Sourdough Pancakes Recipe

March 7, 2018 by Lisa 151 Comments

The best sourdough pancakes recipe is 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, even donuts! But, you know what I make with it more than anything else?

Pancakes. Deliciously fermented, fluffy, crisp around the edges, sourdough pancakes.

“If that’s so, why pray tell has it taken you so dang long to post the recipe?!”, you might ask.

I must admit, I have no excuse. I just never got around to it.

Several people on Youtube and Instagram stories asked me about my pancake recipe. Your promptings finally kicked me into gear.

So, here it finally is, my friends. Our sourdough pancake recipe. The one I have made every Saturday morning for probably, like, six years now.

Fast 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 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 straightaway, it will need a little fermenting time.

And if this is all a bunch of jibberish, 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.
Cast iron cooking requires some tricks. Find out how to make pancakes not stick below.
To get the pancakes a little crispy, make sure there is a bit of hot oil in your pan.
You can make this batter ahead of time, but I would recommend waiting until right before cooking to add the baking soda.
You can tell a pancake is ready to flip when all the bubbles have popped and there are no more bubbles coming up.

Sourdough Pancake Recipe Video

Tools you may need:

Nutrigrain mill (if you want to grind your flour to feed the starter)

Large bowl

Cast iron skillet

Measuring cups and spoons

Silicone spatula

Wooden spoon

Sourdough Pancake Recipe Ingredients

2 cups fed Sourdough Starter

2 eggs

1/4 cup melted coconut oil – if you don’t have coconut oil, you can swap it out for melted butter.

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Coconut 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 crispiness that makes pancakes so delicious.
Only flip the pancake one time.

How To Make Sourdough Pancakes

Mix the starter, eggs, coconut oil, honey, and salt in a glass bowl. Add the baking soda last, and watch the starter foam up. That’s my favorite part. 🙂
I like my sourdough pancakes to have that crispy fried edge. To do this, I start by preheating a tablespoon of coconut oil in my skillet.
After it is hot enough to produce a sizzle, I pour a ladle full of batter right onto the hot oil. At this point, I turn the stove down a bit 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, give it a little flip.
Allow it to cook another 30 seconds on the other side.
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Serve with butter, maple syrup, or even a bit of homemade whipped cream.

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.

What else can you do with sourdough starter?

So glad you asked! There are so many things to make with sourdough starter.