Homemade Sourdough Discard Pancake Recipe

If you are looking for easy sourdough pancake recipes this is it!  These golden brown pancakes have no wait time, unlike traditional sourdough pancake batter.  They are as quick to whip up as regular pancakes but with all the flavor of sourdough to set them apart as your new favorite! 

This easy recipe is perfect for a slow Saturday morning.  As much as I love traditional sourdough baked goods with long fermenting I am not the best at planning them.  With lots of little ones running around, I find myself more often than not poking around my cupboards deciding what to make within the hour and not planning pancakes 3 days ahead.  Sourdough starter discard recipes save the day on this front.  These fluffy pancakes are perfect if you have some extra sourdough starter on hand.  

What is discard?  Sourdough starter is typically 50% water and 50% flour.  When you have an active sourdough starter you need to “feed” it daily.  Once it has risen you can use it in place of yeast or you can not and it will deflate.  Once it is deflated and you want to refeed your starter you will need to remove a portion of the mixture to add more flour and water.  The portion that is deflated and removed is called ” sourdough discard”.  While the discarded sourdough starter may not have the same level of leavening power as a fully refreshed and active starter, it still carries the unique tangy flavor and some of the fermentation properties of sourdough. 

So what will you need?

To make the best sourdough pancakes you will need :

• All purpose flour bleached (or unbleached)
• Sourdough discard
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Eggs
•  Oil (I used vegetable but olive oil would work too!)
• Salt
• Milk ( if you need dairy-free cashew or almond milk would work) 

What to do

First off grab a large bowl and add your dry ingredients.  Whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  You don’t another bowl for your wet ingredients!  This is a great recipe because it’s just one bowl.  Less mess the better, right?  Put in your cup of starter, oil, eggs, and stir.  When you pour in your milk do it one cup of milk at a time.  Combine ingredients be sure to stir it until the lumps are gone but not past that if you want fluffy sourdough pancakes.  

Whats next?  Well now its time to cook’em up! you have a lot of options here so let me name a few.

You can pour your cup of bater into a frying pan and cook them in melted butter on medium heat.  Or you can use a cast-iron skillet or a griddle that you plug in.

 My favorite way is to make them in my waffle iron.  My waffle iron is good stuff the Cusin art and it actually has removable plates and comes with a pancake mold!  This doesn’t sound like a big deal but let me sell you on this for a minute.  Waffle iron in general are a pain to clean so plates that come out are amazing for easy cleanup.  Also having pancake molds lets you pour your cup of batter and create uniform pancakes every time!  These pancakes are the perfect size for toasters so you can even batch your sourdough waffles and pancakes and freeze them in an airtight container for a quick and easy breakfast the next morning.  

When cooking pancakes keep in mind it is pretty hard to mess it up and you can be brave! use the batter in a sheet pan or waffle iron!  These are basic ingredients and you really can play around with them. 

Toppings on your Sourdough starter Pancakes! 

Okay the best part of homemade pancakes is the different ways to dress them up.  Adding your favorite toppings is a great way to personalize your dish. If you want a refreshing breakfast try fresh blueberries, fresh berries, or fruit, if you have more of a sweet tooth you can add chocolate chips or caramel sauce.  You can go old school ( my opinion one of the best ways) and choose traditional pure maple syrup and a small pat of butter for your stack of pancakes! 

Tips!

• If you are not getting that sour flavor it could be your starter isn’t old enough yet.  The older and well-cared for a starter is the more tang it adds.  Always be sure to be feeding your flour with the best unbleached organic flour you can find! 
• Beware of adding too much flour!  you will get thicker dough-like English muffins instead of pancakes!
• Don’t let the batter rest too long!  Those little bubbles are still plenty active and letting the batter rest like traditional sourdough recipes means you’ll have fluffier pancakes then you want.
• You don’t have to eat them all right away! You can store these in an air-tight container or ziplock bag! toss them in the fridge or freezer and pop them in the toaster to have the best pancakes later!
• Changing the milk from regular milk to a dairy-free option can give you very different outcomes!
• The older your sourdough starter the more sour taste you will have!

If you want to learn how to make a regular sourdough starter CLICK HERE

I have a lot of sourdough discard recipes because I always have a lot of leftover sourdough starter that I cant imagine throwing away.  If you want to check out another of my favorite sourdough discard recipe CLICK HERE! 

The BEST Waffle iron CLICK HERE

The BEST Pancake griddle CLICK HERE

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