Sourdough pancakes are a great way to use up some of the sourdough starter you would ordinarily throw away when feeding your starter.
This recipe is a riff on one that has been handed down from generation to generation on Mr. Stone Soup’s side. The men on Mr. Soup’s side get together once a year at their cabins in Idaho for the annual fishing trip and whip these up for breakfast at least a couple of times for every trip. It’s a great recipe–easy and straightforward. My twist on the original is that I just use discard I would otherwise throw away for the base of these cakes.
These are substantial cakes. If you like your cakes a little thinner or more delicate, add a little more milk. I like to make them on a cold, inclement morning–there’s something about those crispy edges and substantive texture that makes you cozy on the inside when it’s blustery outside.
During my experimentations starting in the summer of 2025, I have been using a combination of whole wheat and bread-flour-fed starter, which has become my favorite.
For this recipe, I used only the discard from the starters of both whole wheat and bread-flour-fed starters–this worked out very well, and this recipe is very flexible.
Whole Wheat Sourdough Pancakes
Ingredients
Instructions
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Feed your starter as usual the day before you want to make the pancakes. In the morning when you go to make your pancakes, you will use the discard from your starter as the base for your pancakes. Pour out as much of your discard as you would if you were going to feed it and instead of throwing it out, place it in a medium sized bowl. My usual discard makes about 8 good-sized pancakes, so if you want to feed a crowd, make sure to feed your starter extra. For this recipe, I use both whole wheat and bread-flour-fed starters for my cakes, but this recipe is very flexible. I would say that you will want to make sure you've got about three cups of starter total, but a little more or less will not matter.
To the starter in the large bowl, add 1 well beaten egg, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1/4 cup milk and mix well.
Mix the 1.5 teaspoons Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar together and fold gently into the batter mixture. Let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes.
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Heat a cast iron griddle (or large cast iron skillet), other griddle or large skillet and add 2-3 tablespoons of butter. Once the griddle or pan is well-heated, but not smoking, add the batter to the grill. This batter is pretty thick, so the cakes are going to be nicely misshapen and rustic. Make any sized cakes you prefer, but be mindful of cooking them all the way through. A good medium-high heat will give the cakes those nice, crispy edges, but you may need to turn the heat down to medium to make sure the cakes are cooked through. Also, pay attention to the amount of butter that the cakes soak up--you will want to have more butter at the ready to add if needed.
Serve the pancakes immediately in order to enjoy those crispy edges! I like mine with just the butter from the griddle, but have warm syrup at the ready for those who like a more traditional take on their griddle cakes!
Note
This recipe makes a nice, thick pancake. Add more milk for a little thinner batter if you prefer.
I used my rye starter and whole wheat flour for my last batch of sourdough pancakes. They were very good, but much more hearty and rustic than I was used to. They would be GREAT in the setting of a snowy cabin in the woods!
For a more refined take on pancakes, use regular all-purpose or bread flour for the overnight starter process.
