When my friend, Dianne, offered to share her sourdough starter with me, I could hardly wait to make sourdough pancakes. While living in Alaska, I frequently had sourdough pancakes at my grandma's house. She had an old McCoy crock that she kept her sourdough starter in and she made pancakes at least once a week. I loved the unique taste that sourdough gave the pancakes and the contrast between the taste of the pancakes and the sweet syrup. My mouth has often watered just thinking of those pancakes and I wished that I could duplicate the taste. I will admit, as I was cooking my first batch of pancakes from Dianne's starter, I pulled pieces off the first pancake so that I could taste the distinct sourdough flavor. I wasn't disappointed. The pancakes were as good as I had remembered.
A memory from my very early childhood is that of visiting my Great Grandma Armstrong who lived in Southwest Missouri, about two and half hours away from where I lived sixty miles south of St. Louis. Little Grandma, as I called her, would get up early and mix up pancakes in the kitchen of the old house in which she lived after having fired up the wood cook stove to get it burning hot. I remember lying in the big old bed on a feather mattress on which I threatened to disappear in the "fluff" and listening to the sounds of Grandma in the kitchen cooking breakfast. When the food was ready, I would hop out of bed and be served a special treat of "silver dollar" pancakes. These were miniature pancakes that grandma made just for me that were the size of a silver dollar.
Pancakes evoke a lot of good memories for me and I still feel like I am getting a treat when I eat them. I love mine smothered in real butter and maple syrup. How do you like yours?
Sourdough Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large egg beaten
2 tablespoons butter
In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt)
Add sourdough starter, 1 large beaten egg, and 2 tablespoons of butter. Pour in 1 to 1/2 cups of milk to make batter and mix by hand. I use around 1 cup of milk to make a thicker batter. If you want thinner pancakes, use more milk.
Grease skillet and pour batter onto hot skillet to make pancakes. Turn when pancakes bubble and edges begin to turn brown..
Tips for making pancakes:
Pancake batter is supposed to be lumpy. Do not over-stir. Stirring the batter too much will keep the pancakes from being light and fluffy. Use a heavy, non stick skillet or griddle or a well seasoned cast iron skillet for cooking pancakes. Don't use butter to grease skillet as it will burn. My healthy choice for greasing a skillet is either ghee or coconut oil. You will know your skillet is hot enough when you sprinkle a drop of water on the surface and it bounces across the skillet. Once the pancakes begin to bubble uniformly, turn them and wait approximately two minutes for them to cook on the other side. One can use some sort of measuring device to pour the pancakes so that they are all the same size. A dry measuring cup or a cookie scoop works well for smaller pancakes. I like to make larger pancakes and make them one at a time, using my small, cast iron skillet as a guide to determine size as I pour.
Tips for making pancakes:
Pancake batter is supposed to be lumpy. Do not over-stir. Stirring the batter too much will keep the pancakes from being light and fluffy. Use a heavy, non stick skillet or griddle or a well seasoned cast iron skillet for cooking pancakes. Don't use butter to grease skillet as it will burn. My healthy choice for greasing a skillet is either ghee or coconut oil. You will know your skillet is hot enough when you sprinkle a drop of water on the surface and it bounces across the skillet. Once the pancakes begin to bubble uniformly, turn them and wait approximately two minutes for them to cook on the other side. One can use some sort of measuring device to pour the pancakes so that they are all the same size. A dry measuring cup or a cookie scoop works well for smaller pancakes. I like to make larger pancakes and make them one at a time, using my small, cast iron skillet as a guide to determine size as I pour.