These fluffy sourdough pancakes are super simple to whip up with just a few basic ingredients. Light and fluffy with a little bit of crispiness, it is easy to see why this recipe is our favorite. Add toppings like blueberries or chocolate chips to make an extra special weekend morning treat.
If you have been hanging around the old farmhouse a while, you know how I loooove my sourdough starter. I have been nurturing it for over six years now.
I use it to make English muffins, pizza crusts, sourdough skillets, sourdough bread, even donuts! But, you know what I make with it more than anything else?
Pancakes. Deliciously fermented, fluffy, crisp around the edges, tangy pancakes.
Several people on Youtube and Instagram stories asked me about my pancake recipe. Your promptings finally kicked me into gear.
I must admit, I had no excuse. I just never got around to it.
So, here it finally is, my friends. The favorite homemade sourdough pancakes that the whole family loves. The one I have made every Saturday morning for probably, like, six years now.
Quick Sourdough Pancakes Recipe
Now, if you have been making recipes with sourdough starter, you may know that usually there is a waiting time to allow for fermentation, like in my sourdough English muffin recipe.
But, the wonderful thing about this recipe is, there is no wait. You just need to have two cups of fed excess starter on hand. It doesn’t even have to be room temperature.
You can pull your glass bowl of starter out of the fridge, and as long as you have at least two cups of starter, you’re good to go!
Now, this is of course assuming that you fed your starter and allowed it to ferment a little before you put it away last time. If you just stirred the flour and water in, and popped it into the fridge straight away, it will need a little fermenting time.
And if this is all a bunch of gibberish, make sure to visit my post on all the benefits, how to, and why do (just made that up) of sourdough, or this post on caring for your starter once you have it going.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Tips For Making Sourdough Pancakes:
- If we plan to add blueberries and chocolate chips, we like to place them on the uncooked side while the cakes are cooking. I find that if the chocolate actually makes contact with the skillet, the pancakes tend to stick. This is why I don’t stir them into the batter. Same goes for blueberries.
- Totally new to sourdough? Check out how to make your own sourdough starter recipe here.
- To get the pancakes a little crispy, make sure there is a bit of hot oil in your pan.
- You can make this batter the night before, but I would recommend waiting until the next morning, right before cooking, to add the baking soda.
- The first pancake rarely turns out well. No worries. This is the time to adjust the heat to make sure it is not too hot or too cool.
- Want some gluten free pancakes? Try this recipe.
- You can tell a pancake is ready to flip when all the bubbles have popped and there are no more bubbles coming up.
Tools you may need:
Grain mill (optional- if you want to grind your flour to feed the starter)
Large bowl – When the baking soda hits the sourdough starter it will expand a lot.
Cast-iron skillet or another type of non-stick pan. I really like my Caraway pans.
Measuring cups and spoons
Silicone spatula
Wooden spoon
Ingredients
Fed Sourdough Starter – This is a bubbly active starter that has been fed within 4-12 hours before starting the recipe. While you could use leftover sourdough discard, they won’t be very fluffy pancakes.
Eggs
Coconut oil – if you don’t have coconut oil, you can swap it out for melted butter.
Honey or maple syrup
Salt
Baking soda
Butter or oil for frying
Rules For Cooking Pancakes In Cast Iron Skillets
Although it certainly isn’t a requirement for sourdough pancake makin’, I prefer using cast iron. If you are brand new to cast iron cooking, visit this post all about it.
To ensure the cakes don’t stick, you will need to follow two rules:
Preheat the skillet before letting the batter hit it. A hot griddle plus a little oil produces the little bit of crispness that makes pancakes so delicious.
Only flip the pancake one time.
How To Make Sourdough Pancakes
Mix the starter, eggs, melted coconut oil, honey, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the baking soda last, and watch the starter foam up.
I like my sourdough pancakes to have that crispy fried edge. To do this, preheat a tablespoon of coconut oil in my cast iron skillet on medium heat.
After it is hot enough to produce a sizzle, pour 1/2 cup batter right onto the hot oil. At this point, I turn the stove down to medium-low heat so that the pancake has a chance to cook through without the bottom burning. Remember that “flip only one time” rule.
After the top is nice and bubbly, and no more bubbles are being produced, give the pancake a flip. About 2-3 minutes.
Cook the second side for another 30 seconds to a minute on the other side, or until cooked through and golden brown.
Set aside as you continue to cook
Serve with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit, homemade whipped cream, or even savory toppings.
FAQ
Can you freeze sourdough pancakes?
Lay the cooled pancakes on a baking sheet in one layer and freeze them for 1-2 hours. Stack and place in a freezer safe container.
You can also place a piece of parchment paper between each pancake and freeze. While you could freeze them in a stack without paper, they will freeze together in a big clump.
They will keep well in the freezer for a few months… if they last that long.
Reheat them in the oven, toaster oven, or toaster.
Is pancake batter good overnight?
You can make this the night before and keep it stored overnight in the refrigerator, but I would recommend waiting to add the baking soda until you are ready to cook.
Why are my sourdough pancakes gummy?
This is most likely due to cooking them not long enough, the pan being too hot, or another cooking issue.
What else can you do with sourdough starter?
So glad you asked! There are so many sourdough recipes to make.
- Pizza Crust
- Flatbread
- Pumpkin Cobbler
- Best Chicken Pot Pie
- Biscuits
- Waffles
- Cinnamon Maple Apple Pie
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Donuts
- Sourdough Waffles
- Buttermilk pancakes
If you try this recipe, let me know by leaving a comment. Love it? Give it a 5 star rating!
The Best Sourdough Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups active sourdough starter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- coconut oil for frying
Instructions
- Mix the starter, eggs, melted coconut oil, honey, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the baking soda last, and watch the starter foam up.
Preheat a tablespoon of coconut oil in my cast iron skillet on medium heat. - After it is hot enough to produce a sizzle, pour 1/2 cup batter right onto the hot oil. At this point, I turn the stove down to medium-low heat so that the pancake has a chance to cook through without the bottom burning. Remember that "flip only one time" rule.
- After the top is nice and bubbly, and no more bubbles are being produced, give the pancake a flip. About 2-3 minutes.
- Cook the second side for another 30 seconds to a minute on the other side, or until cooked through and golden brown.
- Set aside as you continue to cook
- Serve with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit, homemade whipped cream, or even savory toppings.
Notes
- Active sourdouhg starter is a starter that has been fed 4-12 hours before making this recipe.
- If we plan to add blueberries and chocolate chips, we like to place them on the uncooked side while the cakes are cooking. I find that if the chocolate actually makes contact with the skillet, the pancakes tend to stick. This is why I don't stir them into the batter. Same goes for blueberries.
- To get the pancakes a little crispy, make sure there is a bit of hot oil in your pan.
- You can make this batter the night before, but I would recommend waiting until the next.
- You can tell a pancake is ready to flip when all the bubbles have popped and there are no more bubbles coming up.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I make these all the time. I’ve started lowering the hydration in my starter just so my discard will be thicker for pancakes! This recipe is basically bulletproof. Typically I use starter straight from the fridge. I often replace the coconut oil with butter or leave it out altogether. I used applesauce instead once (and cut out the honey so my baby could eat it), and it was really good!
Thanks for converting me to cast iron, too. It took a few months for me to get used to using cast iron but now I don’t think I’ll ever go back.
We make this every week in our home and love it! Thank you! I’m wondering if applesauce would be a good replacement for the eggs in this recipe? Sadly, I have to cut them out for a bit as my breastfed infant may be allergic. Well, I’ll give it a try!
You can make an “egg” using flax meal and water. It’s easy and you can Google the instructions
We’ve made these EVERY DAY this week! 🙂 I’m trying to invigorate my newly made starter, and I can’t stand the thought of throwing half down the drain or feeding it to my already-well-fed chickies. We LOVE these pancakes! I love that it doesn’t use extra flour–just the discarded starter. We also made your pizza dough this week (which had a super chewy, interesting texture.) We’re on to the next thing, which will be English muffins. Thanks so much for posting recipes and videos. Lots of hard work, but you’re preserving food traditions that are dying off. Thank you!!! 🙂
Maybe try a mashed banana in for eggs? I might try it myself sometime soon!
I meant to respond to the comment below (by Breanna) instead of yours, sorry!
I made this for the first time this morning. They were really delicous. I have made many different types of pancakes in the past, but these were really really good. They didn’t upset my stomach either, Thanks Lisa
I really enjoyed these. I did have to make a little alteration probably because of elevation. I added about 3 tbsp of flour to thicken the batter a bit.
I love these pancakes! I don’t cook with coconut oil, so the first time I substituted with butter instead and they were pretty oily. However, the next time I made it with half as much butter as the recipe calls for coconut oil, and they were PERFECT! So delicious! I also cook them on a griddle so I can make a big batch quickly, and it works great! Raspberries are super good as a “topping”, I smash them and then add them to the batter right after I pour them out on my griddle (if you don’t smash them they stick out too much and will burn when you flip them) love this recipe!
These were a huge hit with my adult sons. Thank you !!
These are the best pancakes I’ve ever made. They have become a Saturday morning tradition in my home.
I know this sounds silly, but I’m a first time sourdough maker, once you use 2 cups of your starter for pancakes do you add a cup of flour and water back into your starter and sit it on your counter to go through the process again? Or do you add what you took out? So 2 cups starter then add 2 cups flour and water?? Sorry if this is a silly question… Thank you
It depends on how much starter you have left. I like to keep my starter at about a 1:1:1 ratio, so 1 cup of starter: 1 cup flour : 1 cup water.
Let’s say you started with 3 cups of starter, total. Separate your starter into two containers. The one for the pancake recipe (the “discard”) will be 2 cups. The one for future recipes (“active starter”) will be 1 cup. If your active starter amounts to about a cup, then you only need to add one cup flour and one cup water.
If the bowl with active starter has 2 cups in it, then add 2 cups flour and 2 cups water. It’s not an exact science though, you can mess around with it and see what works!
I personally use a scrapings method. I keep 2 Mason jars in my fridge, one with active starter and one with discard for future pancakes. In the first I’ll put 1/4 cup active starter to 1/4 flour and 1/4 water and leave that on my counter, and keep the discard jar in the fridge.
It’s important to note that you’re using a volume ratio and not a weight ratio. Many bakers use weights and sourdough starter at 100% hydration would be 1:1 by weight, or approximately 1:1.8 water:flour. I think maybe I’ll measure out how much 1 cup of 100% hydration starter weighs, and then try to algebra my back to your proportions of starter + water to get 2 cups of 180% hydration starter.
For 1:1 hydration (which this author’s starter is not): Weigh the starter you have left. if it’s 4 oz, add 4 oz (1/2 cup) of water and 4 oz flour (15/16 cup) to maintain it. When it’s hungry again, take out 8 oz of discard for pancakes and leave 4 oz of starter, to which you again add 4 oz water + 4 oz flour each feeding so the starter stays the same size. Or have a bigger starter (for ex. 8 oz) and add more flour (8oz, or 1 + 7/8 cup) and water (8oz, 1 cup) in proportion by weight to grow more of it, which might give you the amount for this recipe. This is 1:1 hydration by weight. If hydration is too low for this recipe, add more water or milk, probably between 1/2 cup to 1 cup more liquid.
100% is best by grams 40grams starter 40grams water and 40grams flour
These were a delicious breakfast over the weekend! Everyone loved them!