The Best Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes Made with Whole Grain.

Last updated on January 15th, 2024 at 03:48 pm

Using whole grain einkorn and leftover sourdough starter, these sourdough pancakes are a delicious and nutritious recipe for any day of the week! Top with your favourite nut butter or jam for an easy grab-and-go breakfast, or keep it traditional with a pat of butter and a drizzle of real maple syrup.

We Love Sourdough Pancakes!

Since the day my daughter was able to help in the kitchen, these sourdough pancakes have become a staple in our kitchen. This recipe is adapted from Anne Willan’s La Varenne Pratique and I have been making it for over a decade. These sourdough pancakes can be topped with whatever you please, but our household favourite is fresh seasonal fruit finished with some whipped cream and real Canadian maple syrup.

While we typically make these on the weekend, we almost always double the recipe and freeze what we don’t eat. It is so easy to reheat them during the week for the morning rush– just pop them in the toaster or microwave and you’re good to go! For this recipe, I am using einkorn from flourist but you could use any einkorn or even sub in other whole grains like spelt or emmer.

Saving Sourdough Discard

While I try to do smaller feeds to reduce the waste I often find myself with a little bit of extra starter. Throughout the week I add it all to a jar that is kept in the fridge. When you want to use your sourdough discard for baking, and remove it from the fridge 1-2 hours before using. While we often use our discard for pancakes and waffles, we have added a few more of our favourites in the sourdough discard section of the site.

Tips For Light and Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes:

• Do not overmix the pancake batter. You don’t want a strong gluten development so the pancakes stay light and not flat.
• Let the batter rest for 30-45 minutes before cooking. Resting the batter will help the dough hydrate and reduce lumps in the batter. It will also allow the gluten time to relax resulting in a lighter pancake.
• Allow the pancakes to bubble and just pop before flipping. Be patient! If the bottom is getting too dark before they are ready to flip reduce the heat.

Tools You’ll Need:

You don’t need much to make this sourdough pancake recipe but in my experience, the best way to cook them is on a griddle top or heavy cast iron pan. Using a cast iron pan for cooking sourdough discard pancakes is a game-changer. Not only do these durable pans last a lifetime, but they also provide even heat distribution, resulting in perfectly cooked and beautifully golden pancakes. If the surface of your pan is properly seasoned you get an amazing non-stick cooking experience, allowing you to effortlessly flip and slide the pancakes onto your plate.

• Cast iron pan or griddle – We LOVE our Smithey pan. We have had it for over 5 years and use it almost every day.
• Stainless steel mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Whisk
• Ladle
• Metal spatula to flip the pancakes

Sourdough Pancake Recipe Variations:

While this sourdough pancake recipe never gets old, it can be fun to switch it up sometimes. Here are a few of our favourite variations.

• Blueberry Sourdough Pancakes – Add one cup of blueberries at the end of mixing the batter. if you’d like to prevent the blueberries from smearing the pancakes simply roll them in a small amount of flour before adding them to the batter.
• Vegan Sourdough Pancakes – Replace the milk with non-dairy milk, the butter with olive oil and the egg with a flax egg. For the flax egg, mix one tbsp flax seeds with 3 tbsp water and let stand for 15 minutes.
• Whole Wheat Sourdough Pancakes – Replace the einkorn flour with whole wheat flour.
• Banana Pancakes – Add 1 sliced banana to the batter at the end of mixing.
• Buckwheat Pancakes – Substitute 1/2 the total flour for buckwheat flour.
• Buttermilk Pancakes – Substitute all of the milk for buttermilk. Buttermilk is very acidic and baking soda is a base. The two react together and make an even lighter and fluffier pancake.
• Non-Sourdough Pancakes – If you don’t have a sourdough starter you can make these without. Remove the sourdough discard and reduce the flour to 150 grams/1 cup. If you don’t have a sourdough starter I recommend checking out my guide on how you can create your own.
• Mini Sourdough Pancakes – Pour the sourdough pancake batter into a small squeeze bottle. Carefully let the batter pour into the pan in small circles from the squeeze bottle and cook them the same way.

Sourdough Pancakes Specs:

Ingredients:

Loved This Recipe? Try More of Our Sourdough Whole Grain Recipes!

We love baking with whole grains and hope you do too! For more whole-grain recipes check out our recipe for whole wheat pitas or our decadent chocolate cake with rye.

Sourdough Pancakes Recipe Card:

The Best Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes Made With Whole Grain

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5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Matthew James Duffy
• Total Time: Aprox 60 min
• Yield: 12 Medium Pancakes 1x

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Description

Using whole grain einkorn and leftover sourdough starter, these sourdough pancakes are a delicious and nutritious recipe for any day of the week! Top with your favourite nut butter or jam for an easy grab-and-go breakfast, or keep it traditional with a pat of butter and a drizzle of real maple syrup. 

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 200g (1.5 cups) Whole-grain Einkorn (you can use any whole-grain or whole-wheat)
• 125g (1/2 cup) Sourdough discard
• 3g (1/2 tsp) Salt
• 40g (2 tbsp) Maple Syrup
• 5g (1 tsp) baking powder
• 4g (3/4 tsp) baking soda
• 1  Egg
• 5g (1 tsp) Vanilla Paste  or Extract
• 30g (2 tbsp) Melted Butter
• 250g (1 cup) Whole Milk or Almond Milk
• 45g (2–3 tbsp) Butter for frying
• 30g (1–2 tsp) Neutral oil for cooking

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Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients and whisk them lightly to combine.
2. Add the sourdough discard, egg, vanilla extract, maple syrup and milk to a mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients together to combine.  Add the melted butter. 
3. Whisking slowly combine the wet and the dry ingredients. The batter should be mixed thoroughly but allow some small lumps to remain. Be careful not to overmix.
4. Allow the pancake batter to rest for 30-45 minutes.
5. Preheat a cast iron skillet or griddle to medium heat. Wipe the pan lightly leaving enough oil to prevent the pancakes from sticking. Using a ladle, spoon or pitcher pour the batter into the pan. Once the pancakes have started to cook add a small amount of butter.
6. The batter will bubble and start to pop (about 2 minutes). Flip the pancakes and allow them to cook through (another 2-3 minutes).
7. Cook the remaining pancakes the same way and pile them directly on top of the first batch to help them stay warm.

Notes

• Do not overmix the batter.
• If the butter is browning when you are cooking the pancake the pan is too hot.
• If your pancakes are browning too fast before they have a chance to bubble the pan is too hot.
• Try freezing your pancakes for an easy and quick breakfast. Just add your pancakes into a reusable freezer bag for up to 3 months. To defrost simply pop into toaster or microwave for about 30 seconds.

• Prep Time: 20 min
• Resting time: 30 – 45 min
• Cook Time: 12 min
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Sourdough