I have worked out baking bread with Sourdough as the only leaven and it rises well with a great texture. Pancakes are another story. To get a nice fluffy pancake I have added 1 t baking soda and 1 t baking powder. I have tried with out and the pancakes are rubbery. I have thought about mixing my recipe and letting it set for about an hour to get the sourdough active then bake but am worried that milk and egg might not be good eats after setting for awhile. Any suggestions?
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What I do is not so much base my pancakes/pikelets on leftover starter discard, as add some of it to a pancake mix.
Here's my method.
In one bowl (dry stuff) 1 cup sifted self raising fl
1/2 t bi-carb soda (maybe a tad more)
In another bowl:
about 150 g or so of starter discard ( I keep mine 1/2 way between dough and batter, more like dough, probably so not liquid but not stiff either)
a cup or so of milk (play it by ear, add more if needed, but the runnier it is the smaller you need to keep the pancakes - I often make them as pikelets - while the firmer they are the slower you need to cook them)
1/2 cup or so of caster sugar
A cap or so of vanilla essence
2 eggs
(sometimes - a dollop of natural yoghurt, if I have it)
Whisk the wet stuff until smooth - add the milk slowly to starter and mix until you can readily add everything else. Then add the dry stuff and very quickly mix/whisk it together. If you don;t do this fast it goes lumpy!
Cook immediately - don't rest.
My kids swear by these...
I will try this next weekend ! Thanks for the recipe !
Lovely pancakes, light & fluffy. Perfect with vanilla bean & strawberry sauce! Yum. Thanks for posting.
Worth noting that because of relatively high sugar component, these brown up quickly so a low heat is important. Cheers.
Yes you have to watch that they don't burn... Make you can tell when they are ready to turn because you can see bubbles appearing. If there's lots of bubbles all over and your heat is high, they will be burnt. Any that I leave a little too long are well appreciated by the chooks or dogs!
You can certainly reduce the sugar, but my kids like them the way they are!
I am trying to make the pancakes with out the use of Baking soda or Baking powder. I am able to make the bread very well with only sourdough as the leaven and want to do the same with pancakes.
My recipe is simple,
Wet = 3 cups of active starter, 1 egg, 2/3 cup milk, 2 T olive oil
Dry = 1 cup AP flour, 1 t salt, 1 t baking soda, 1 t baking powder, 2 T sugar
Combine the dry and whisk, combine the wet and whisk, combine the dry to the wet and whisk. It should start to rise and be very thick. bake on med hot griddle until golden brown and delicious. I like mine with butter and maple syrup.
I am trying to omit the baking soda and powder and still arrive at a fluffy pancake. I have not had luck with this yet
I tried once to make them without any baking soda or powder, it turned out great, just wannna try this way to see the difference.
You can see the pics of the ones without any raising agent, in THIS link !
Hi wforrest.
I understand your position on this. I also would like to make pancakes without the use of any leavening agent other than my starter, and I have experimented with this. So far, my best results have been using a starter that has been fed last thing at night and used in the pancake mix in the morning. The result is not the nice light texture I generally associate with good pancakes. Rather, the pancakes tend to be a bit heavier, but flavour is good.
One way of adding a bit of airiness to the pancakes is to separate the egg whites and beat them until they are light and foamy, then fold them gently into the pancake batter (which has already had the yolk and all other ingredients beaten into a smooth consistency). Start making your pancakes immediately. You'll find the airiness contributed by the beaten egg whites gradually dissipates, so your last pancakes will be heavier than the first ones.
I live in hope of developing a starter pancake that is light without using SR flour or baking powder/soda, but as yet have not brought this off.
That said, the batter I make when I'm not trying to completely do away with leavening agents other than the starter makes beautiful light pancakes, and this is achieved with minimal baking powder/soda (and I don't use SR flour) - and no salt. It does include beaten egg whites. I'll post this starter pancake recipe separately if you're interested. Many folk have developed starter pancakes they are delighted with, and I am no exception! Whether others agree with the assessment depends on their idea of a great pancake!
Cheers
Ross
Thanks to all who replied. I enjoy trying new things and hearing what others are doing.
Thanks for your input
Appreciate what you are trying to do, but I will note that bicarb soda works especially well (so long as you are happy to use it) with some SD starter in the mix because it reacts with the acidity. I've never made sourdough "quickbread", but it uses the same principle...