Sourdough Pancakes

February 24 2009 at 06:38 pm

Today is Pancake Day, so this might be a good time to post my favorite sourdough pancakes, the only pancakes I ever make any more. My photo does not do them justice; anyone who can enlighten me about how to get pancakes and syrup to sit still for the camera, please speak up.

Also, anyone who can offer a plausible explanation for why every pancake recipe under the sun makes exactly 14 pancakes will win a prominent place on my list of culinary geniuses.

For the lightest pancakes, fresh mature starter is the best, but I have used refrigerated, several-days-old starter for up to 50% of the total. Pure Vermont maple syrup makes everything good.

Sourdough Pancakes
(Adapted from Breads from the La Brea Bakery by Nancy Silverton.)

Yield: 14 pancakes

Ingredients:

511 g mature 100%-hydration sourdough starter
2 T. maple syrup or maple sugar
2 T. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder

Very Complex Method:

Whisk all ingredients together.
Cook on a hot buttered griddle, about 1/4 cup batter per pancake. Flip when bubbles appear.

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Post a comment » 34 Comments

Jeremy on February 24 2009 at 07:28 pm:

Do you ever do buckwheat? Blueberries are awesome too!
Karin on February 24 2009 at 07:33 pm:

Hm, I’ve never tried adding maple syrup to the mix! Thanks for the tip; and here’s another variation in return. If you feel that way inclined, you can make a light, not-quite-fluffy sourdough pancake.

Separate the eggs, and use the yolks in your mixture. Whip the whites to soft peaks, and fold them into the pancake batter.

This doesn’t affect the taste of the pancake, just the texture. Sometimes a sourdough pancake can be quite heavy, which I don’t like (though some do!).
elra on February 24 2009 at 09:15 pm:

That look really fluffy and delicious.
Cheers,
Elra
Virtual Vermonter on February 24 2009 at 09:52 pm:

Definitely blueberries, and of course, definitely VT maple syrup. Even though the price has apparently been going up, sigh. Thanks for the recipe!
Zita on February 24 2009 at 10:00 pm:

14 is a good number (like my birthdate…;) )

But sourdough pancakes with maple syrup are even better than a good explaination
Marjoke on February 25 2009 at 01:00 am:

I love using my sourdough and pancakes so this is the recipe for me. A nice recipe for our sunday breakfast.
Thanks.
Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. on February 25 2009 at 08:01 am:

oh, I so envy all of you who have a sourdough starter .
Phoo-D on February 25 2009 at 08:12 am:

I’ve been working on perfecting sourdough bread, but these pancakes would be a nice change of pace for my starter!
Phoo-D
Elyse on February 25 2009 at 09:16 am:

You know, I was thinking about making some sourdough (living in San Francisco, I feel like I have no excuse not to), but after seeing your post, I want these pancakes instead! I think you’re too modest about those photos: I’d be happy to sit down to a plate of those pancakes drizzled with maple syrup. YUM!
Laura on February 25 2009 at 04:14 pm:

ohhh.. yummmmm…. I love pancakes.

I have a theory on the picture thing because I too have struggled with photographing pancakes–you have to create an impossibly high stack of the whole batch (which means you have to let them sit in a warming oven) and then let the butter and syrup and ooze down the sides. Since anyone planing to actually eat their pancakes would never do this, pancake photos usually are not as nice.
Bruce on February 25 2009 at 05:24 pm:

Nice touch! I have been making a similar recipe using sugar for the maple syrup for 9 years virtually every weekend (my kids are sick of them!). My usual variation is to add a couple of tablespoons of Uncle Bob’s 7 Grain Cereal and blueberries. Of course a good maple syrup is required! It took me more than 7 years to branch out to sourdough breads and only in the last few months to find your great website!
Jude on February 26 2009 at 12:03 am:

I consider myself a googling expert but couldn’t find anything about the 14 pancake thing. I’ve got some experts on it http://tinyurl.com/dbwodv
Claire on February 26 2009 at 04:12 am:

Hi susan

I’ve made these pancakes this morning. I had never tasted pancakes that good. These are amazing…

I realised at the last minute I didn’t have baking powder. I stuck to the 1/2 t baking soda, and they turned out great!
I also used about 80% of whole wheat flour in my starter which gave them a nice nutty flavour.

Tonight, I think I’ll feed my starter with a blend of 6 cereals and 4 grains to try them tomorrow morning. And, if I’m not too lazy, maybe I’ll add a cup of diced caramelized pears in the batter. I can’t wait…

It’s my first comment here. I’ve been reading this blog for a couple of weeks now. It’s thanks to you that I don’t buy bread anymore. Your norwich sourdough is so easy to make it’s ridiculous
I’m french and I live in France but I can tell you I have never eaten bread so good. And it’s not just me. All my family and friends say so.
But I have to say that I’m a bit angry at you for not posting the recipe for these pancakes sooner. I can’t believe what I’ve been missing.

Well thanks again for all these brilliant recipes. You’re an inspiration.

Claire
kellypea on February 26 2009 at 09:05 am:

Pancake Day? Jeez. I miss out on everything. And come to think of it, our resident pancake maker hasn’t made any in a while. Sourdough is my favorite type of bread, but I haven’t had sourdough pancakes. Loving the maple syrup IN them. Yummy!
Hillary on February 26 2009 at 12:05 pm:

I like the idea of sourdough pancakes – sounds savory and delicious!
Natashya on February 26 2009 at 01:47 pm:

Mmm, I have never made sourdough pancakes – great way to use the toss off. (although that phrase always sounds dirty to me…)
They look wonderful!
Nate on February 26 2009 at 02:34 pm:

Looks good! I’ve always been partial to Maine Maple, Grade A Dark Amber. As for your pictures, try setting your camera to “macro” and taking a low and close shot. Food always looks tastier when you can see the texture (and pancakes/waffles always look better when you can see the butter melting!)
James on February 26 2009 at 08:42 pm:

I can’t wait to try the pancakes this weekend. I’ve been thinking about them everyday since I got this earlier this week. Yummmmmmmm
lisaiscooking on February 27 2009 at 06:48 am:

I’ve just started working my way through the La Brea book and made a starter for the first time. Your pancakes look great! Can’t wait to try them.
purplesque on February 27 2009 at 07:27 pm:

Just an idea..stack the pancakes on top of each other, drizzle the syrup only on top and shoot a few as it dribbles down. (Solid butter on top may look good but I’ve never had melting butter photograph well.)

I am So dying to make these.
Ajonjoli on February 28 2009 at 11:17 am:

Hi!

I made them this morning, wonderful recipe!!!!!
I did as Karin suggested, and put the yolks with the rest of ingredients and whipped the whites apart, then mixed everything.
They were so good and so easy to prepare, thanks!!!!!
Marjoke on March 1 2009 at 04:03 am:

Just baked your sourdough pancakes and they were perfect. Easy to make, good taste and they stayed airy even without whipping the egg whites.
This was a nice way to use my starter for something else than bread
AZBreadman on March 3 2009 at 11:03 am:

Part of my life’s mission has been to find the perfect pancake. My long time favorites have been at Dupar’s in Los Angeles and the Fortyniners at The Original Pancake House in Scottsdale. I substituted two T of melted butter for the vegetable oil in your recipe. The result was great!
Thanks Susan.
James on March 8 2009 at 01:01 pm:

I love this recipe and it makes great use of starter that is left over from bread baking. Today for brunch I made them with some whole wheat flour added to my starter and then cut up bananas and mixed into the batter.

The toppings served with the pancakes were a mixture of butter, honey and real maple syrup that is served warm and also a reduction of strawberries, brown sugar and tequila that is also served warm.

Everyone loved them. Yummmmm
Barry on March 11 2009 at 08:37 am:

This is a brilliant recipe – I’ve never tried making American style pancakes before. Here in Britain the French style crepe is more common on Shrove Tuesday but these were so light and delicious. Thanks Susan!
Natalie on March 15 2009 at 11:02 am:

Hi Susan – I wanted to introduce myself… I’m the other half of Humble Bread. Henry’s talked so much about you so I wanted to finally meet you as well

I have to tell you – today I finally made sourdough pancakes using this recipe and they were AWESOME! I’ve never been a pancake maker – meaning, my pancakes have never been so light and fluffy. This morning, on the other hand, was the 1st time EVER that i LOVED the pancakes I’ve made. Maybe knowing they were made from our own levain added that little special something my pancakes always lacked

We are baking in our wook oven today and I used the sourdough feeding waste for the batter. It was much nicer using this bi-product then throwing all that loveliness away. Thanks for the recipe… Nat
drfugawe on April 20 2009 at 08:23 am:

Ohhh, … these are magnificent! I let my “waste” sourdough build over two days to get enough sourdough for this – and must admit that this is much better than adding sourdough at the last minute, as I’ve done in the past. I love the wonderful, glutinous texture of this mix – a fantastic recipe.

Thanks much, Susan.
Tortitas de masa madre - sourdough pancakes | Cocinar on May 11 2009 at 12:53 pm:

[...] he adaptado de una que encontré en el blog Wild Yeast (podéis ver la receta original, en inglés, aquí), y a partir de ahora va a ser desayuno obligado en casa (ya lo sabéis aquellos que vengáis de [...]
Phoo-D on May 22 2009 at 06:04 am:

These were delicious! What a great way to use up extra starter. Thanks for posting the recipe.
Tortitas de masa madre – sourdough pancakes « Madrid Tiene Miga on July 13 2009 at 03:49 am:

[...] he adaptado de una que encontré en el blog Wild Yeast (podéis ver la receta original, en inglés, aquí), y a partir de ahora va a ser desayuno obligado en casa (ya lo sabéis aquellos que vengáis de [...]
BBQN on October 27 2009 at 06:24 am:

Can you give me a little assistance on the amount of sourdough starter to use. 511 grams is a weight measure that I estimate to be about 20-some ounces. But I’m not sure if that would translate into about 2 1/4 cups when I dip it out of my starter. Any helpful advice? I’m anxious to try this! Thanks!
Rachelle on November 1 2009 at 06:23 pm:

I made these for a post-halloween brunch today and haven’t been able to think of anything else all day. They were incredibly light and airy, and the billions of bubbles sucked up every last drop of maple syrup (pure quebec here). I want to eat these everyday times 3!
WMR on December 1 2009 at 11:57 am:

Re: how to get the nice photo:

Use honey cooled in the fridge instead of syrup.
Kelly on December 17 2009 at 10:34 am:

This has been my go to pancake recipe ever since I found it. Even replacing my old simple scratch recipe that was the household favorite. When I found out my daughter is sensitive to eggs I tried a bunch of different egg free recipes and even tried replacing the eggs with flaxseed meal. They just didn’t really go over. So I thought I’d try this recipe without the egg… Still perfection! The most light, fluffy, melt in your mouth pancakes and my daughter requests them almost daily. Of course they don’t spread as much so I have to cook them a little slower to get them done perfectly, but no other recipe has come through like this one. With or without eggs. THANK YOU!