Let’s talk sourdough discard pancakes!
Wow it has been a while since I regularly blogged here but I have been thinking recently that I want to revive this space to share everything that I am getting up to. If you have followed me for a while you will know I have been a blogger for over 16 years at this point and I honestly go through stages where I blog regularly and where I just don’t blog forever.
Such is life with two toddlers at this stage but I am going to do my best to try and keep to some sort of regular schedule because one thing is for sure: I have SO much to share.
My sourdough starter is back
I had been thinking about diving into baking sourdough again for a while, and when I say it’s been a long time since I made and created proper sourdough from scratch, I mean it’s been probably the best part of a decade. Yup, I really haven’t had a sourdough starter to look after and feed for all of that time. It has however been on my mind for a while, to do another, so this past week I decided to get back to it again.
You can check out this post to find out how I make my sourdough starter a success.
What to do with the discarded starter?
If you’re a sourdough afficianado then you will know all about how to create your starter and feed it until you are able to bake your loaf, but if you’re brand new to the sourdough world then maybe you don’t know this: when you have to feed (ie, add more ingredients) to your mixture, you also have to discard half of the mixture every time, which leaves half of the discarded mixture every day.
Instead of throwing it away and wasting the ingredients, there are so many options with things you can make from it: from pancakes and waffles to crackers and flatbreads. There are so many things, it’s hard to know where to start.
Pancakes
Pancakes are a massive favourite in our house, so when I thought about what I might do with my sourdough discard, pancakes were the first thing to spring to mind. We are usually a fan of the UK kind of pancakes (small, crepe-like pancakes) but I decided to try making American-style pancakes.
I am going to make a confession here: I usually don’t love American-style pancakes. I know, I know. If you’re from the US, or American-style pancakes are your jam I apologise. I have just never really been sold on them. However, making a large batch of these sourdough discard pancakes has completely changed my mind.
What do you need?
The recipe itself is quite simple and probably everything you already have within your baking supplies, but here is your shopping list to make sure you have in. You can use this recipe time and time again to make these wonderful sourdough discard pancakes.
Shopping list:
- 200g of sourdough starter discard (you can use active sourdough starter but I tend to use the discards so it isn’t wasted)
- 200g of organic self raising flour (regular self raising flour will work fine)
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 300ml of milk (I use whole milk but I am sure these would work with any milk)
How to make
You can make these pancakes any way you would usually make pancakes for yourself or your family, but something I want to share with you is the beauty of a pancake maker. Ok, so it might sound a little extravagent when you can easily just make them in a frying pan right? And maybe it is, but a pancake maker is something that has been part of my life since childhood. When I was younger my mum attended a new years party where the next morning for breakfast they cooked their own pancakes on one of these machines. My mum was hooked and set about finding her own. We’re talking about the late 90s/early 2000s and I think she found one in Lakeland. We used it all the time and it’s still going strong today.
I loved it so much that it was on my wedding registry because you better believe I wasn’t going off into married life without one. It was so gratefully received and we still use it all the time now.
You can of course make these in a regular pan but if you’re wondering whether to invest in a pancake maker, I definitely recommend it. It’s great for making little omelettes for the kids too. It definitely gets a lot of use in our house.
Active or discard?
You can make your sourdough pancakes with your active sourdough starter if you really want to but the great thing about this recipe is it is a great way to use up your sourdough discard than throwing it away. So while you absolutely can use your active sourdough starter in this recipe I prefer to save my active starter for gorgeous loaves of bread. I prefer the no-wastage version and use the discards in this recipe.
Sourdough Discard Pancakes Recipe
Sourdough Discard American Style Pancakes
Ingredients
- 200 g Sourdough starter discards
- 200 g Self raising flour, Organic if possible
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 300 ml Milk
- 2 Eggs
Instructions
- Measure out your milk
- Crack your eggs into the milk and whisk together
- Add your sourdough starter and whisk until smooth
- Add your baking powder to your flour and mix
- Add flour and baking powder mix to your milk, egg and sourdough mix, whisk together until smooth
- Add some oil or butter to your pan/pancake maker and using a ladle add some mixture and cook on both sides until brown
Once you start baking with your sourdough discards you will realise the world is your oyster when it comes to things you can make. Aside from being able to bake beautiful sourdough loaves with your mixture you are also able to make such a variety of foods and snacks with the part that would usually be thrown away.
I would love to know: Do you bake sourdough? And if you do, what have you made with your discards before? I think my next plan is to make sourdough discard crackers.
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