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Vegan Sourdough Pancakes (and how we make them even more digestible)

Kefir-Pancake-Syrup
Can we have those huge pancakes again for breakfast?” Elijah asked the other day. I knew the ones he spoke of – they were tangy and fluffy and, most important to a growing ten-year-old, as big as a plate. He ate two of them and probably had a snack an hour later, if I recall correctly. (Can anyone tell me if eating like a teenager since the age of eight is normal for a farm boy?)

sd-pancakes-bowl

These  particular (huge) pancakes are fermented overnight with a sourdough starter and made without the use of eggs or milk. Because we were out of eggs and we are saving the precious raw goat milk for drinking, they were also vegan. I imagine that is how it was before the days of weekly grocery runs; making what you could with what you had.

sd-pancakes-griddle

Fermenting the pancakes leaves you without that heavy feeling pancakes can so easily induce. Instead they are filling but light, substantial but digestible. And when we have the milk and are making kefir, we like to make them even more digestible by drizzling on the Kefir Pancake Syrup from page 138 of Traditionally Fermented Foods.

Vegan Sourdough Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sourdough starter (see how to make an active sourdough starter)
  • 2 cups organic wheat flour
  • 1 3/4 cup water, plus more as needed
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Kefir Pancake Syrup for serving
  • butter, honey, jam, or syrup for serving

sd-pancakes-top

Directions

Between 8 and 24 hours before you wish to cook the pancakes, combine the sourdough starter, wheat flour, and water together in medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Cover and leave to ferment for 8-24 hours.

When you are ready to cook, preheat a griddle pan over medium-high heat and grease lightly. Sprinkle the salt, vanilla, and baking soda over the fermented batter and whisk well to combine, adding up to 1/4 cup of additional water if needed to thin the batter.

Pour one cup of batter onto griddle for larger pancakes or 1/2 cup for smaller pancakes. Cook 2-3 minutes or until the edges begin to dry and holes form all over the tops. Carefully flip the pancakes and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with your favorite toppings.

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6 Comments

  1. Hi,
    I tried this recipe but using whole grain rye flour, and it didn’t work out. The pancakes did not cook in the middle. Have you tried these with rye flour? or other whole grain flour? Maybe I’m being a little bit too ambitious! I’ve just been trying to eliminate white flours as I have a hard time digesting them (so I was excited to find this recipe). I might experiment with the whole rye some more, or just try using some white flour first to get the hang of it. But if you have any tips that would be awesome.
    Thanks!

    1. Hi Jesse – Rye flour is particular heavy and can produce some very gummy pancakes. We have a sourdough rye pancake recipe in 100% rye that we really like – light and fluffy!

      http://ryebook.nourishingdays.com/

      In my experience, rye needs a completely different hydration to work well so subbing it 1:1 for even a whole wheat flour can be tricky. Have you thought about trying whole spelt flour? Egg-free pancakes can be a bit flat since the egg also helps with leavening. With spelt, try adding a bit more leavening agent and cooking a bit longer, maybe? Let us know if you try it, please!

      1. Its Christmas Eve and I finally got around to trying this recipe again, this time with whole grain spelt flour, and it worked out pretty well! I’d say they still need some work but I quadrupled the baking soda, and, when I mixed in the remainder of the ingredients after the ferment, instead of whisking I used a spoon to gently fold the batter over itself, to try to prevent the batter from collapsing. They cooked fairly well, a couple of the bigger ones were a tiny bit gummy inside, but a big improvement. I think for my next attempt I will add a bit more water for the ferment, and try adding 1/4 part white flour. Oh and I also halved the recipe for this one, in case they didn’t work out :p
        Thanks for the tips!

  2. I came across your blog through this recipe – googling “vegan sourdough pancakes” and we absolutely love it. I have made these pancakes 3 times in the last two weeks. Thanks so much for sharing.

  3. Thank you for the delicious recipe! This is very forgiving, and worked well even though I only ball-parked the ingredients. I added a banana to the mixture about half way through, just to see… turned out great!

  4. This has become my wife’s new favourite pancake recipe. It’s an excellent, simple base, and the ideal way to use our sourdough discard every week. I make it with 50% whole wheat, 50% white flour, and pop in some combination of blueberries, coconut flakes, walnuts, etc.

    One suggestion: add a bit if sugar, a tablespoon or so. Obviously sugar is always optional, but a little bit takes the dough’s sourness off.

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