Day 6 and Sourdough Pancakes

Since beginning this starter, I've been reflecting on how many different ways sourdough has been in my life through recipes and sharing with friends.  However, I have never created my own.  I've always inherited it from someone else, and I've not successfully used a starter to bake a traditional loaf of bread but mostly for sweet and quick breads.  I'm looking forward to experiencing the bread baking component with my new starter later this spring.

One of my favorite recipes has always been sourdough pancakes with blueberries sometimes we would have these as sourdough, buckwheat, blueberry pancakes as well.   This particular pancake recipe came with the same directions from both my mom and friends, who generously shared a portion of their 30+ year old starter with me.  I had this starter in the back of the refrigerator for nearly a decade.  I revived it numerous times from a black and gray sludge into beautiful bubbling batter, but in one thorough cleaning spree, it was dumped down the drain.

On a couple of occasions, I have made sourdough pancakes while camping. I would carefully measure out the ingredients before leaving on the trip so I could feed it the night before and make pancakes in the morning.  In one particularly memorable camping trip, the starter outgrew its container over night and continued to grow all over the floor of my car.  The pancakes still tasted good though!

I was a little hesitant this morning to make the pancakes because the starter smells so strange.  Adding the salt and baking soda caused the batter volume to nearly double and increased the bubbles. I was will a little dubious so I made a test batch before adding any blueberries.  I shouldn't have worried; these pancakes were delicious.  They were light, fluffy, airy, with just a hint of "sour" taste.  This recipe makes A LOT of pancakes.  There's a couple dozen now in our freezer for later!

Sourdough Pancakes
1 c starter
2 c water
2 1/2 c flour
Mix together in a bowl, cover, and let the ingredients stand overnight. (In the morning, put 1 c of starter back into the refrigerator or just use it in the batter if you already have starter set aside.)

To the remaining batter add,
1 egg
2 T oil
2 T sugar
1/4 c milk

Mix thoroughly before adding,
1 t salt
1 T baking soda
1 c blueberries

Mix ingredients together thoroughly, and bake on a hot griddle or pan until bubbly and ready to be flipped.  These pancakes cook quickly and do best with a hot griddle. If the mixture is not bubbly, this may mean that the dough did not revive well enough over night.  Adding more milk can help.