I almost never make "normal" pancakes anymore. Just like I don't make plain cheese quesadillas. I'm always after something interesting to add. So here's my recipe for sourdrough pancakes, with apples added - but I'll put a list in at the end of all sorts of other fun things that I've mixed in recently, too.
First, you need a sourdough starter. I got mine by mixing flour and water and waiting until it got bubbly, then feeding it periodically. There are all sorts of recipes online about making and feeding starters, but I'm about as lazy as it gets. I keep mine in a sealed glass jar and feed it whenever I use it, and occasionally otherwise. I never measure what I add to it. I've let it go for a week or more at room temperature and had no problems using it in a recipe. It helps that all of my recipes involve long, overnight fermentations; plenty of time for whatever yeast and lacto-bacilli remain in my neglected starter to recoup, multiply and ferment.
Once you have the starter, the recipe for the pancake batter is quite simple. This is enough for one hungry 27-year-old male:
First, you need a sourdough starter. I got mine by mixing flour and water and waiting until it got bubbly, then feeding it periodically. There are all sorts of recipes online about making and feeding starters, but I'm about as lazy as it gets. I keep mine in a sealed glass jar and feed it whenever I use it, and occasionally otherwise. I never measure what I add to it. I've let it go for a week or more at room temperature and had no problems using it in a recipe. It helps that all of my recipes involve long, overnight fermentations; plenty of time for whatever yeast and lacto-bacilli remain in my neglected starter to recoup, multiply and ferment.
Once you have the starter, the recipe for the pancake batter is quite simple. This is enough for one hungry 27-year-old male:
- 1 cup/4 oz flour
- 1/2 cup/4 oz water
- 3 grams of salt
- 1 egg (you can at least triple this recipe without increasing the number of eggs)
- 1 tablespoon of neutral flavored oil (or mix in melted butter in the morning)
The night before, mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Use a whisk if you have it and mix just enough for everything to combine. And when I say just enough, I mean just enough. Shoot for 10 seconds. Leaving a few lumps is A-ok, they'll cook out. Optionally spritz the top with oil (see my bread post for a DIY oil spray) to keep a skin from developing overnight. This is only necessary with low humidity. Cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature.
In the morning fry up some sliced apples in butter on medium heat (I sliced two small apples for this):
Fry until the apples are soft and browned, about 10 minutes. Stir every couple of minutes to avoid burning. Transfer to another container and start making pancakes!
You can either add the apples to individual pancakes, as I did here, or mix them in with the batter. If you add individually, make sure to press them down into the batter a bit so that they don't fall out when you flip the pancakes.
Once your pancakes are set around the edges (a couple of minutes), flip them and cook another minute to finish. Plate and serve with whatever toppings you feel like; I recommend plain yogurt, but this morning I had none and used strawberry jam instead:
And there you have it. Here's a list of other ingredients I've added to pancakes this summer, or that I've thought of but haven't tried yet:
- Shredded carrots (it might sound odd, but it works, especially when combined with bananas)
- Bananas
- Shredded cucumber (In small amounts. I haven't tried this one yet)
- Any kind of dried fruit, added to the batter the night before
- Any kind of nuts, added in the morning
