Here are a couple of shots of the SD Raspberry Pancakes made for breakfast a couple of days ago.  The spring was incredible !!! I used a starter that had been refreshed 3 days before some it wasn't in peak form.  Made the batter the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight.  Very tasty too.  Another blog on TFL, sorry I can't remember which, inspired me.

We had breakfast for dinner last night, and I thought it was time to pass on a small recommendation for this recipe from King Arthur. The waffles and pancakes it makes are light and crispy, very tasty. The recipe calls for an overnight ferment when you are planning for breakfast. When I'm planning dinner, I make the ferment in the morning. Works great for me.

Anyway, here comes a tip from me, and it might be sacrilege, but it's the real reason I'm writing:

When I feed my starter, I hate to throw away all that excess, as one is supposed to do. So usually I just keep it -- I store it in a sealed plastic container in the refrigerator. Every time I feed my starter, basically weekly, I add the excess to the plastic container. I don't feed it, I don't treat it with any respect at all, I just glop it in that container. If it gets to be over four-six weeks old (by my estimate; I don't keep track!), I will just throw it out and start all over at the next feeding. But if it's not too old, I use it in this recipe. Note that the recipe calls for sourdough starter straight out of the fridge, unfed. And that certainly fits the description of what I use! 

The recipe is on the King Arthur site:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-waffles-recipe

Try it sometime. You'll like it.

This morning I realized I had run out of whole wheat pastry flour, and didn't have time to grind more when I stumbled upon some leftover spelt flour I had ground a while back.  Since spelt is low in gluten like pastry flour, I decided to try it in my pancakes.  These pancakes were fluffy, rich, and perfect when topped with peanut butter and syrup.  (If you've never tried peanut butter and syrup on pancakes, don't knock it till you try it!)  Here's the recipe I made up this morning:

Spelt Oatmeal Pancakes

2 cups spelt flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/8 cup crushed pecans (optional but ooooh so good)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp coconut oil (melted or softened)

1 cup milk

1/8 cup honey

2 eggs

Mix the dry, add the wet, then griddle yourself up some delicious and healthy multi-grain goodness!

I couldn't get the pictures to work, so for photos and more whole wheat and starter recipes on my blog at http://thebreadgeek.blogspot.com

Every weekend I find myself making breakfast and more often than not my family asks for pancakes. Recently I decided to make a diner classic, pumpkin pancakes with a twist I used my sourdough starter. They were perfectly flavored, slightly dense but delicious!

External Link to recipe and blog post: http://neo-homesteading.blogspot.com/2010/11/sourdough-pumpkin-pancakes.html

Recently I've been on a mission to really try and improve my food photography. Although I make sourdough pancakes quite often i decided to really take a stab at re-vamping my original post. The recipe is still pretty much identical however this time I topped each pancake with some diced lightly seasoned apples. They really reminded me of traditional german Apple kuchen. They came out delicious and perfectly fluffy. We topped some with home made blueberry and cherry compote and I also caramelized some bananas. 

Link to recipe : http://neo-homesteading.blogspot.com/2010/10/sourdough-pancakes-revisit-and-foodie.html

I am feeding my starters on a daily basis.  I don't want to throw out what I get rid of each day so am saving this to make pancakes.  I need a recipe for pancakes made with sourdough starter.  Any other hints would be appreciated.

thanks.    Jan

Now that I have a sourdough starter, I've started making pancakes that I actually like, so I make them often. I need a better option than juggling two frypans, neither of which is properly flat for pancakes. I've been looking on Amazon at a double-burner griddle pan, but I have a glass cooktop and I read that many of the griddles either warp or are not perfectly flat, which is an issue on my cooktop. So then looking at electric griddle, but from the reviews, most of them are not made "like they used to be" and have hot spots, uneven heating, or uneven surfaces... Now I'm kind of getting irritated that this is turning into such a research project.  What do you use? What have you tried and hated? What do you love? Help, please!

Most people associate pancakes with maple syrup, butter and fruit. Since I have had to stay away from sweets I have begun to use pancakes in a different way. I use them as a savory grain side dish to accompany soup, beans, and stew, sometimes even tearing them up, putting them right in the soup or stew. I use them as part of a snack with unusual toppings and spreads like peanut butter, tahini, chopped liver, salsa or gravlax (home cured salmon).
The high proportion of nutritious ingredients makes these pancakes a substantial part of a snack or meal.

We normally flip a wheat pancake when bubbles form around the edges. With gluten free pancakes we need to wait another few minutes after bubbles form because the extra moisture and density of the batter takes more time to cook properly.

Allow at least 7 hours of fermentation time after feeding the starter before using the starter in cooking. This will ensure your flours are properly soaked before cooking and eating.
So that means if you feed the starter in the morning the batter will be ready for pancakes for dinner. If you want pancakes in the morning feed the starter the night before.

 
Sourdough Pancakes – Basic recipe

For pancakes: prior to cooking, have the last feeding of the starter be ½ cup of buckwheat or gluten free oat flour and slightly less than ½ cup of water. Let ferment 7 hours. A pure rice flour starter tends to be on the thin, soupy side and buckwheat or oat flour will give the pancakes some needed density.

For 4 pancakes:
1 cup mature brown rice flour sourdough starter (including the last feeding of buckwheat and water)
1 tablespoon oil, melted butter or fat
A large pinch of salt
1-2 tablespoons freshly ground flax seed (grind in a dedicated coffee grinder)

Mix oil, salt and ground flax seed into starter
Let sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the flax to thicken the batter. The batter should be like a thick cake batter.
If the batter is too thick whisk in a little water, a tablespoon at a time, until you get the desired consistency
 (The batter can also sit for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. The finished pancakes will be thinner and lighter)
Oil pan or griddle and heat to fairly hot
Spoon or ladle out the batter onto the pan
These take longer to cook than wheat pancakes so flip a few minutes after bubbles show up or the edges start to dry out.
Cook another 1-2 minutes and serve.

You can also cool them on a rack and refrigerate in a container for a 3-5 days. Just reheat them in the toaster.

This is the most delicious Bread that I have made so far:

Buckwheat Bread:

1 ½ Cups Water

4 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 ½ tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 Teaspoons salt

1 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour

½ Cup Semolina Flour

½ Cup Brown Rice Flour

1 ¾ Cups Buckwheat Flour

2 ½ Tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten

1 ¼ Packages Instant Dry Yeast

The bread came out moist and sticky.  It appears that I created a giant healthy pancake!

article on buckwheat from the SanFrancisco Baking Institute - Fall '08 newsletter

Renewed Respect for Humble Buckwheat

http://www.sfbi.com/FileUpload/files/SFBINewsFall08.pdf