I always feel a little bit like pancakes don’t quite belong on this blog. As a baker, I’m drawn to breakfast food, and they do have cake in their name, but they seem like less of an adventure than other things I make. But I wanted to make another loaf of sourdough bread this weekend, and was already feeding my starter, so decided to give these a try. As consolation for them not being super exciting, I’ll supplement them with a good story.

When making these pancakes on Saturday morning, I learned that pancakes can actually be quite divisive as a food. For one, I found that I classify pancakes differently than Erik. I firmly believe that my dad’s pancakes are the best recipe in existence. But I also consider those an entirely different beast from the cottage cheese pancakes I’ve made before or these sourdough pancakes. Erik thinks they are all pancakes, and that ricotta pancakes are the best. To me, ricotta pancakes are ricotta pancakes – my dad’s pancakes are pancakes. This makes sense in my world.

Second, we found that we have different methods of consuming pancakes. Erik likes to eat them as they come off the pan, plain. I like to wait until they’re all cooked and then sit down with a stack spread with butter and maple syrup (real, of course).

Fortunately, one thing seems to remain an essential truth of pancakes: they always taste better in the shape of Mickey Mouse.Anyways, these pancakes were pretty good. Very whole-wheaty, which made them feel healthyish (and justified extra butter and maple syrup), and they kept pretty well as breakfast for the next day, too.

This will involve some prep work – namely, having a starter and realizing the night before that you’re going to want pancakes.

The night before, combine 1/2 cup of starter with 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups of water. Allow to sit overnight covered. When you’re ready for breakfast, remove 1/2 cup of the starter to replenish your stash. Then mix in the egg, oil, and milk. Next, in a small dish, combine the salt, baking soda, and brown sugar. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the batter and fold in gently. allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Cook pancakes on medium heat. Keep pancakes small for best results. When ready to serve, get some good butter and maple syrup. If you’re saving them for a snack, put them in a ziploc bag and refrigerate or freeze.

Enjoy!

Sourdough Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups water
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons corn oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

1. The night before, combine 1/2 cup starter with whole wheat flour and water. Allow to sit at room temperature, covered, overnight.
2. In the morning, remove 1/2 cup starter to replenish store. To the batter, add egg, corn oil, and milk and mix thoroughly.
3. In a small dish, combine salt, baking soda, and brown sugar. Sprinkle over batter and fold in gently.
4. Allow batter to sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Fry pancakes over medium heat until golden on both sides.