Sourdough Pancakes

Save your sourdough discard and use it to make Sourdough Pancakes! My easy recipe makes thick, fluffy, and perfectly tangy pancakes in just 25 minutes, and it makes tasty use of discard that would otherwise go to waste. Recipe includes a how-to video!

Flavorful Sourdough Discard Pancakes

One of my greatest gripes when I started dabbling with sourdough bread was the waste. Since I use my sourdough starter often, I’m discarding half of it daily. And, being the queen of never-throwing-things-away (just ask Zach how much he loves this aspect of my personality), I immediately dove into the world of sourdough discard recipes, determined that half of my well-tended starter not end up in the trash bin. The very first recipe I tackled was these sourdough pancakes and ooh they were just too good not to share.

This recipe is a modification of my well-loved buttermilk pancake recipe. It yields fluffy sourdough discard pancakes with the perfect touch of tang. They’re tender and irresistible and (bonus!) the batter can be made up to two days in advance. I like to make the batter Friday or Saturday and we’ll have breakfast prepped for the weekend.

Side note: if discard is new to you, hop over to my sourdough starter post to find out exactly what this ingredient is.

Why try my sourdough pancakes:

• Thick, fluffy results that pair perfectly with syrup and butter (though sometimes my kids eat these plain, too).
• Batter can be made in advance, if you’d like to make it a day or two beforehand.
• Sourdough imparts a subtle tangy flavor, similar to buttermilk.
• Has some nutritional benefits from the discard, so these aren’t completely empty carbs 😉

What You Need

Sourdough discard pancakes are as simple to make as any other pancake recipe. Just a few key ingredients are worth noting before we get started:

• Sourdough discard. Discard is what you (literally) discard before you feed your sourdough starter. Even though it’s usually thrown away, it still contains vitamins and nutrients and imparts a lovely flavor into recipes. Here, the discard adds a flavor similar to buttermilk (which is actually why I use plain milk in this recipe!).
• Flour. Use all-purpose flour and make sure to measure it properly.
• Sugar. I use granulated sugar, but I’ve also made my sourdough pancakes with coconut sugar too. I find that the pancakes made with coconut sugar are not quite as flavorful, but it does work!
• Butter. I use unsalted, but if you only have salted on hand that will work fine. Melt the butter, then let it cool a bit so it’s not very hot when you add it to your other ingredients.
• Milk. I like to use whole milk, but really any kind will work as long as it is at room temperature before adding. Because the sourdough discard adds plenty of tang from the acidity, I found buttermilk to be overwhelming here, so stick with regular milk.
• Eggs. As with the milk, your eggs should be at room temperature before adding them to the batter. This helps everything combine nicely and means less mixing is required (which yields fluffier pancakes with a better texture!). If you forget to set yours out, you can always use my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature.

SAM’S TIP: The butter tends to re-solidify once it hits cooler ingredients like milk or eggs, so the batter can get a bit clumpy (this is another reason we want our ingredients to be room temperature, it helps minimize this!). This isn’t a huge deal! A lumpy batter is fine and it’s much better than over-mixing to try and get the lumps out, which will leave you with dense, rubbery, or flat sourdough pancakes.

Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Sourdough Pancakes

Preparing the batter

1. Combine the dry ingredients with a whisk and set aside.
2. Whisk together the discard, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a separate bowl.
3. Slowly drizzle in the butter while whisking. Whisking while pouring the butter helps minimize lumps, but likely you’ll still notice some small lumps.
4. Fold the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined. This is important, over-mixing will make your pancakes dense or rubbery. Let the batter rest while you heat your skillet (you may notice it thickens a bit).

Cooking the Pancakes

5. Grease your skillet and let it warm over medium heat.
6. Add pancake batter to the warm pan. I use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter. If it doesn’t spread on its own, use the back of your spoon to nudge the batter outward.
7. Flip your pancake once the bubbles in the batter start to burst and the edges look cooked.
8. Cook on the other side until golden, then remove to a plate. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter.

SAM’S TIP: Don’t get discouraged if your first pancake comes out a little less than perfect–I like to think of this as the test pancake. Use it as a gauge for whether you need to bump your heat up or down, and know that your second, third, etc. sourdough pancakes will look much better as a result.

Frequently Asked Questions

I’d love to hear how you like these sourdough pancakes compared to my buttermilk pancakes!

Enjoy!

Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook

Sourdough Pancakes

Save your sourdough discard and use it to make these sourdough pancakes! My easy recipe makes thick, fluffy, and perfectly tangy pancakes in just 25 minutes.

Recipe includes a how-to video!

5 from 20 votes

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 6-8” pancakes

Calories: 203kcal

Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups (155 g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon table salt
• ▢ 1 cup (200 g) sourdough discard
• ▢ 1 cup (236 ml) whole milk room temperature preferred
• ▢ 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ Oil or butter for brushing skillet

Recommended Equipment

• ▢
  Mixing bowls
• ▢
  Skillet

Instructions

• Melt butter and set aside to let it cool.
  4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  1 ¼ cups (155 g) all-purpose flour, 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
• In a separate bowl, whisk together sourdough discard, milk, eggs, and vanilla extract until well-combined.
  1 cup (200 g) sourdough discard, 1 cup (236 ml) whole milk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• While whisking, drizzle in melted butter (it’s OK if the butter forms small clumps).
• Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold together the batter until just combined. All the flour should be absorbed, if you notice small lumps or small bits of butter in the batter that is fine, don’t over-mix or your pancakes could be rubbery and dense.
• Set the pancake batter aside and brush a skillet with olive oil or melted butter. Turn the stovetop heat to medium and let it the pan warm until you can feel the heat radiating from it if you hover your hand several inches above the pan. It is also good to let your pancake batter to rest while the pan warms, this will thicken it slightly and help make for thicker pancakes.
  Oil or butter for brushing skillet
• Portion pancake batter into center of the pan (I use ½-⅔ cup of batter per pancake) and cook until bubbles in the batter burst and the edges begin to appear cooked.
• Use a spatula to carefully flip the pancake and continue to cook until pancake is golden brown.
• Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining pancakes.
• Serve immediately, we like to add butter, maple syrup, fruit or even whipped cream to our pancakes!

Notes

Storing

Sourdough pancakes taste best fresh but we have also made the pancakes and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two and reheated. 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.

Nutrition

Serving: 16-8″ pancake | Calories: 203kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 322mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 284IU | Calcium: 122mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

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