These fluffy sourdough discard pancakes are so simple and come together in under 15 minutes. Make any breakfast special with these buttery, golden brown pancakes, best served with a little extra butter and maple syrup.
These pancakes are quickly becoming one of my favorite sourdough discard recipes.
When I created my sourdough starter all those years ago, I thought I would pretty much only be utilizing it for sourdough bread. Boy, was I wrong!
I’ve used my starter for so many recipes – chocolate chip cookies, sourdough crepes, brownies, crackers, and of course, homemade pancakes. I’ve discovered that sourdough provides so much flavor in so many recipes.
While I love my classic fluffy sourdough pancakes using active starter, this is a perfect recipe to make when you need to whip something up quickly.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
A great way to utilize discard – If you have a lot of sourdough starter on hand, this is a great recipe to whip up quickly. Plus, the sourdough flavor makes everything better.
A quick and easy breakfast – Although it may taste like a meal that took hours in the kitchen, these fluffy pancakes take less than 15 minutes from start to finish, utilizing basic ingredients.
Perfect for a special occasion or a regular Saturday morning – These are the most delicious pancakes to make for birthdays, holidays, or just another day of the week.
Ingredients
Sourdough Starter Discard – Use discard straight from the fridge. Active sourdough starter will also work. Learn how to make your own sourdough starter here.
Honey – I prefer to use honey to sweeten my pancake batter. You could also use maple syrup or granulated sugar if you prefer.
Butter – There is butter in the batter and used on the skillet to fry the pancakes. It helps gives these pancakes that rich, delicious flavor. You could make this diary free by using coconut oil in the batter and for frying. You can use a milk alternative for the dairy milk or simply use water.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Modifications and Variations
Want to add blueberries to your pancakes? Check out my blueberry discard pancake recipe here.
You can also substitute the blueberries for raspberries, chopped strawberries, blackberries, or even chocolate chips if you prefer a little added decadence!
How to Make Sourdough Discard Pancakes
Step 1: Melt 1/4 cup (half of a stick) of butter. Set it aside to cool slightly. Add flour, salt, and baking soda to a large bowl and combine.
Step 2: Add the remaining ingredients – sourdough discard, milk, eggs, cooled butter, and honey to the dry ingredients.
Step 3: Whisk until just combined. It’s okay if your batter is still a little lumpy. Heat the skillet over medium heat.
Step 4: Add a small amount of butter to the hot pan or skillet, then ladle about one-third of a cup of the sourdough pancake batter onto the melted butter. Cook until the edges begin to set and bubbles appear across the batter. This may take several minutes. Flip, then continue to cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side.
Step 5: Serve the pancakes warm and add your favorite toppings such as fresh berries, yogurt (try my homemade instant pot yogurt here), and maple syrup.
Tips
- You may need to reduce the heat on the skillet to medium-low heat or low if the pancakes are cooking too quickly or burning. Adjust as needed.
- Like most batters, be careful to not over mix. A few lumps is totally okay and will not change the texture or taste of your pancakes. Over-mixing can cause the pancakes to be flat. I like to use a whisk to mix my batter. It helps get everything incorporated quickly.
- Utilize your oven to keep cooked pancakes warm while you finish cooking the entire batch. I find 200 degrees F works great. Use a casserole dish or baking sheet to add the pancakes to. Cover with foil to insure they do not burn.
- Add savory toppings for a twist on the classic pancakes. My go-to is bacon!
Recipe FAQs
I prefer butter because of the flavor. However, you could substitute olive oil or coconut oil in the batter. For frying, I would suggest sticking with butter or coconut oil.
It’s important not to over mix pancake batter. You may end up with flat pancakes. That is why I like to use a whisk. It helps incorporate everything evenly, but without over mixing the batter.
You’ll notice bubbles throughout the top of the batter and the edges will start to set. Patience is key when it comes to making pancakes.
More Sourdough Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Sourdough Waffles
- Sourdough English Muffins
- Sourdough Buttermilk Pancakes
- Sourdough Granola
- Homemade Sourdough Pop Tarts
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Quick Sourdough Discard Pancakes
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Skillet optional
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sourdough discard, active will also work. 63 g
- 1 1/2 cups milk, or water 366 g
- 1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 245 g
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup butter melted, 57 g
- 2 tablespoons honey, or maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Step 1: Melt 1/4 cup (half of a stick) of butter. Set it aside to cool slightly. Add flour, salt, and baking soda to a large bowl and combine.
- Step 2: Add the sourdough discard, milk, eggs, cooled butter, and honey to the dry ingredients. Whisk until just combined. It’s okay if your batter is still a little lumpy.
- Step 3: Heat the skillet over medium heat.
- Step 4: Add a small amount of butter to the hot skillet, then ladle about one-third of a cup of batter onto the melted butter.
- Step 5: Cook until the edges begin to set and bubbles appear across the batter. This may take several minutes. Flip, then continue to cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side.
- Step 6: Serve the pancakes warm and add toppings such as fresh fruit, yogurt (try my homemade instant pot yogurt here), and maple syrup.
Notes
- You may need to reduce the heat on the skillet to medium-low heat or low if the pancakes are cooking too quickly or burning. Adjust as needed.
- Like most batters, be careful to not over mix. A few lumps is totally okay and will not change the texture or taste of your pancakes. Over-mixing can cause the pancakes to be flat. I like to use a whisk to mix my batter. It helps get everything incorporated quickly.
- Utilize your oven to keep cooked pancakes warm while you finish cooking the entire batch. I find 200 degrees F works great. Use a casserole dish or baking sheet to add the pancakes to. Cover with foil to insure they do not burn.
- Add savory toppings for a twist on the classic pancakes. My go-to is bacon!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made these with coconut oil instead of butter and oat milk instead of regular milk as my littlest one and I cannot currently consume dairy. They turned out great with these modifications, but I cannot wait to try it with butter and milk!
Is it ok to do this the night before and leave in the fridge
Yes.
This pancake recipe rivaled the pancakes I’ve been making for years. Admittedly I’ve never found the proper combination to compete with a mix like Hungry Jack or Aunt Jemima mix. They’ve been delicious, but always dense pancakes in comparison. That is of course until these! The best way I can describe this recipe, at least in my experience, is these turn out with that awesome Hungry Jack texture, light/fluffy and a MUCH better flavor!
I doubled this recipe this morning so we would have extra for the freezer and they turned out so delicious. I used water and honey instead of milk and maple syrup. I also added a couple overripe bananas, some cinnamon, and nutmeg. They were so moist and fluffy, the kids loved them. I am still very new at sourdough (my starter is about 1 month old) and I enjoy trying all your recipes. Thank you from Virginia!:)
OMG! I’m obsessed with these pancakes and I hardly ever eat them. These even freeze beautifully. I made a mix berry sauce from frozen fruit I had for smoothies. YUM! I was gifted a starter for my birthday. I’m starting with the easy stuff first since I’m a newbie. Looking forward to making bread.
Works perfect! In South Africa we call these flapjacks, so for the pancake version we are familiar with I added about 1 cup of water to the batter.
First time making these. Added blueberries. Came out great. I’m new to sourdough thanks to you.
I’d love to make some of these but I wish your recipes used OUNCES, instead of GRAMS. WHY DO SO MANY RECIPES ARE MEASURED IN GRAMS?
Grams are a universal unit, making this recipe international-friendly. Grams are also more precise making recipes more replicable. Any good kitchen scale should support both grams & oz in the US. If you cant measure in grams, she provided the cups/tablespoons measurements.
I thought these turned out great and I was able to measure in grams just fine. Especially without virtually yelling at the recipe author.
Because there is varying differences in baking. 1 cup of water is a different weight than 1 cup of flour. The density and ratios are impacted based on this. Which is why weighted measurements are not only more accurate across the board, but result in more consistency in final product. It takes a bit of getting used to but its actually super easy. you can zero out the scale as you add each ingredient s you end up dirtying less dishes doing all the measurements.
I’m new to sourdough. I made these today, they’re awesome. Thanks
Can I use buckwheat flour or other flours or does it have to be white flour ? Also, Can I use almond milk or other kinds of non-dairy milk?
Yes, any flour will work.