Part of the process of maintaining a lively sourdough starter is to feed it, by adding more flour and water to the original culture. This should be done about once a day. Unless you’re making bread every day, before too long, your carefully nurtured bubbly mass will be consuming all available space. What most of us do is discard a sizeable portion before the feeding process. Just dump a cup of it in the trash, and get over it.
Here is another idea. It’s already bubbly. And somewhat acidic. So, if you add a few secret ingredients, you will have a pancake batter!
Today I began with maybe two cups of starter. It was pretty thick. So, I added some water, some almond milk, a couple of tablespoons of EVOO, and maybe another cup of flour until it was pretty much pourable. You know, like pancake batter. Before adding the flour, I mixed in a teaspoon of baking soda, two or three tablespoons of cane sugar, and a teaspoon of salt. In other words, I pretty much recreated a standard pancake recipe with two exceptions: No eggs. And no baking powder.
Somehow or other, the eggs weren’t necessary, probably because the gluten from the sourdough culture had formed sufficient structure to keep things together. Baking powder has an acid added to it causing it to rise. Baking soda requires acid, but there’s enough of that from the sourdough.
I used a nonstick electric griddle to make four at a time, each about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, and ended up with about 16. Served with warm maple syrup and Earth Balance. Four of them are now zip-locked in the freezer for another day.
