An easy, one-bowl recipe for fluffy, homemade sourdough pancakes using leftover sourdough starter discard. The batter can be made overnight or on the same day- it takes less than 10 minutes to do!
When writing Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, the most interesting chapter to research was sourdough discard recipes. I wanted to sourdough-ize everything from sourdough bread, to sourdough pancakes, even waffles and crêpes! Because what’s better than a stack of warm, fluffy pancakes drenched in maple syrup and fresh berries for breakfast?!
And I’ll tell you something, when pancakes are made with sourdough discard they become uniquely different than regular pancakes: they’re extra fluffy, super flavorful and easier to digest (the golden brown, butter-fried edges get me every time). Best sourdough pancake recipe ever? You be the judge.
How to Make Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes
Emilie’s Best Tips for Making Pancakes
Tip #1:
First and foremost, the liquid to flour ratio needs to be on point. Too much flour, and the pancakes will be thick and doughy (like English muffins). Too much liquid, and they’ll be thin and chewy like crepes. One way is neither right or wrong; it all depends on the style you want.
For fluffy sourdough pancakes, the batter should be thick, bubbly, and pourable.
See that gorgeous aerated texture? You can actually “hear” it when you drag a spoon through the batter. It should drip down in slow, stretchy ribbons and not just plop into the pan.
Tip #2:
Use a combination of baking power AND baking soda. Baking powder will make the pancakes fluffy and baking soda will lighten them up. You need both. Some fluffy pancake recipes call for whipped egg whites, which definitely works, but it’s an extra step you can bypass altogether.
Tip #3:
You’ll need about 1 cup of leftover sourdough discard. Bubbly is fine too- just use what you have. When baking soda merges with the natural acids in the sourdough starter it tenderizes the texture (like buttermilk pancakes). So now you have light, fluffy and tender.
For best results, use a 100% hydration sourdough starter. Its thick, batter-like texture is perfect for fluffy sourdough pancakes. Try my Beginner Sourdough Starter Recipe or use what you have adjusting the liquid if it’s too thick.
Why Make Pancakes from Scratch?
For me, homemade has to include two things: flavor and convenience.
Here, I’ve combined the best of both worlds with an overnight pancake batter. As the batter sits in the refrigerator, the flavor will intensify and you’ll get the added benefit of fermentation. My son who is gluten sensitive does really well with this recipe. And for convenience? The batter is prepped ahead! No mess. No stress.
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Best Sourdough Pancakes (Overnight or Same Day)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: (10) 6-inch pancakes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
An easy, one-bowl recipe for fluffy, homemade sourdough pancakes using leftover sourdough discard. The batter can be made overnight or on the same day- it’s takes less than 10 minutes to do!
Notes:
- Do yourself a favor get a wide 6-inch spatula for flipping. Most likely, your standard spatula is too narrow. A wide one makes flipping so much easier and helps with splatter control.
- For crispy, golden fried edges fry your pancakes in a small pat butter. I use Kerry Gold salted butter.
- Use a cast iron or non-stick skillet for cooking the pancakes- both options are fine. It’s the heat that you need to pay attention to. Always make a mini test pancake first!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (190 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tbsp. (24 g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 g) sourdough starter (sourdough discard or active sourdough starter)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk, plus more as needed
- 3 tbsp. (42 g) melted unsalted butter or oil, plus more to coat the skillet
To Serve
- Pure maple syrup
- Fresh berries
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
Overnight Preparation:
For thick and fluffy pancakes: Combine the wet and dry ingredients EXCEPT for the baking powder and baking soda. Whisk well, cover and chill overnight. The next day, sift the powders directly over the bowl and whisk again to combine. The texture should be thick, bubbly, and pourable. Add extra milk, 1 tbsp at a time, to thin out the texture if needed. Let the batter sit for at least 5 minutes to aerate; it should be nice and bubbly before using. The batter can be used cold.
For thin and fluffy pancakes: Add all of the ingredients together and chill overnight. No need to add the leavening agents separately.
Same Day Preparation:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients. Whisk gently until a smooth batter forms; some lumps are OK.
- In a large 10-inch cast iron skillet (or non-stick pan), melt a small pat of butter over medium-low heat. Swirl the pan around to coat.
- Pour 1/3 cup of batter into the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, lowering the heat as needed. When the edges begin to puff up and bubbles appear on the surface, flip it over. Cook for another minute or so. Place the pancake onto a sheet pan and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest.
- To continue, use a scrunched up paper towel to wipe out the skillet. Add more butter if the pan gets too dry. Repeat the cooking process until you are finished with the batter.
- To serve, stack the warm pancakes on a platter for your guests to help themselves. Have plenty of pure maple syrup, fresh berries and powdered sugar at the ready.
Comments
Anonymous says
J. Stephen says
Worked great and were very tasty! Will definitely make again.
Ricki says
Lau says
I stuck to the rcipe.extly for same-day pancakes. They were very fluffy and very filling! Tasty, too. I’ll try them overnight next!
Alexis says
I made these using same day instructions and they were absolutely delicious. My questions is if I use thee overnight method, how long will it keep in the fridge if I can’t make it first thing in the morning. Thanks!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi there! I don’t have an exact time frame for you… but a couple of hours past first thing in the morning should be fine. The longer the batter sits, the thicker the texture becomes. You can always add more liquid to thin it out as needed. Hope this helps :)
India says
I just made these. My husband was raving about them. Absolutely delicious.
Maria Baker says
Came home hungry from my morning workout and needed to feed my sourdough starter. Looked up a recipe to use my discard and came across this one. I was too hungry to follow the recipe and chill overnight and it was for just me so I halved the recipe and enjoyed right away. THE BEST PANCAKES I’ve ever made! I probably should’ve added a little more milk before pouring on the griddle so they were better shaped but the taste and texture were amazing. I will make this again and again. Thank you for the recipe!
Karen says
I’m new to the world of sourdough and still finding my way. I love your site – so many vital instructions that have been SUPER helpful. Anyway, this recipe was wonderful! I sub-ed out the sugar for maple syrup (in the wet ingr) since I am trying to stay away from refined sugars, and it worked out fine. So delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!
Nancy says
Heather says
Delicious!! I made the same day pancakes using active starter. The pancakes were a huge hit at my house. Pillowy soft with a delicious sourdough taste. The problem is it’s hard to stop eating these – “just one more” was our motto. Great with a side of bacon too!!
Conni M. says
Made these with a discard and they were absolutely delicious!
Funny thing. My sister and I just happened to make your starter about a week apart. We live on opposite sides of the country so you will see how we think alike. Well, she sent me a book. It just happened to be yours.
Emilie Raffa says
LOVE this! xxx
Zuzana says
Hi Emilie! I did overnight version of your pancakes and they were AMAZING! 😍 Supper light, fluffy! My kids and husband couldn’t stop
Eating them! Thank you! ❤️
Barb says
Loved this! Super fluffy pancakes, my starter is new(less than 15 days) so I thought it wouldn’t work well. But it was delicious.
Pamela R. says
Best SD Pancake recipe ever! Loved them and so did the family! All happy campers! Thank you for a superb recipe!
JC says
Imre Glaser says
How would you go about adding bananas to this recipe? Would it cmchangr the amount of liquid needed?
Emilie Raffa says
Great question! I’ve never tried this recipe with bananas. Sliced or mashed? If you experiment, please let me know and I’ll update the notes here if others are interested to give it a go :)
drew says
just trying it with a banana looks good
Megan says
I’ve disliked pancakes all my life, but these are the best I’ve ever had and I crave them multiple times a week. I made it for the first time with only a little over a week old sourdough starter, and I find that it only gets better & fluffier the more it has been aging. My husband also loves these pancakes and we both agree that they don’t give you that heavy sick feeling that you usually get after eating conventional pancakes, these leave you with a light energized feeling. Love these!
LISA D says
I’ve made this recipe at least 5 times and they are nothing short of fabulous! This is my new go to recipe. I’ve used it with gluten free flour as well as all purpose and bread flour. It comes out perfect no matter what! Some of the combos I’ve made are banana chip pancakes and blueberry pancakes (adding frozen blueberries the morning of cooking). Thank you so much! This is my new “go to” recipe.
Lynn says
Hi,
If I only have 3/4 cup of discard and the recipe calls for 1cup, should I feed the discard to create more, and use later the same day, or the following day?
How soon does the fed discard after refrigeration become a good discard?
Thank-you
Elizabeth says
Super yummy and quick! I do the same day and use one bowl. I like adding some vanilla extract.
Ashlyn says
This is the first thing I made with my sourdough discard! I was not disappointed. They were fluffy and delicious. I chilled all ingredients overnight except baking soda and powder. The pancakes turned out great! This recipe made a lot of pancakes – probably about 15-18. I was using a 1/4 c to scoop, which to me was a good size pancake. Volume wise it totally filled a quart mason jar.
Ryan says
This is great, but let’s not confuse the gluten protein with enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts for chemical reactions. Gluten is the protein mostly found in wheat grain. Bacteria use enzymes such as beta-amylase to break down gluten! Hope that clears it up :)
Garrett Ulrich says
so bom!!!!!!
Garrett Ulrich says
love them so bom!!!!!!
Kathy Kessler says
Fantastic. I used my discard with gluten free 1:1 flour and coconut sugar. Followed the rest of the recipe and they are amazing.
Alexceia says
How do you recommend storing left over batter? Or is it best to cook the pancakes and then freeze the left overs?
Kierstin O'Flaherty says
I have done these both ways and I also use einkorn flour.
I have to say the overnight pancakes are the best I have ever had at home or in a restaurant.
Pam Beard says
I used the same day recipe and dehydrated eggs with extra water. Plus little under 1 cup of discard because I was at the cabin because that’s all I brought. Then added vanilla bean & 🫐. The pancakes 🥞 were delicious!
Hilary says
This is the second time I’ve used this recipe. I did the overnight prep the first time and same day this time. They came out perfect both ways. It feels so good to use an entire cup of discard.
Perla Jiménez says
I made this recipe today and it was a hit!! I did the “same day” preparation pancakes 🥞
Donna says
Great way to use discarded sourdough and super easy. I saved several weeks worth in the refrigerator without feeding and using the overnight method, the pancakes came out great.
Ritu says
Great x
Diana Hansberry says
I made the same day version. They came out puffy and yummy. I didn’t taste sourdough flavor though..not sour at all.not sure how to change that. I used active starter.
Jeanne Monroe says
These pancakes were really good! Love the smell from the sourdough and taste, it reminds me of the old gluten cakes that used to eat… I was wondering if there’s a way to make them a little more moist? I wonder if putting yogurt in the batter would help? Yeah the only issue I had was that they were pretty dry. But they are 100% better than any of the other pancakes I’ve tried that were gluten-free. Thank you for all your hard work putting these recipes together!
Jenn says
These were delicious! I did make a couple changes
I added 2-3 tsp pure vanilla extract
Half whole milk & half buttermilk equaling 1 cup
I also added blueberries
Deb says
I made the same day recipe and they turned out perfect. First time I’ve cooked with discard. I used spelt flour for discard and pancake batter. Delicious and fluffy. Made 12 good sizes pancakes.
Aubri says
Diane says
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Best pancakes ever! I’ve never make good pancakes at home! These are like from a pancake house! OMG! Plus an excellent way to use up discard! +++Definitely will make again! Thank you !
Jen says
Best homemade pancakes ever!
Jennc says
These were excellent- I made the batter same day as cooking, and the pancakes were fluffy and tender. Hands down the best sourdough discard pancakes I’ve made. Even my inlaws were impressed.
Kim says
These are truly the best! They were so light and tender doing the overnight option.
Esty K says
Hi! When doing the overnight recipe do I refrigerate the recipe over night (since there is milk inside) or do you keep it out to help the starter ferment the rest of the recipe?
Thanks
Heather says
This recipe is amazing and super simple! The 2nd time I used this recipe I accidentally poured in Buttermilk (looks the same as the container for goat’s milk) and wound up with the fluffiest pancakes ever! Thank you for sharing!
Karen says
Excellent! My grandchildren love them and we make them often on the Saturdays. We add either blueberries or chocolate chips and use the overnight method.
Cassie says
Turned out amazing!! I love all of your sourdough recipes ❤️
Jean says
Anna says
Love this recipe! I made it the first time with all the incredients listed. The second time I used sprouted spelt flour and sprouted spelt flowed sourdough active starter also, instead of milk I used water.
They came out so good and fluffy on both!
Brianna B says
Hands down the best pancakes I have ever made! So fluffy and fat !
Brenda says
My family and I love these pancakes. I just started my sourdough journey a few months back and I’ve made these 3 times already. The only thing I do differently is I add a tsp of vanilla, I love vanilla so I add if it doesn’t call for it or I put a little extra when it does. I just make them the same day and they come out delicious every time. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
KS says
These were delicious! I used a scoop of vanilla protein powder in place of the sugar and used almond milk. They were very fluffy and my family loved them!
Christina says
I made these for my family this morning and we loved them. My 12 year old son has been protesting sourdough and ate these right up! Thank you for sharing.
Susan says