits with melted butter.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy.

Store any leftover cobbler in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days (although I bet it won’t last that long).

If you try this recipe and love it, please come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @wagonwheelhomestead21.  I can’t wait to see what all you make!