Sourdough Buttermilk Pancakes

Why Make Sourdough Pancakes?

Well, once you taste these sourdough buttermilk pancakes with all their delicious tang and light fluffy texture you won’t ask that question. Until then, I’ll tell you why you should make these. First of all, if you do look after a sourdough starter, you know that you need to find useful ways to use up the sourdough discard (the amount of starter that you need to throw away each time you feed your starter). This is a perfect use for that discard. If you’re like me, and tend to keep your starter in the fridge all week and feed it on the weekends, making these sourdough buttermilk pancakes will happen at just the right time – kicking off the weekend the right way. Finally, the flavor in these pancakes is so delicious (boosted by the buttermilk and the sourdough) and the texture is so fluffy that you’ll want to keep a sourdough starter for this recipe alone!

How to use Sourdough Starter in Pancakes

Whenever you use sourdough starter in baking recipes, you are basically replacing some of the flour and water from the recipe, giving it a lift from the wild yeast you’re adding and boosting the flavor with the tang of sourdough. Unlike making sourdough bread, using sourdough starter in this recipe doesn’t replace all the leavening ingredients – you will still be adding baking powder and baking soda. To incorporate that starter into the batter, turn it into the wet ingredients by mixing it with the buttermilk, egg and melted butter. Then combine the dry and wet ingredients and your batter is ready to go!

Combining Dry and Wet Ingredients

There’s no special trick to combining the wet and dry ingredients. Just remember not to over mix the batter. When you see no more streaks of white flour in the bowl, stop mixing immediately. Over-mixing will develop more gluten in the pancakes than you want, making them tough. So, stir just enough and that’s all.

Add Bananas!

Or blueberries… or strawberries… or chocolate chips. Add whatever you like to these pancakes and call them your own. Once the batter is together, fold in your favorite ingredient (or whatever you have in your fridge) and go for it!

How to Make Pancakes

I love pancakes with a lacy pattern on top. They remind me of the pancakes my mother used to make and they produce a tiny little crispy ring around the perimeter of the pancake. To get that lacy look, start with butter on your griddle. It’s the butter beading that makes the pattern. Cook over medium heat until you start to see bubbles rising on the uncooked surface. Then, flip the pancakes over and finish the other side. Incidentally, the other side of the pancakes won’t have that lacy pattern unless you add more butter to the griddle. I don’t mind having the lacy pattern only on the top, so I just flip and finish. Of course, being the good Canadian that I am, I have a good pour of maple syrup on the pancakes, but you could opt to serve these with any topping that you like.