Published: · Modified: by Elizabeth Marek · This post may contain affiliate links · 22 Comments
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I absolutely love making these sourdough discard pancakes. They taste WAY better than regular pancakes, they don't leave you with that heavy feeling in your stomach and only take 5 minutes to make! They are light, fluffy and a great way to use up that sourdough starter discard! If you love sourdough pikelets, you'll definitely want to try this recipe!
When I was growing up, we never had pancakes. We had pikelets. They are very similar to pancakes but not as sweet. More like fried dough.
I have never liked pancakes. They make me feel bloated and I'm STARVING a few hours later.
Recently I decided to dive into making sourdough starter so I could make my own fresh bread at home. When making a sourdough starter, I discovered that you end up with a lot of sourdough discard (the part you throw away).
Not wanting to waste precious flour, I looked up a lot of sourdough discard recipes.
This one is AMAZING. I couldn't believe how delicious these sourdough pancakes were! Surprisingly, they don't taste like sourdough at all, just fluffy, delicious pancakes. But these do not make you feel bloated.
Sourdough discard is the part of the sourdough starter that has been broken down by yeast after it has been fed and discarded. Not sure what sourdough starter is? Check out my sourdough starter recipe.
Protip - You can save sourdough discard and use it later! Just wrap it up and put it in the fridge for up to two days. Any l longer and it starts to develop too much flavor and can taste bitter.
Discard recipes are a great way to use up that discard instead of throwing it away! Discard can have a varying degree of flavor to it depending on the sourness of your sourdough starter.
What Ingredients Do You Need For Sourdough Pancakes?
All you need are some basic ingredients to make sourdough discard pancakes. Most importantly, you need discard! I usually have about 1 cup of discard but the amount you add is not really important. Think of the discard as "flavoring" for your pancakes.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - Place your skillet (I like to use a cast-iron skillet for even browning) on the stove and heat it on medium-low heat for 15 minutes. We're shooting for a temp of 300ºF for cooking pancakes.
Protip - Low and slow is better for pancakes to ensure a nice golden brown crust and a soft and fluffy interior.
Step 2 - Combine all your ingredients in one bowl and mix until combined. No worries if it's lumpy.
Step 3 - Melt a teaspoon of butter in the skillet. Butter adds some delicious crispiness to your pancakes.
Step 4 - Pour about ½ cup of batter into the skillet and cook for 5 minutes or until the edges of the pancake start to look dried out and you can see some holes forming on top.
Step 5 - Flip your pancake over and cook for another 3 minutes.
Enjoy! I slather mine in more butter but my daughter Avalon prefers hers with cinnamon and sugar. So good!
How to make light, fluffy, and delicious sourdough pancakes from your discard. These pancakes come together in less than 5 minutes and fly off the griddle in my home! A great way to use your discard and start the day with a delicious breakfast.
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Prep Time: 5 minutesminutes
Total Time: 5 minutesminutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8pancakes
Calories: 226kcal
Author: Elizabeth Marek
Ingredients
10ouncesall-purpose flourabout 2 cups spooned and leveled
1cupsourdough discardmore or less is ok
1teaspoonbaking soda
2teaspoonsbaking powder
3TablespoonsSugar
14ouncesmilkabout 1 ¾ cups
2largeeggs
2Tablespoonscanola oil
1teaspoonsalt
Instructions
Preheat your skillet over medium-low heat for 15 minutes
Combine all your ingredients together in a bowl and mix until it's combined. It will be lumpy and thats ok.
Melt 1 teaspoon of butter in your hot skillet
Add about ½ cup of your batter into the pan and cook for 5 minutes or until the edges of your pancakes start to look dry and you start seeing holes on top of the pancake
Flip your pancake and cook for another 3 minutes
Serve immediately with more melted butter and syrup!
Video
Notes
Low and slow is perfect for pancakes. I use a thermometer to check the temp of my skillet. You're shooting for 300ºF or just set your temp to medium-low
Do not over-mix your batter or it will become tough. Just mix it until it's cohesive
Use your batter right away for the best results
You can save sourdough discard and use it later! Just wrap it up and put it in the fridge for up to two days. Any l longer and it starts to develop too much flavor and can taste bitter.
The discard is not active enough to make sourdough bread rise but it does have many other uses and baking powder can be added if required. Savoury options include English breakfast muffins, pretzels, caramelised onion biscuits, and sourdough pizza dough.
Don't stir too hard though, or the pancakes will be tough. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto heated skillet/griddle. Cook on first side until bubbles begin to form on surface, 2-3 minutes. Flip over and cook another 2-3 minutes until golden brown and centre springs back when lightly touched.
Experts recommend feeding a starter twice daily. And at each feeding, you hold onto 1/2 cup of your original starter, discard the rest, and then add its same weight in water and flour. With this schedule, you'd discard almost a cup of sourdough starter every day.
If you keep a 100% hydration starter like I do, your sourdough starter should be the consistency of thick pancake batter. If it's super runny, you either fed it too much water or let it ferment too long. If it's too thick, you either fed it too much flour or didn't let it ferment long enough.
You can store mature sourdough discard in the refrigerator indefinitely. As long as there is no mold, it is good to use. It may develop a grayish liquid on top called “hooch” which can be poured off before use or stirred in. If you stir it in, the flavor will become more sour.
I recommend keeping sourdough discard for about one week, but I do know others who keep it for much longer. After one week, there is a higher risk of mold or bad bacteria growing on the discard.
One more thing, sourdough pancakes aren't just delicious, they're nutritious too! Sourdough fermentation process breaks down phytic acid found in grains, making nutrients more bioavailable. So, when you're enjoying your sourdough pancakes, know that you're also nourishing your body.
They may also be cooled completely and then frozen in an airtight container or plastic bag. The pancake batter may be prepared up to 2 days in advance, just store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and note that the pancakes may not be quite as fluffy the next day.
Can I Use Old Sourdough Discard? You can use old sourdough discard if it's been stored in the fridge, however, you really want to use it up within a week - 2 weeks max. It's better to use "fresh" discard in a sweet sourdough discard recipe.
Remember, you can't use the discard from your homemade sourdough starter for the first 7 days. You can use sourdough discard in all kinds of sourdough discard recipes, including these no wait sourdough recipes, overnight sourdough discard recipes and sourdough discard recipes that use up a lot of discard.
When starting to build your starter you can leave it a bit thinner but once you start making bread you will want it THICK, You want your sourdough starter to be the consistency of thick pancake batter. if it's too thin add a scoop of flour.
When you overfeed a sourdough starter you dilute the natural population of yeast and bacteria, making your sourdough culture weak and inactive. However, unlike not feeding it at all, your starter will not die from overfeeding. With a little love, your sourdough starter can recover from being overfed.
Starvation - if you don't feed your starter for a long period of time it will develop harmful bacteria and mold. This will smell terrible and look orange, pink or fuzzy and green.
Absolutely!A jar of sourdough discard serves as an insurance policy against starter death. If you have some discard on hand, remove a spoonful of it and feed it fresh flour and water in a clean jar. You should have a bubbly starter ready to bake with after a couple of feedings, depending on the discard's condition.
Yes you can add sourdough discards from different days together in the same jar. You just need to make sure you stir it well and you don't leave it sitting in the fridge for too long. Sourdough discard should be used within two weeks. You can read more about how to store sourdough discard in the fridge here.
Do I have to discard my sourdough starter? It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.
Instead of throwing away (or composting) your excess sourdough starter during the feeding process, bake with it! Unlock the power of sourdough discard to both enhance your bakes with a subtle tang and make the most of those leftovers.
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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