Since opening, one thing we’ve sold a lot of is flour. Seriously, shedloads. Everyone, it seems, is baking sourdough. But anyone who’s embarked on this noble enterprise will know that you end up throwing out a lot of perfectly good starter “discard”.
One such customer decided enough was enough, and instead decided to pull together some pancakes from the discard. She posted some images of her results, and then kindly agreed to write up her recipe. So here it is, Edie’s Sourdough Starter Discard Pancakes…
Sourdough Discard Pancakes!
by Edie Bloomfield
When making a sourdough starter there is a lot of leftover discard, and for someone who doesn’t know what to do with it that means so much waste of flour, water and starter! The discard is actually useful for a lot of things, so why waste it? Instead, after removing some of your starter for a feeding, put it in a sealed container in the fridge. This discard then gets added to after every feeding and it keeps for around a week. Don’t worry if it’s not active in the fridge because the point of keeping sourdough discard is not as a leaven but for the amazing flavour it adds to almost anything.
This is a pancake recipe using discard that creates these delicious pancakes that aren’t too sweet. They hold their shape really well, so you get some great looking pancakes, and not only do they taste amazing on the day of baking, they’re even still nice and fluffy three days later! Just make sure they’re kept in a sealed container.
This recipe takes around an hour or so, as the batter needs to sit for a bit.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 eggs – at room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups sourdough discard, stirred
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbs sugar
Method
- In a large bowl, melt the butter. Let it cool slightly, and then add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Stir well with a whisk. (Don’t worry if the butter begins to solidify, when I made this the first time it solidified and so I started again because I didn’t know what happened. When I did it again it still solidified but I just kept whisking and it all worked out and after I’d done everything the batter was nice and smooth. I’ve suggested that you use room temperature eggs as a preventative method but don’t worry if it still happens. It’s not the end of the world.)
- Add the sourdough starter and stir well.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Let the batter sit for about 30 minutes.
- Use a non-stick pan and add a little vegetable oil and let it pre-heat over medium heat until a little droplet of batter bubbles immediately when placed on the pan.
- Gently stir the batter and use 1/3 cup measuring spoon to ladle the pancake batter onto the pan. Let the pancake cook until the edges begin to brown and there are bubbles on the top.
- Gently flip the pancake and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. You should see the centre rising.
- Serve hot with your desired toppings. We like maple syrup and bacon.
Top Secret Tip:
If you like pancakes with bacon and maple syrup try this! Leave around 2 pancakes worth of batter (or as much as you’d like) on the side after you’ve cooked all the other pancakes. Now, cook some streaky bacon (the fatty stuff!) and then once the bacon is cooked and there’s still some fat in the pan, cook up your last couple of pancakes as normal! It makes them even fluffier, and is great when you’re having bacon on your pancakes. Make sure the heat on the stovetop isn’t too high because you don’t want to burn them but that’s it! They are delicious!
And that’s the recipe! Super easy, super delicious and Instagram-worthy! A perfect use of your discard! There are so many recipes you can use discard for, for example, brownies, waffles, flatbreads, we’ve even made crumpets with them. The possibilities are endless!
If you do make this recipe, I hope you enjoy it just as much as my family did!
