Rye sourdough pancakes: Updated with pictures and alt methods for non-sourdough

When I was a kid, my dad used to make sourdough pancakes. His recipe has been lost to time, so I decided to take a stab at developing my own recipe. I was astounded as to how well this turned out. This was really more of an experiment. Since I am using 25% rye flour and fermenting overnight, I expected the result would be a very dense pancake. To my great surprise the opposite was true. The pancakes rose well on the griddle and the result was a light and fluffy pancake that has a lot more flavor than any pancake leavened with baking powder. The rye flour adds a bit of structure, so the pancakes also stay light after cooking instead of deflating a bit after you take them off the griddle. I actually doubled this recipe so I could have next day pancakes tomorrow. After doubling the recipe I made 10 large pancakes with enough batter left over to make about 3 more perhaps, so I'm estimating the single recipe yield to be about 6 large pancakes. Just a small amount of real maple syrup goes great with these and I highly recommend it.

My daughter has a friend sleeping over, so the litmus test was to see how well they liked it. They loved it and my daughter said she wants to have them again.

This recipe assumes you are feeding your starter daily. I always feed mine in the morning. If you are storing your starter in the refrigerator and not feeding it daily, you may want to get started a day or two earlier and leave your starter out at room temperature and feed daily for a day or two to revitalize it.

Ingredients:
150g a/p white flour
50g rye flour (You can substitute whole wheat or white flour if desired)
200g water
200g starter

3 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda (sifted)
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
56g melted butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Feed your starter in the morning as usual. About 8 hours after feeding and about 8-12 hours prior to cooking, mix all the flour, water, and starter well inside a large mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and store in a warm (70-75F) place overnight. The colder your kitchen is, the earlier you need to mix the overnight ferment.

The next morning preheat your griddle and mix all the remaining ingredients well in a separate mixing bowl. Combine everything together and use a folding action to mix the batter using a spatula or your hand. You will lose some of the bubbles you developed overnight during mixing, but the idea is to keep as many of them as possible for a lighter pancake. This will take a few minutes, especially if you used rye flour, but be patient and resist the urge to use a whisk or electric mixer. Once all the ingredients are combined, the batter is ready for the griddle.

Yield: 6 large (7&quot pancakes

One big advantage to using sourdough is the result will keep better than pancakes made without a natural yeast ferment. Just cover them and leave them out at room temperature like you would any other bread. They should keep fine for 3-4 days.

UPDATE: Substitution suggestions for those who want to use commercial yeast in lieu of sourdough

For the sourdough, substitute 1/8th tsp instant or Rapid-rise yeast, 100g more water and 100g more flour. Do not use active-dry yeast.
Cut the baking soda down to 1 tsp.

Keep in mind that I've never tried doing it this way for flat breads, so you're in somewhat uncharted territory. Sourdough makes for a more acidic batter, so you're going to get more action from the baking soda. This is why I specified to cut the baking soda down. You might want to add just a 1/2 tsp or so of cream of tartar to the final mix to hedge your bet. Mix it in at the very last, sprinkling it over the batter and mix it in that way.