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New to making pancakes with sourdough discard and find the process a bit intimidating? I was, too, until I simplified the steps and created this easy recipe.
Sourdough Discard Pancakes
My mother-in-law is the one who turned me into making sourdough waffles and pancakes with discard. Her original recipe came from a King Arthur Flour mail-order catalog from the 90s, which she still has in her recipe binder.
My kids have always loved the texture and flavor of my fluffy pancakes at our house, but at grandma’s, they devour these. I found the whole sourdough thing a bit intimidating, so when they wanted some like hers, I stuck to my old-fashioned pancakes recipe, which is also made with buttermilk and has a similar taste.
In 2020, along with everyone else stuck at home, I gave sourdough bread a go, and, thanks to her guidance, I rewrote the original recipe, making it a lot simpler and easier to follow, which is what I share in this post.
What is Sourdough Discard
Sourdough discard is a portion of the starter that you usually remove or throw out when you’re about to “feed” what’s in the jar by adding flour and water –usually done before you want to make sourdough bread or from time to time to keep the bacteria alive.
Ingredients
Using a scale is helpful but not a requirement with these sourdough pancakes. You’ll find the amounts needed in the recipe card below, but before you make any substitutions, check out this list:
- All-purpose flour: the same all-purpose flour you’d use in any pancake and waffle recipe –not bread flour.
- Sourdough discard: unfed starter. Measure out what you need for this recipe before feeding it to make bread.
- Sugar: feeds the bacteria overnight and adds sweetness to the tang from sourdough.
- Buttermilk: the acidity of buttermilk will help the pancakes have a spongy/fluffy texture when it’s mixed with baking soda. You can make buttermilk yourself; with the amounts listed in the recipe card.
- Eggs: essential to bind the batter. This recipe is not meant to me used without eggs.
- Oil or Butter: gives the batter moisture and the pancakes a crisp and golden exterior we all love. You can use vegetable, coconut oil, or avocado oils.
- Baking soda: the activator in the recipe to help the pancakes rise.
- Salt: to enhance the flavor of the other ingredients in the recipe. Reduce the amount in half if using salted butter.
How to Make Sourdough Pancakes
As a newbie, I could not understand how to make sourdough pancakes with other recipes so I reworked the steps to something simpler. It all changed when I thought about it as a 2-step process: “the night before” and the “morning of.” Here are some helpful tips in the main steps:
- Prep the batter (night before)
Using a scale is really helpful whenever you make any recipe with sourdough discard. If you don’t have one, don’t worry! The biggest thing is to not over-pack the flour when measuring it into the cup. - Let it rest
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let this first phase of the sourdough pancake batter rest on the counter for 12 hours. - Make the batter
Whisk the eggs and oil or butter in a separate bowl to avoid overmixing and ending up with flat pancakes. After you lightly mix the egg mixture into the larger bowl, you’ll add the salt and baking soda and mix the batter to incorporate them. Some bubbles will form. - Cook the pancakes
Whether you use a well-seasoned cast-iron pan, a griddle, or a non-stick pan, you’ll want to heat the surface first. Once it’s hot, grease it with oil or butter, and immediately pour the pancake batter. Wait to flip the pancakes until you see nice and defined edges and bubbles form. Avoid pressing down with the spatula. - Keep them warm
This recipe yields a lot of pancakes, so you’ll want to keep them warm in the oven or covered on a plate while you cook the rest. Otherwise, serve them immediately. - Serve
Stack them up and top them with a little butter and syrup or toppings.
What Does the Batter Look Like?
At first, the sourdough discard mixed with the flour, sugar, and buttermilk will be a thick mixture. After sitting on the counter overnight covered in plastic wrap, it will transform into a bubbly mix resembling a sponge. In the morning, you’ll add the remaining ingredients, and the sourdough pancake batter will thin out and look bubbly and airy.
Adding Mix-Ins
The time to add pancake mix-ins to the sourdough pancake batter is once it’s ready, right before cooking, and gently folding them in with a spatula.
My kids love chocolate chip pancakes, so I often add 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter or 1 ½ to 2 cups of blueberries to turn them into blueberry pancakes.
What Temperature to Cook Sourdough Pancakes
Whether you cook these on a seasoned cast-iron skillet or non-stick pan, I like to cook them over medium heat, sometimes a little past medium. The trick is to get the surface nice and hot before greasing it and pour the batter immediately after it’s greased.
How Thick Are Sourdough Pancakes
According to my kids, the toughest critics, sourdough pancakes are on the medium side of thickness and fluffy rating. The batter is on the thinner side, so the outcome is airy and cake-like pancakes with good height.
Using buttermilk when making sourdough pancakes is important because it’s acidic, and when mixed with baking soda, it reacts and expands, giving the pancakes height. In addition, you’ll want to make sure your pan is hot enough because at a lower temperature, they won’t rise.
Sourdough Pancake Toppings
You can keep your sourdough pancake stack simple with butter and pancake syrup or take it to the next level by adding fresh berries or sliced bananas on top. At my house, we never go without my famous blueberry syrup, so my kids would say that’s a must too!
Storing Leftover Pancakes
If you’re going through the hassle of making a batch of these the night before, why not save leftovers for another day? Once they’ve cooled down, I store them in the fridge for up to 4 days in a zip bag or air-tight container or freeze the pancakes for up to 2 months. All you have to do is warm them up in the microwave or toaster and enjoy!
Sourdough Pancakes (Beginner Friendly)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227g) sourdough discard, unfed starter
- 2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (28g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (454g) buttermilk*
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup (50g) oil or 4 tablespoons (57g) melted butter
- ¾ teaspoon salt*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
The night before:
- Place a large batter bowl on top of a scale and 0 it out. You can make this recipe without a scale, too; just be careful how you measure the flour into the cup.
- Fill a measuring cup with 1 cup of sourdough starter -straight out of the jar, without having freshly added water and flour (unfed)- and add it to the bowl (this is what makes it a "discard"). If using a scale, check the weight in grams.
- On top of the starter, add the flour, the sugar, and the buttermilk. Give it a stir until the ingredients are combined, until there are minimal lumps (if any), and it resembles a glue-like mixture.
Resting time:
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and leave it out on the counter for 12 hours, or overnight.
In the morning:
- In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the oil or butter until the eggs are clearly mixed (the egg whites and yolks are not separate anymore).
- Pour the liquid mixture into the large batter bowl and give the batter a few stirs just enough to combine the sponge-like batter and the mixture.
- Sprikle the salt and the baking soda over the top and give the mixture a few stirs to incorporate them into the batter. You'll notice some bubbling, that's normal. Set the batter aside for 5 minutes.
- To keep the pancakes warm while you cook the entire batch, heat the oven to the lowest setting, on warm or 200F, and place a baking sheet inside.
Cook:
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Once hot, grease it with oil or butter. Immediately pour ¼ cup of pancake batter on the hot surface and cook the first side for approximately 2 minutes, until the edges are defined and bubbles have formed over the top. Flip the pancakes over and cook on the other side for 2 more minutes. Remove the pancakes from the pan and keep them warm in the oven while you cook the rest of the batter.
- Serve immediately topped with your favorite syrups and toppings.
Storage:
- Refrigerate leftover cooked pancakes in an airtight container or zip bag for 3 to 4 days or freeze them for up to 2 months. Warm them up in the microwave, toaster, or oven to enjoy them again.
Notes
- To make buttermilk, place a measuring cup on top of your scale and zero it out. Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar into the cup. Pour milk into the cup until the scale reads 454g. Let the milk and vinegar sit on the counter for 10 minutes to make the buttermilk.
- If using salted butter, reduce the amount of salt from the recipe to ¼ teaspoon.
Lisa says
This is the only thing I’m doing with my sourdough discard from now on! These pancakes are amazing!
Heather says
I love that I get all the qualities of sourdough bread with a fluffy pancake taste!!