I’ve had two sourdough starters in my life. The first was one that I made based on the instructions in Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, nicknamed Barma Yaga. RIP to her, for I did not have the attention span to properly care for her and eventually just gave up, figuring sourdough was not for current me but maybe a project for future me. Future me arrived in September 2019 (yes, I just double-checked my email history), when instead of trying to cultivate a starter from scratch I ordered one from King Arthur Flour. I didn’t nickname it because I didn’t want to get attached. Anyway, it’s March 2021 now, and it’s still going, despite some close calls. I’ve learned over the past year and a half that it’s really, really hard to actually kill a starter, and I’ve also learned a lot about how incredibly annoying it is to take care of a starter when you don’t actually bake sourdough that often.
The thing about sourdough, for me, is that I like sandwich bread. I like bread that cuts evenly, that isn’t too too crusty, and that doesn’t overwhelm me with Flavor. I like a slight tang and a reasonably dense crumb, at least in comparison to the classic airy starter. I like it to complement a sandwich filling, not overwhelm it. Bryan Ford’s New World Sourdough was a godsend for me in this sense, but I’m not here to talk about the bread recipes I like (the olive oil & sea salt loaf from that book slaps, though). I’m here to talk about the actual best use of sourdough starter: pancakes.
The internet is rife with ideas for how to use starter for things that aren’t loaves of bread, and it’s also rife with pancake recipes. The Venn diagram overlap typically asks you to think ahead, to decide the night before that you want pancakes for breakfast the next day and prepare accordingly. I am not that good at planning ahead (and rarely attempt 2-3-day recipes because of this; I know my weaknesses). So when I came across this same-day recipe in Nancy Silverton’s Breads from the La Brea Bakery, of course I was all over it. (Silverton and her 1996 book have had an enormous impact on American bread making: I ordered this cookbook because two 2020 releases cited it as an influence. (Silverton’s influence extends to pastry as well, but we’re sticking to bread right now.))
Anyway, Silverton’s pancake recipe fulfills three really important criteria for me: it takes all of 20 minutes from start to breakfast, if that; it was easily halved (the recipe below is for the halved version, because I am only making breakfast for two people); and it tastes really good. If you have a sourdough starter, try it and tell me what you think. And if you don’t have one…well, you have a lot of other pancake recipes out there for you, so I think you’ll be okay.
Is it product placement if I don’t get paid?
Sourdough pancakes
Makes approx. 8 pancakes • Adapted from Nancy Silverton, Breads from the La Brea Bakery
The basket
9 oz starter (a little over 1 cup)*
Silverton specifies using a “white starter” aka one fed with all-purpose or bread flour; I feed my starter with the proportions of 25g starter, 157g lukewarm water, and 160g all-purpose flour, which will give you the cup you need for this recipe
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1.5 tablespoons neutral oil (like sunflower, safflower, corn, vegetable)
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
The path
Preheat oven to 250°F, with your griddle in it if oven-safe. (The relatively even heating of an oven helps prevent uneven heating on the stove top, which exacerbates smoking. My griddle is non-stick, but oven-safe, so I just leave it in there until I need it.)
Whisk starter, maple syrup, oil, and egg in a bowl or 4-cup liquid measuring cup.
Add salt, baking soda, and baking powder (Silverton says to pass them through a fine-mesh strainer, but I didn’t notice any real difference between that vs. just adding them and whisking well). Whisk to combine. The batter should be thick, but elastic and airy.
Put the griddle over medium-high heat. Brush with oil or unsalted butter, then pour 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. When the surface is covered in bubbles, flip. Cook until the bottom is brown, about one more minute, then remove the pancakes and put on a tray. Keep them in the oven as you make the rest.
When everything is done and you’re ready to serve, use anything you want as an accompaniment. Silverton suggests powdered sugar and fresh raspberries, or sautéed apple slices and cinnamon. I, personally, suggest butter, preferably salted.