Sourdough Discard Pancakes

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If you’re a sourdough baker of any kind, then you know how important discarding your starter is. I need to be better at this, but I am here learning alongside you. In this post I’ll show you how to make quick and easy homemade sourdough discard pancakes.

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Why Discard Your Starter?

For those of you who are just getting started on your sourdough journey you may not be familiar with how important it is for keeping a sourdough starter to discard half before feeding or using to bake. After feeding your same starter over time you may see it not wanting to rise double. If you aren’t discarding appropriately then when you are trying to bake you will have too much acid in the starter preventing it from performing at its best.

This is a simple fix. Before feeding your starter to bake with be sure to discard half of the amount in your jar. You can add the discard to many recipes. If I simply can’t keep up with the amount of starter (which happens pretty often) I just toss it. I have heard some say they’ve fed it to their livestock to help benefit their health. It sounds like a great idea to keep from wasting but I personally haven’t tried it.

The fermentation of the grains makes the starter easier to digest. You can keep sourdough discard for about 10 days before having to feed it again. If the starter has mold on the top, throw it out and start another. If there is dark liquid on the top, that is called hooch, and it can be poured off and fed and the starter will be fine. Another option is to freeze your sourdough discard to save it for sourdough discard recipes.

Possibilities With Sourdough Discard

There are endless possibilities when it comes to sourdough discard, and I will try and incorporate more of those recipes here on the blog. You want to use discard in recipes to help make the food more digestible. Thats the beauty of sourdough adding it to other recipes, even discard helps with gut health. Some of the following recipes are:

1. Pancakes
2. Muffins
3. Biscuits
4. Crackers
5. Pizza Crust
6. Cookies
7. Casserole toppings
8. Many more!

The list goes on and on! Fun to think about all the ways you can use your discard and add in a little extra nutrition to your recipe. Although, if your recipe calls for a lot of flour it may not be as “healthy” for you.

Prepping For Your Sourdough Discard Pancakes

Gather the tools and ingredients you need. I keep all of these on hand because we cook and bake quite often. They are kitchen staples.

Kitchen tools

1. Mixing bowl (medium size)
2. Measuring cups
3. Measuring spoons
4. Cast iron pan/regular skillet/electric griddle

*Side note here: I absolutely love my little electric griddle. We got it for a wedding gift, and we use it often! Most for breakfast

Ingredients

1. All-purpose flour (unbleached)
2. Baking powder
3. Salt
4. Egg
5. Whole milk
6. Sourdough discard
7. Vanilla
8. Coconut oil/butter

Put Your Pancake Batter Together

Add into the mixing bowl your all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, sourdough discard, egg, milk and vanilla. Mix well together and I usually have to adjust the batter based off thickness with the milk. I like a batter than is a little on the thin side but not too thin. Use your judgement based off your pancake preference.

The thicker your pancake batter the thicker and heavier the pancake will be. The thinner the batter the thinner and floppier the pancake will be.

While or before mixing the pancake batter heat up your pan, you’ll be using to cook the sourdough discard pancakes. You want it on Medium high heat, unless you are using a cast-iron skillet. If you’re using a cast-iron skillet you don’t want to go any higher than medium. Cast iron is a healthier option to cook out of and it holds it heat longer than a regular skillet.

Drop the batter onto the hot pan and cook until you see bubbles forming for 3-5 minutes each side. When the pancakes are golden brown on each side remove and serve with some butter and your favorite syrup.

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Mixing Bowl

Measuring Cups

Measuring Spoons

Cast Iron Pan

Electric Griddle

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