Sourdough pancakes

Jan 23 ’06

A good friend of ours just came up from L.A. to visit over the weekend, and as a special treat I thought I would make a tasty breakfast Sunday morning. I gave our guest some choices, and she settled on pancakes. My current favorite is a recipe for some very, very thick and solid yeast-risen sourdough pancakes. I've been growing the starter for a little over a month, and I have to say that it's very good and getting better. If you make pancakes regularly, you have to make the sourdough starter once, and then just refresh when you make 'em. The recipe these came from is called "Ventry Sourdough Pancakes," from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Home Baking, which is a pretty good book about baking traditions from around the world. In any case, the pancakes from this recipe come out easily a half inch thick, and absorb maple syrup like nobody's business. The sourdough isn't overpowering, and provides a subtle alternative to buttermilk; the yeastiness of them is fantastic.

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter

1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 2 cups lukewarm water 2 cups all-purpose flour

Pancakes

2 large or extra large eggs 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda About 2 cups all-purpose flour

Method

To make the starter, dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the flour and stir vigorously to make a smooth batter. Let stand, covered, for 12-24 hours at room temperature. Before using the starter, take out 1/2 cup and save in a well-sealed glass jar in the refrigerator for use at a later date. The next time you make these, take the starter out of the fridge the day before, and add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of flour and stir well, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Bring back to room temperature and save 1/2 cup before using.

To make the pancackes, place the remaining 3 1/2 cups of starter in a bowl. Stir in the eggs, sugar, oil, salt and baking soda and beat until smooth. Add the flour and stir until you have a thick, pourable batter.

Cook the pancakes in a lightly oiled heavy skillet over medium heat. Feel free to encourage the batter to flow around the pan by tilting it to make round shapes. Cook each pancake until the top surface shows bubbles all over, about 3 minutes, then flip and cook until the second side is golden, about 2 minutes more.

Conversation in progress…

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On February 5th Katy Pine said:
Brent! I am so glad to see that you are enjoying that cookbook. I knew you would like it. I will definitely try those pancakes; they sound delicious! Oh, I do miss cooking with you. One of these days... one of these days...