I wasn't much of a pancake fan until I tried these Sourdough Pancakes. Now they are in our regular rotation!
Pancakes with that sugary topping used to make me want to gnaw my arm off about an hour after I ate them. So I avoided them most of my life until I was looking for ways to use up my sourdough starter discard.
I hated the idea of wasting half of the starter every time it got fed. So... I saw this waffle/pancake recipe on the King Arthur flour site and decided to give it a try.
Wow... am I glad I did. These sourdough pancakes stick to your ribs!
The are pretty light and fluffy and flavourful. Let's face it... they make a fabulouse delivery mechanism for melted butter, maple syrup or jam of your choice!
There is one trick though...you have to start a day ahead. You are going to take 1 cup of your starter just before you feed it, and mix it with flour sugar and buttermilk.
I never have buttermilk in my fridge so I make my own. That only takes 10 minutes. See how to make buttermilk.
You are going to let this mixture steep 12-24 hours to make a 'sponge'.
Is the Sourdough Sponge Flexible?
Life got in the way one time I was making these and I had to let the sponge sit in the fridge for 48 hours and it was a bit thicker than the 24 hour sponge. It didn't spread in the pan as much as the 24 hour sponge. But it cooked up nicely and ended up fluffy and fine.
I was initially a bit concerned that the batter didn't spread much so I added a few tablespoons of regular milk to the remaining batter to thin it a bit. It spread nicely but it didn't really rise much.
Both the thick batter and the thinner batter ended up making good pancakes. The 24 hour sponge is the optimum but if it gets away on you for another day all is not lost!
Using two skillets to make the pancakes will cut your cooking time in half. Warm your oven to hold the finished pancakes warm while the remainder cook.
Leftover pancakes store well in the refrigerator and reheat beautifully! I have actually frozen a few as well and the reheat nicely. They are not as fluffy after freezing as they are fresh out of the skillet but they are still good and really convenient!
Check out these Herbed Sourdough Crackers that you can make with sourdough starter discard as well!
Sourdough Pancakes
If you tried this, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know it went in the 📝 comments below!
Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
Overnight Sponge
- 1 cup mature sourdough starter (can be unfed)
- 2 cups all purpose flour (241 grams)
- 2 Tbsps sugar
- 2 cups buttermilk
Pancake Batter
- the overnight sponge
- 2 eggs
- 4 Tbsps vegetable oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- butter for greasing pan as you cook pancakes
Instructions
- Take 1 cup of sourdough starter just before feeding your starter.
- Stir it in a bowl with the flour, sugar and buttermilk. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature 12 hours or in the fridge if longer.
- When sponge is ready, whisk the eggs and oil together and add to the sponge.
- Add the salt and the baking soda and stir to combine.
- Melt a bit of butter in two 8-10" non stick pans over medium heat. Pour batter into each pan and swirl to spread it out a bit. Cook until you see bubbles uniformly on the top of the batter (about 4 minutes). Flip the pancake and cook another 2 minutes or so on the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter, melting more butter for the pan as needed. Keep the finished pancakes warm in a 250 degree oven while you cook remaining pancakes.
- Serve warm with butter, maple syrup and/or jam.
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