Sourdough discard pancake recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best way to use sourdough discard? ›

What to do with sourdough discard? Don't throw it away! Instead, use it to make delicious and nutritious treats like pancakes, waffles, muffins, and bread. Sourdough discard is a great source of natural yeast and flavor, and can add a unique tangy taste to your baked goods.

Gummy sourdough pancakes are usually due to cooking issues. Be sure to fully cook the pancakes all the way through.

Can sourdough discard be used as starter? While sourdough discard can't replace an active starter in a recipe that relies on a robust leavening agent, it can be revitalized and used to create a new starter.

You can always use this discard by directly mixing it into a dough for baking. Your discard, as long as it's in good shape, will leaven any bread dough just as well. The discard is just like a levain you would make for a recipe. The only difference is it's the same makeup as your starter.

Do I have to discard my sourdough starter? It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

Store it for future baking: You can store sourdough discard in an airtight container in the refrigerator for future baking with sourdough discard recipes. When you're ready to use it, let the discard come to room temperature before using it to bake.

Try less water with your flour. Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer.

Thick, fluffy results that pair perfectly with syrup and butter (though sometimes my kids eat these plain, too). Batter can be made in advance, if you'd like to make it a day or two beforehand. Sourdough imparts a subtle tangy flavor, similar to buttermilk.

The pancake batter can stay in the fridge for up to 2 days before using it to make the waffles and pancakes. NOTE: The batter doesn't have to ferment overnight if you'd like to cook these the same day. Mix ALL of the ingredients together, let the batter sit for 20 minutes and then proceed with cooking.

You can store mature sourdough discard in the refrigerator indefinitely. As long as there is no mold, it is good to use. It may develop a grayish liquid on top called “hooch” which can be poured off before use or stirred in. If you stir it in, the flavor will become more sour.

When to start saving sourdough discards? ›

If you've just created your sourdough starter, wait until it's reliably rising and falling each day with signs of fermentation—some rise, bubbles, a progressive sour aroma—before storing discard in your cache.

Whenever I feed my starter, I don't throw out the discard. I store the discard in the fridge until I have enough to bake with. When baking with unfed/discard starter, I don't need to worry about the starter being at its "peak." I can use it right out of the container without feeding it. Even if it's been in the fridge.

If you don't get rid of the excess, eventually you'll have more starter than your feedings can sustain. After a few days, your daily 1/4 cup flour and water won't be enough to sustain your entire jar of starter, and your starter will be slow and sluggish, not much better than discard itself.

You can store sourdough discard in a separate container, then bake with it when you want — for instance, maybe you fed your starter on Tuesday, leaving you with discard that you want to use to bake pancakes on Saturday.

Room Temperature:

The yeast and bacteria in sourdough discard work very quickly at room temperature, so I would only keep discard at room temperature IF you're planning on using it within 1-2 days.

It can be at room temperature or come directly from the fridge. The texture is less bubbly (if bubbly at all) when compared to fluffy active starter. Sourdough discard is not active enough to make bread dough rise, and despite its name the “discard” does not have to be thrown away.

Benefits of using sourdough discard

Sourdough discard imparts so many benefits to baked goods. Flavor: Sourdough adds a delicious, nuanced flavor to desserts and savory baked goods. It adds a slight sour flavor without making them taste too off putting or acidic.

Can I use my sourdough discard straight out of the fridge to refresh my starter? Yes! You do not need to warm it up first.

You can put your sourdough discard either in the trash. or the compost, or you can use it in recipes. Don't put it down the drain. If you have ever, like, tried to clean out a crusty sourdough starter jar, you know, that stuff turns to, like, basically cement.