The Best Pancake Recipe with Sourdough Discard – Open Doors Open Hearts (2024)

I never used to eat pancakes with my family on Saturday morning. But now we use this pancake recipe with sourdough discard and I can’t resist.

I’m sure I’m not the only Mom whose kiddos LOVE pancakes.

It’s one of their favorite breakfast foods.

In part because I generally make them on Saturday mornings so they aren’t a regular everyday breakfast, but also because this recipe is AMAZING.

I’ve tried many different pancake recipes over the years.

But I’ve never made pancakes that were worth the heavy and bloated feeling that followed EVERY TIME.

That was until I made this pancake recipe with sourdough discard.

I found this recipe from Taste of Lizzy T and from there I made modifications to turn it into our favorite Saturday morning meal!

And guess what?!

I don’t feel bloated or heavy after eating these delicious pancakes!

You can watch the video on YouTube if that’s easier.

Why Sourdough?

I started using sourdough for 2 reasons.

The main reason was because of the health benefits.

I have battled with stomach issues for years, and it didn’t matter what I did.

I finally landed myself in a doctor’s office with them suggesting I start to take extra vitamins and supplements to see if it would help solve my problem.

I’m a nurse by training, and therefore I’m not against pills.

But I am against them until I’ve exhausted all other efforts.

Not by coincidence, I’m sure, I read from Lisa at Farmhouse on Boone that sourdough can help with digestive issues.

As a last-ditch effort, I started transitioning my carbohydrate intake from whatever whole wheat bread I was buying at the store to sourdough.

Now I can’t back this up with science, this is just my experience, but it has helped!

My stomach hurts so much less than it was before I started this sourdough journey!!

The other reason we decided to start a sourdough starter was because of the cost of groceries lately.

It takes practice and getting comfortable with your sourdough starter, but the sky is truly the limit.

I’ve made breakfast muffins, bread, buns, English muffins, and these pancakes.

It’s not as convenient as grabbing it at the store, but there is so much more gratification in making it from scratch.

Not to mention I know exactly what’s in the things I put on the plate for my family.

We aren’t completely transitioned.

But we are getting closer and closer to our goal of most of our groceries being from home or locally sourced.

Sourdough has definitely helped with that in the baked goods department.

Pancake Recipe with Sourdough Discard| Ingredients

• 1 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 C. sourdough starter discard
• 3/4 C. milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pancake Recipe with Sourdough Discard | Directions

Pancake Recipe with Sourdough Discard | Mixing the Batter

Step 1.

Begin preheating the pan on low heat.

As I’ve made this recipe I’ve noticed that this small step helps make the first batch that comes off the pan better.

Not that I’ve ever forgotten or anything, BUT if you forget to do this, the pancakes aren’t terrible, but they definitely look better haha

Step 2.

First combine the 1 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp baking powder in a bowl. Once mixed set aside.

I like to mix my dry ingredients first because then I don’t have to wash any of my measuring utensils.

By doing the dry ingredients first I can just give them a wipe down with a towel and then move on to the next step.

(I do this for all the recipes I make because I’d rather have less time doing dishes haha!)

Step 3.

Next, mix the remaining wet ingredients together; 1/2 cup of sourdough starter discard, 1 egg, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 3/4 cup of milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract.

There is no science to this step.

Just dump everything together and begin mixing.

Step 4.

Now add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until it’s completely mixed.

It will be a little bubbly, but that is how you’re going to get all that fluff once you put them in the pan.

Pancake Recipe with Sourdough Discard | Cooking Them

Step 5.

After you have the pancake batter mixed begin by scooping 1/4 C. of batter into the pan.

I like to do this for a couple reasons.

Once it makes all the pancakes similar in size so they all cook at the same rate.

But more importantly, it also reduces the likelihood that I am going to be asked to put on my referee hat and split up a fight between my girls because “I’ve got a bigger pancake than you!”

If you’ve been there you know exactly what I’m talking about.

For Mama, this is second in importance, only to tasting delicious haha!

Step 6.

Let the batter sit in the pan until it begins to bubble. Once it bubbles you can flip it and cook it on the other side for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Step 7.

Now that the sourdough pancakes are cooked remove them from the pan and enjoy!

This is when we like to add homemade berry sauce or just fresh berries.

But if berries aren’t in season then butter, peanut butter, and maple syrup are wonderful too!

This recipe will yield about 10 pancakes.

This is great for my family.

We usually only have 1-2 pancakes left over if we have any left over at all.

To Double this Pancake Recipe with Sourdough Discard

The original recipe I got this one from was pretty similar but it made a HUGE amount of pancakes.

If you need to use up more sourdough discard and if you don’t mind having leftovers that do it!

When I double this recipe the only thing I do differently is I DON’T double the egg.

I double everything else, but only add 1 egg.

I’m sure if you wanted to you could double the egg and it would turn out great, but I have yet to try that.

If you do try that let me know how it goes in the comments.

Also, if you’re looking for more ways to use up your sourdough discard check out this recipe.

It’s lemon ricotta cheese cookies.

I know that sounds kinda crazy, but between you and me, while I was shooting the pictures for that recipe I took a little potty break and when I came back (after being specifically instructed NOT to eat the cookies yet) my daughters were trying to sneak a couple of cookies.

Silly girls thought I wouldn’t notice them missing haha!

That is how good these cookies are!

I couldn’t keep my little girl’s hands off them.

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