Chewy, fluffy, light and puffy.
These are just some of the ways to describe these irresistible sourdough pancakes.
If you don’t have a sourdough starter going you better get on that ASAP. These real fermented sourdough pancakes are a treat you don’t want to be missing out on.
What Makes This Sourdough Pancake Recipe Unique?
My technique uses a thick overnight sourdough batter of flour, water and sourdough starter. This thick batter ferments overnight night at room temperature. The next morning you will add the additional ingredients and continue fermenting the batter until is bubbly.
This special technique allows you to make pancakes without any leavening besides the wild yeast in your sourdough starter!
Think of this recipe as a guide!
I’ve found that with the many variables of sourdough, following someone else’s recipe is almost impossible. I will try my best to describe things and give examples but in some cases you will have to use your judgement. Always know that I’m only a few clicks away to answer questions!
Perfectly Chewy Sourdough Pancakes
Traditionally Fermented Sourdough Pancakes
Ingredients
Pancake Starter Batter
- 4 Cups Organic AP Flour, 560 grams
- 2 Cups Filtered Water, 460 grams
- 1/2 Cup Active Sourdough Starter, 125 grams (100% hydration)
Secondary Additions
- 4 Tablespoons Butter, 64 grams
- 1/2 Cup Milk, 115 grams
- 3 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar, 30 grams
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Salt, 7 grams
Instructions
The Night Before
- In a big ceramic or glass bowl mix the flour, water and starter into a sticky, thick batter. Depending on the consistency of your starter you may need to adjust the flour or water measurements. Think almost as thick as a muffin batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let this ferment overnight on your counter, or in the oven with the light on if your house is kept on the cooler side.
The Next Morning
- First thing in the morning check on your batter. Hopefully it will have lots of bubbles and a pleasant sour odor. If this is the case proceed with the next steps. If not, you may need some help troubleshooting your starter and I am here to help with that! Just reach out to me.
- Melt the butter and whisk it with the milk, sugar, eggs and salt. I like to use a glass measuring cup for this step. Slowly incorporate the butter mixture into the fermented flour mixture. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and evenly distributed. This will take some elbow grease! The consistency should be like a typical pancake batter. If it looks thin add some flour 1 Tablespoon at time. If it seems too thick add a little more milk. This is when judgement comes into play. Cover again and let the mixture ferment for at least one hour.
- Preheat your griddle over medium heat (I use a cast iron griddle) and season it with a light coating of coconut oil. Cook your pancakes to golden brown.
- Serve your sourdough pancakes with any of you favorite toppings.
Want to learn everything about sourdough? Well, I have the free guide for you!
Stacie
Sunday 20th of September 2020
I've made these several times and I love them. I sometimes use stout in place of some of the water. They turn out nicely, but I'm wondering if there are any caveats to substituting beer for water. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Butter For All
Monday 21st of September 2020
Hi Stacie!
I love your ingenuity! I have started messing around with beer in some bread recipes and find that it can bee 100% of the hydration and still successful. With stout, I would just be careful due to the strong flavor. But I say, go for it!
Courtney
Samantha
Monday 7th of September 2020
Hi there! These were the best pancakes and I didn’t become bloated after eating them!!
Could you tell me how to properly store the rest of the pancake batter so it is reusable?
Thanks!
Butter For All
Sunday 13th of September 2020
Hi Samantha!
I'm so happy to hear they were easy on your system! I love fermented bread for that reason as well. The batter can just be covered and placed in the fridge for the next day. Sometimes after more than one or two days the batter gets quite thin and we use it for crepes. Hope that helps! Thank you for the feedback!
Courtney
Yem
Saturday 9th of May 2020
I use a lot of recipies found online and NEVER leave feedback but these pancakes are AMAZEBALLS. Mind blown. That is all.
Butter For All
Sunday 10th of May 2020
Hi Yem!
Possibly the best comment ever! Thanks for taking the time, I really appreciate it!
Courtney
Paul
Saturday 2nd of May 2020
Hey Thanks so much for a REAL “sour jack” recipe. Most are made with baking powder or soda and are not real sourdough, they are airy and grainy. These are gooood. Chewy and moist like they should be. Want you to know I was a bit skeptical when I made the “starter” the night before, it looked more like bread dough, but they turned out great—my first batch by the way.
Butter For All
Sunday 3rd of May 2020
Hi Paul!
Thank you so much for the great feedback! One thing I've never done is used baking powder or soda with my starter. You could say I'm a bit of a purest that way! All the recipe here are traditionally fermented and leavened!
Thanks again for the comment and happy baking!
Courtney
Olek Poplavsky
Tuesday 7th of April 2020
Hi Courtney! Looks like an interesting variation on a Yukon-style flapjacks, going to give it a try. Are you sure that proportions are correct for Pancake Starter Batter? Those amounts (560g flour, 230g water, 110g starter) result in 46% hydration (assuming 100% hydration starter) - and this is no batter, this is pretty stiff dough. I find the idea of making a biga for pancakes batter pretty fascinating, but based on your description of bubbling batter next morning, this is not what you had in mind. I suspect that 2.5 cups of flour would be about right amount to get proper consistency of batter at the end, and 'starter' would be a (pretty slack) dough at 85% hydration which is not unreasonable for a muffin indeed. Looks like I will have a lot of leftover biga after I am done with those pancakes, perfect for the next loaf of bread! :)
Butter For All
Thursday 9th of April 2020
You caught a mistake and I appreciate it so much! It should read 2 cups water 460g. I have updated the recipe!!! I also updated the starter to reflect a half cup at 100% hydration (125g).
Thank you again so much for your thoughtful comment!
Butter For All
Thursday 9th of April 2020
Hi Olek,
Yes, It is a very thick batter to start because you add the additional ingredients in the morning. You can adjust the water as needed, you don't want it to be dry. But I will double check my measurements asap because now you have me wondering if I made a mistake. I have to admit I don't usually measure my pancakes batter, lol. I've been doing it so long I just do it by feel!
If you try the recipe, please let me know how you like it. I've been doing it this way for many years now so I can have a TRUE sourdough pancake that rises well! :) Looking forward to hearing back from you!
Courtney