I had no idea how much “waste” a Sourdough starter could have.
I feed my starter every day during regular days and twice a day right before I make bread
That is a lot of discard!
I quickly decided that I would find a way to use the discard instead of wasting it
My friend who taught me to make the starter recommended crackers
And those are great!
But we don’t go through enough crackers to use all the discard
So I started experimenting
This pancake recipe is one of the ways I use that discard
You can use an active starter too
But I use the discard first to avoid it going bad in the fridge
Ingredients:
1 cup Sourdough discard
1 cup Flour
½ cup Maple syrup
4 tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Salt
1 ¼ cup Milk
¼ cup Olive oil
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Egg
This recipe doubles and triples great as well! So if you like to have a stash of food ready to eat in the freezer, this is a great breakfast option
When mixing everything together, the longer you let it sit before cooking, the stronger the sourdough taste
Just wait for the baking powder and baking side until right before cooking!
Instructions:
I like to use a stand mixer, but you can make this by hand too
Add all the ingredients to a stand mixer and start mixing on low
When the flour is mostly mixed in, mix on medium for a couple of minutes
If you want a stronger sourdough taste, don’t add in the baking powder or baking soda then let the mixture rest in the fridge overnight
Add the baking powder and baking soda when you are ready to cook the pancakes
When all the ingredients are well combined, heat a cast iron (or whatever you have) pan and spray with olive oil
Wait for the pan and oil to be hot before during the heat down to medium
Add ¼ cup of the batter to the pan
It will spread a little bit quickly stop and hold it’s shape
You will see bubbles forming and popping as it is cooking
When the bubbles pop and the hole slowly refills with batter, flip your pancake
It will rise a little as it is cooking on the second side
Once both sides are browned, remove the pancake and make the rest of the batch
If I scrap the last of the batter from the bowl, I can get 20 pancakes from this recipe
Serve hot with your favorite toppings like syrup and peanut butter
Or you can freeze them for easy breakfasts throughout the week
If you add some parchment paper between each pancake, they are super easy to separate after freezing
Can you freeze sourdough pancakes?
Yes!
You can freeze the sourdough pancakes and have really fast breakfasts throughout the week
You can reheat them in a toaster or microwave in a couple of minutes
There are three options for freezing:
- Just stack them in a bag and freeze them. Sometimes they stick together badly when you want to separate them later
- Make a single layer on a cooking sheet to freeze then add frozen pancakes to a bag. This takes a lot of space
- Add parchment paper between the layers when stacking and freeze. The only downside is using the parchment paper. This is what I usually do
Can I make the pancake batter ahead of time?
I like to set myself up for success in the mornings
One way to do this is by making breakfast ahead of time and rehearing it
But sometimes fresh pancakes are nice
Yes, you can make the pancake batter ahead of time and keep it in the fridge
This will make the sourdough taste a little stronger
I do recommend waiting to add the baking powder and baking soda until right before you cook it
Sourdough Discard Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Sourdough Discard
- 1 Cup All purpose flour
- 1/2 Cup Maple syrup
- 4 Tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 Tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1 1/4 Cup Milk
- 1/4 Cup Olive oil
- 2 Tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 Egg
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together until fully combined
- Heat a pan and oil, then reduce heat to medium
- Add 1/4 cup of the batter to the pan
- You will see bubbles appear and pop. When they pip, batter will quickly fill the hole again
- When the holes start refilling slower, flip the pancake
- When it is flipped, you will see the pancake rise and fluff up
- Wait for the second side to be golden brown too before removing
- Repeat until batter is gone
- When I scrap the sides of the bowl, I get 20 pancakes
- Add desired toppings and enjoy