Old-Fashioned Sourdough Pancakes

Almost every weekend I grab my sourdough starter from the refrigerator on Saturday, feed it well and wait until Sunday to make some pancakes.  For starter I have used 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter for many years. For many years Carl Griffith shared his starter and it is now shared by his friends.  They also share their recipes and pictures of their creations on Carl Griffith’s Sourdough page.

As for the pancakes, I have been using the same recipe for a long time.  It is simple and uses basic chemistry.  You take 2 cups of sourdough starter at room temperature, a culture where you have your yeast creating carbon dioxide bubbles and some acid.  You add 2 tablespoons of sugar and the yeast get real happy.  Then comes the 4 tablespoons of olive oil, one egg and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  I let this sit for a minute before I add in the final ingredient.  An elixir of 1 tablespoon of warm water with one teaspoon of baking soda.  The first step is putting the baking soda in the water and letting it sit.  The last step is to carefully fold the elixir into the batter and let it bubble and foam for a minute or two.  If everything is happy, the acid in the sourdough mixture reacts with the baking soda to create more carbon dioxide.  This is only enhanced as the batter is carefully poured on a 400 degree griddle.  Nothing like light airy pancakes.  Happy pancake day as we had pancakes for dinner.  And yes, a few even had peanut butter on them with real maple syrup tonight.

Updated to fix broken links 7/23/2013