Sourdough Pancakes

Sourdough Pancakes are a great way of using up some of the discard created when you feed your sourdough starter. Light and fluffy, these American-style pancakes are fantastic with butter and maple syrup. Eat as a weekend breakfast treat or dessert with warm berries and yogurt. But they’re pretty good with savoury toppings like cheese too.

Jump to Recipe

I’ve been trying to perfect Sourdough Pancakes for a while. But, at last, I think I’ve done it.

Mind you, I’m only a recent convert to these fluffy, American-style pancakes. In fact last Pancake Day I noted, not without a touch of sniffiness, that social media seemed to be full of the American ones. In contrast, I posted my humble plate of thin, crepe-style English pancakes adorned only with lemon and sugar.

But in the search for ways of using up the discard from feeding my sourdough starter, I found myself going over to the dark side. Well, the fluffy side anyway.

Don’t get me wrong. I still love the traditional British pancake. It’s just that I now think there’s room in my life for both styles of pancake, British and American.

And you don’t have to stack the American version piled high with loads of different fruits and whatnot either. In a nod to the British favourite of lemon and sugar, in this post I’ll also show you how to make a simple lemon butter sauce for your pancakes of whatever heritage.

FALSE STARTS

Before I got to these bouncy, spongy wonders, I had a few false starts creating the perfect Sourdough Pancakes.

First off, many recipes use a lot of bicarbonate of soda. I’m not a fan of this as I don’t like the bitter twang it can give.

Some people counteract this with lots of sugar, but I don’t want a sugar-filled pancake either. Although I include a little sugar in the batter, if I want my pancake properly sweet, then I’ll add sweet toppings, thanks.

I also found that many recipes produced a flat pancake that I can only describe as claggy. No matter how long I cooked these, the middle seemed raw and nasty.

Of course unlike non-sourdough pancakes, which are usually just flour, egg and milk, there is a variable factor here. And that’s your sourdough starter.

Some people’s starter will be thinner, some thicker. Some will be livelier than others. As you’ll see in the recipe, I’ve suggested 360 – 400ml of milk. Begin with the smaller amount and add more if your batter seems very thick.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

If you make sourdough bread, then you’ll know (unless you’re baking bread several times a week) that you’ll need to discard some of your starter before each feed with more flour and water. Like most sensible people, I try to avoid throwing away food, even if it is only a few tablespoons of flour and water.

Not only that, but I feel particularly irked ditching starter which I’ve lovingly nurtured. Mine is actually celebrating its tenth birthday this year.

So now I keep a separate jar in the fridge which I add to with all those discards.

By the way, in case you’re wondering, the label on the jar is not for my benefit. I know what sourdough discard looks (and smells!) like.

But other half has been known to use some of my labneh soft cheese, carefully drained overnight from my homemade yogurt, to make coleslaw, thinking it was ordinary yogurt. The beast! So I take no chances these days, and label my jars.

SOURDOUGH PANCAKES

THE BATTER

It’ll take about five minutes to make the batter for Sourdough Pancakes.

The recipe makes quite a lot of pancakes (around 20 big ones), but that’s because I didn’t want to post a recipe that uses only half an egg. I do sometimes make half a batch, but then I have a dog who gets the leftover raw egg as a treat!

The pancakes freeze very well though, and are still fluffy when reheated, so I recommend you make the full amount. I freeze them on trays with cling film between the layers, then transfer to a freezer bag when solid. That way you can have a real treat at short notice: take out as many as you like and ping the frozen pancakes in the microwave.

As well as around 240ml / 240g of your sourdough starter, the milk and egg, you’ll need self-raising flour (plain flour plus baking powder), bicarbonate of soda, salt, oil or butter, and optional sugar.

Don’t make the batter too far in advance as the raising agents will lose some of their potency. Have your pan or griddle heating while you whip up the batter – just whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until only just combined. A few clumps of flour in the batter won’t matter.

COOKING THE PANCAKES

One thing I’ve bought since getting into these Sourdough Pancakes is an electric table top grill.

I find this so much easier than messing about with various pans on my annoying electric hob with its too-small cooking rings.

It also means that the cooker’s free for other things. While I was making the pancakes you see above, other half was cooking dinner at the stove.

Whether you use one of these, a griddle on the stove or frying pans, the Sourdough Pancakes should only take 2-3 minutes until the underside is nicely golden. Once flipped over, the other side will take even less time.

Because the pancakes reheat so well, I don’t bother keeping them warm as they’re cooked. I just pile them up on a plate and deal with them once the whole batch is done.

Then you have the delightful dilemma of what you’re going to put on your Sourdough Pancakes.

TOPPINGS

Of course the classic topping for American pancakes is maple syrup. While the good stuff is quite pricey, I think it’s worth it for the better flavour. Some of the cheaper ones I’ve tried seem to be all sweetness with little detectable maple flavour.

I haven’t gone so far down the American route that I’ll have bacon with my pancakes and maple syrup. Yet. But I do like a good-sized pat of British butter to melt on top.

Another favourite of mine is berries or other fruits, warmed in the oven just enough to get their juices running. I buy bags of frozen fruit like blueberries or mixtures of different ones.

They’re cheaper than fresh and with no waste or preparation to do. Poured over the hot pancakes with maple syrup or honey, I love them with a blob of thick yogurt and perhaps a sprinkle of cinnamon.

SOURDOUGH PANCAKES WITH LEMON BUTTER SAUCE

But, still loving the traditional British accompaniment to pancakes of lemon and sugar, I thought I’d make a sweet, lemony sauce suited to drizzling over fluffy American style Sourdough Pancakes or thin, crepe-like ones.

I do like to keep the sauce quite tart though, so taste and add more sugar if you’d like it sweeter. You could also substitute orange or lime for the lemon.

For 2 people:

• finely grate the zest from 1 lemon, squeeze the juice & put both in a small saucepan
• add 25g of icing sugar then heat until bubbling.
• bubble until reduced by about half (add more icing sugar if you like)
• meanwhile, cut 20 grams of cold butter into little dice
• when the lemon sauce is reduced, whisk in the butter a bit at a time
• pour over pancakes & sprinkle with more icing sugar

If you’ve made my Sourdough Pancakes please leave a comment and rate the recipe

5 from 1 vote

Print

Sourdough Pancakes

Thick & fluffy, American-style Sourdough Pancakes are a great way to use up some of the discard from feeding your sourdough starter. Serve with maple syrup & melting butter or fruit & yogurt or savoury toppings.

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword sourdough discard recipes

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 20 pancakes

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 320 g self-raising flour (or plain flour + 4 tsp baking powder)
• 1 - 2 tbsp sugar optional
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp salt

Wet ingredients

• 360-400 ml milk
• 240 ml sourdough starter (unfed or discard) approx 240g if measuring by weight
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp oil or melted butter

For cooking

• oil and/or butter

Serving suggestions (optional)

• butter
• maple syrup
• warmed berries
• sliced bananas
• yogurt
• grated cheese
• warmed peanut butter
• tahini
• date syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat a baking tray in a low oven if you want to keep pancakes warm while using up the rest of the batter.

2. Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.

3. In a jug, lightly whisk 360ml of the milk with the rest of the wet ingredients:

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and lightly mix together until just combined. It doesn't matter if a few small lumps of flour remain.

   The mixture will be thick, but if it seems overly thick (sourdough starters will naturally vary) then add a little more of the remaining milk.

5. Heat a griddle or one or more frying pans until moderately hot then lightly grease with oil, butter, or a combination of these.

6. When hot, add approximately 40-60ml of batter to form pancakes 5-10 cm in diameter.

   Cook until golden brown underneath (2-3 min) then flip over and cook the other side until browned too (1-2 min).

   Transfer to a plate or keep warm in a low oven.

   Continue making pancakes until all the batter is used up.

7. Eat the pancakes warm, approximatey 3 per person, with any of the optional serving suggestions.

Recipe Notes

Cooking time assumes you're making 2 pancakes at once.

Pancakes can be kept for 3-4 days or freeze very successfully.

Best reheated in a microwave for a few seconds or slightly longer from frozen. Alternatively, cover with foil and reheat in a moderate oven.