Sourdough Pancakes

During the Alaskan gold rush, sourdough pancakes are mentioned often and seem to be inseparable from the story. Seeing if the flavor deserved the elevation from breakfast possibility for hungry prospecters to a legend would be fun. So, we looked up a recipe for sourdough pancakes and made some. Well, they are wonderul.
They are not like conventional baking powder pancakes, anymore than a yeast raised dinner roll is like a baking powder biscuit or a cake doughnut is like a yeast raised doughnut. They are simply a different animal.

The simple recipe is this:

Take a couple of cups of sourdough starter and put in a large mixing bowl
Add about the same amount of milk.
Stir in a couple of tablespoons of sugar and maybe a squirt of honey
Put in a scant tablespoon of salt
Add a quarter cup of cooking oil
Add a half teaspoon to a teaspoon of baking soda. (this is to mitigate some of the sourness of your sourdough. It is optional and a matter of taste.)
Now, add flour (whole wheat or white) until it makes a batter you like the consistency of. Thin batter-thin pancakes. Thick batter thick pancakes.
Be careful with the flour, it will take very little since your starter is already filled with flour.

Now just cook like a normal pancake. If you opted for the thicker pancakes, you will have to cook them longer than a baking powder pancake. Flip them a couple of times if you need to to keep them cooking without burning.

Depending on your ratio of milk to starter, the pancakes will have a bit of beer flavor. Straight starter will taste very beer like. The consistency of the pancakes wiil be more pliable and breadlike. They make great wraps later in the day. We let them cool and put them in a baggy in the fridge. Peanut butter and jelly wraps are a favorite, but any sandwich filling is great.

If you are going to eat all the pancakes for breakfast, I like a shake of cinnamin in the pancakes. As wraps, the cinnamon works for peanut butter but not so good for chicken salad.

When making these do not bother to measure anything. It is just a waste of time. These are worth the effort and even if you never make bread with your sourdough starter are a good reason to have one in your fridge.

Starter if you don't have one: A cup of flour, cup of milk or water, and package of yeast. Leave out for a couple of days, and feed it with a mix of equal parts of flour and milk with teaspoon of sugar. Put into fridge. Feed once a week (same mix). Pull out the day before you want to use it for bread. Temperature is what makes the yeast active. Good Luck

DO NOT seal the jar or container you keep your starter in. It will EXPLODE!