Craving a loaf of sourdough bread? Make it yourself if you have a Sourdough Starter. Learn how to take care of your starter to keep it healthy in this post. And get a bonus sourdough starter pancake recipe too!
I am away on vacation this week but I prepared a quick post for you today about sourdough starters. Before you can make a sourdough bread, you will need to get your hands on a sourdough starter. You can totally make your own starter at home if no one has any to spare (see resource list below). And just like your kids, you have to feed your starter regularly to keep it alive! No one wants a dead starter on their hands 😉
The starter pictured above is a 100% hydration sourdough starter. That means it is 1 part starter, 1 part flour and 1 part water BY WEIGHT! Very important. You may recall from the video in my sourdough bread recipe post that my starter was a lot more liquid, it just had more water, or higher hydration. If you get into sourdough breadmaking you will see the term hydration a lot.
I bake bread maybe every 3 weeks. And I keep my starter in the fridge so I only have to refresh it (feed it) once a week. Check out this short video of me feeding my starter! If you like the video make sure to subscribe to my channel!
Sourdough Starter Resource Center
Want to learn more about sourdough starters and try bread recipes? Check out this resource list:
- King Arthur’s recommendation for feeding various starters
- Sourdough.com like everything you want to know about sourdough is here
- A sourdough Bread recipe with no added yeast
- Troubleshooting and make your own starter from scratch with the Starter Dr.
- Using extra starter in other recipes
Since I do not bake every week, it took me a while to figure out how much starter to keep so I would not be wasteful the following week. I feed 2 ounces of starter and end up with 6 ounces once fed. If I do nothing at the end of the week I only toss 4 ounces. Sometimes I freeze it to give to friends. Or I use the starter in a recipe from the last link listed above. Like these fluffy sourdough egg-free pancakes.
Don’t have a sourdough starter, no worries just check out this recipe for fluffy pancakes.
But my favorite no fuss recipe that is practically made up of only the starter is pancakes. This egg-free pancake sourdough recipe is the bomb. The pancakes have a light sour tastes and are just a touch chewy. If I am alone for breakfast I just make 2 pancakes out of my 4 ounces. If you want to make the full recipe I would feed all 6 ounces the night before to get the 2 cups and make the pancakes in the morning. Just remember to keep 2 ounces aside to feed.
Even if you do not bake bread, it is worth having a starter just to enjoy these pancakes every weekend!
Egg-free Sourdough Starter Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups sourdough starter
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- optional: water
- Butter for frying
Instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl.
- If the starter is really too thick you can mix in a bit of water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time. It should still be thick.
- Heat a non-stick skillet on the stove or griddle. Add a bit of butter and spread 1/4 cup of the mix per pancake into the skillet and cook until browned on both sides.
Did you know the sourdough starter is created by the process of fermentation? Here are a few more fermented recipes:
My mom makes similar pancakes… yummy.
Thanks Geek for your comment, yeah they are pretty darn good, right? 🙂
That is what google calendar reminders are for 😉 Works for me lol.
I am still scarred from my chef apprenticeship days when it comes to sour dough, that was seriously one of the longest classes of my cooking training days. BUT… perhaps I should get over that so I can make me some of these delicious pancakes.
I can imagine how scary learning this in such a setting would be more terrifying lol. but if I have not killed mine yet, you can do it!
Thanks for the video on how you care for your starter. After seeing these pancakes I’m tempted to get some sourdough starter started again.
You will not regret it, the pancakes and so good, fluffy yet more chewy!
Oh Evelyne, I just started my sourdough starter…I could not wait for the weather to get warmer, and bought a package of the starter…and I am so excited to see the little bubbles. I look forward to try these pancakes…great texture!
Thanks my dear 🙂
Oh hurray so glad you did not wait! And we do feel joy at the sight of those bubbles right? And the smell! Let me know how the pancakes turn out!
Great looking pancakes and I have been saying I need a sourdough starter to make that delicious bread, etc. Hope you’re having a great vacation!
Thanks Pam! Alas I am already back and dealign with serious jet lag/13 h time change. once I am back to my routine lots of travel post to come with pics! ANd loads of videos for youtube!
Such a gorgeous stack of pancakes! Never made a sourdough bread or starter. But its time to change that, at least for these pancakes.
I am so glad many like you are now tempted to get your starters going just for the pancakes to start. They are really worth it!
I also only feed my starter weekly. I’m hoping my new batch works out perfectly so that I can blog about making one from scratch.
Weekly is the best, even 10 days while I was away did no harm. Can’t wait to read you post on this bread when you put it up!
I love sourdough but I need to get my starter going again – need to remember to feed it!
Those pancakes look to die for, Evelyn. Have fun in China!
Thanks so much Angie, and I am back alas 🙁 travel posts to come.