Thick, fluffy, gluten-free Sourdough Discard Pancakes are one of my favorite ways to use up sourdough discard. Yes, you CAN have a gluten-free sourdough starter!
Have you ever had gluten-free Sourdough Bread?
I love the tang that sourdough adds to baked goods. I’ve found a couple gluten-free Sourdough Breads in the store before too. But, you know me, I like to make it myself!
After all, EVERYONE was making Sourdough Bread during COVID, while they were stuck at home.
Naturally, I had to get on this trend!
I’ve been making Sourdough Bread for about a year now, and I’ve loved every minute of it. My sourdough starter is lovingly named “Doughleen,” and she’s a total rockstar.
I’ve made Sourdough Bread and Crackers, but these gluten-free Sourdough Discard Pancakes are my favorite. I took my favorite plain pancake recipe and added sourdough discard to it, for a tangy twist on a classic pancake.
Smothered in butter and maple syrup, these thick and fluffy pancakes are irresistible!
Let’s chat all things pancakes.
First, these gluten-free Sourdough Discard Pancakes are made specifically with a gluten-free sourdough starter and gluten-free all purpose flour. I wouldn’t try and make them with regular flour or a regular sourdough starter.
If you haven’t made a gluten-free sourdough starter yet, I’d recommend checking out posts from Bakerita, Vanilla and Bean, and Homestead and Chill. They have great information about Sourdough Bread and all things Sourdough.
A QUICK SOURDOUGH RUNDOWN
Sourdough starters are super simple to make; they only contain flour and water. Mine is made with brown rice flour (a whole grain that I definitely recommend using). The only thing that you’ll need is time and patience, for the natural yeasts to grow. And, a feeding schedule! I feed mine daily (or it goes in the fridge for longer storage if I’m not using it).
I also recommend using a scale (to weigh your flour and water) and a large mason jar.
As you build your sourdough starter, you will discard some of the flour/water combination when your jar gets too full. Instead of throwing it away, you can save it in the fridge for a few days and then use it in these pancakes when you’re ready!
PANCAKE INGREDIENTS
These Sourdough Discard Pancakes are made with pretty basic ingredients, besides the sourdough starter: butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
If you’d like to make these dairy-free, you can use a dairy-free butter alternative (or coconut oil) and a dairy-free milk (like almond milk) instead.
If you’d like them to be refined sugar free, you can use 3 tbsp of maple syrup or honey instead of white sugar.
PANCAKE BATTER
After adding all of your ingredients together, you’ll be left with a thick pancake batter. Depending on the flour/water ratio in your sourdough starter, you may need to add more milk to your batter (if it’s too thick). If it’s too thin, you can also add a little more flour. I’d recommend adding one tablespoon at a time.
You can also personalize these by adding any chocolate chips or nuts you’d like.
Either way, you’ll be left with tangy, classic, thick, fluffy, Sourdough Discard Pancakes that are dying to be loaded up with butter and maple syrup. Yum!!!
I can’t get enough of these Sourdough Discard Pancakes! They’re the easiest way to use up sourdough discard, and have a delicious breakfast too. Who can say no to pancakes?!
After you make these, let me know what you think! I love to hear from ya’ll. Leave a comment and rating below, and/or tag me in your picture on Instagram.
Before you go, be sure to check out my gluten-free Banana Coffee Cake, Quiche, Biscuits and Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies too. Breakfast is the best!
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup gluten-free sourdough starter discard
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1-1 1/4 cup milk of choice (skim, 2%, whole or almond)
- 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
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To a large mixing bowl, add your butter and sugar and whisk them together. Add your sourdough discard and whisk again till smooth. Add your eggs, vanilla and 1 cup of milk and whisk till well combined.
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To the same bowl, add your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk together till you have a thick pancake batter. Add 1-4 tbsp of milk, and whisk into the batter till it's reached your desired consistency.
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Preheat a large pan (or skillet) to medium heat.
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After hot, add large spoonfuls of pancake batter onto your pan. Cook for a couple minutes, until you start to see little bubbles forming. Then flip your pancake to the other side, and cook on the other side for a couple minutes till cooked through. Continue till all of your pancakes have been cooked through.
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Devour!
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge these pancakes taste best within 4-5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 2 months.
I’m 79 and a pretty good cook but I just made my first gluten free sourdough bread and was surprised by the amount of discard! I’m so glad I found this recipe. I thought I’d be frugal and use discard, but to my delight, I’ve found the recipe for the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten. My husband agrees!
Literally the best pancakes I have ever had, gluten or gluten free!! Thank you for this great recipe! I used to make pancakes and throw out the rest of the batter after breakfast because nobody wanted to eat any more later on. Now I save every last drop of batter and my daughter and I will eat it over the next couple of days! It is just as delicious after 3 days!
These are fantastic! I added blueberries and made some brown sugar cinnamon butter for a treat, and they were perfect. ☺ Thank you!
Best Damn Pancakes I ever ate!!! These are better than the non GF buttermilk pancakes my mom used to make. I used my sour dough discard made with King Arthur Gluten Free Bread flour and used Walmart’s Great Value Gluten Free Flour. I did have to add a 1/4 cup more milk, and they turned out perfect!! The texture and flavor were beyond good. They were great!!
Thank you for the great recipe!
Hello, I was searching for additional discard recipes and came across yours. I will definitely give it a try but only after converting the US measurements to Metric measurements, it’s just more accurate. I’ve been diagnosed with Celiac since 2016 and it has been drilled in to me to use metric weights vs cups. I’m curious why you don’t use metric measurements or at least show both. Respectfully, Christine
Hi Christine. Honestly, operating a website isn’t my favorite part of having a blog and there are limitations of my knowledge with it. Also, a majority of my visitors are from the United States where metric measurements aren’t common and this is the first time someone has asked me about it. I’m sorry it creates an additional barrier for you!
These pancakes are amazing! 2 out of 5 around the table are gluten free, but everyone agreed that these are delicious. Perfect gluten free recipe without sacrificing flavor or texture.
These were amazing! My starter is only a few days old so I wasn’t sure how it’d work, but my 5-year-old and husband can’t get enough of them! They are super fluffy and have so many air pockets in them! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I tried to add a picture, but couldn’t figure out how to. I wanted to show you how wonderful they were.
The best pancakes I’ve had since celiac diagnosis. Thank you so much!
The best pancakes that I have ever had. So easy to make and a great way to use the sourdough discard. I freeze the leftovers for during the week.
I’ve been gluten free for 15 years or so and I’d given up on GF pancakes that weren’t the ‘chocolate chip oatmeal cookie pancakes’ type–you know, the ones that are unrecognizable as a standard pancake but delicious bc they have tons of chocolate, etc?? but THESE!!! I could cry. These are like PANCAKES!! my husband’s highest compliment is saying “are you sure these are gf??? I don’t think you can eat these….” Thank you thank you thank you!!!! These are 100% on par with my favorite restaurant’s gf pancakes and I’m so happy!!!! It’s going into the PRINTED recipe box and will be used regularly!!
My GI doctor has me on a gluten free diet and I have been working on getting a gluten free sourdough starter going. This is the first recipe that I’ve used my new sourdough starter with. WOW!!! The pancakes were fantastic! Couldn’t even tell these were gluten free.
Very Very good, and only my first try at discard pancakes. But I can taste the baking soda pretty distinctly in a plain pancake. Any ways to adjust the recipe so that this does not happen?
Thanks!
Hi Rebecca. I’d try it with less baking soda next time, maybe 3/4 tsp. Alternatively, you could add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to the milk to turn it into “buttermilk,” which will help neutralize the baking soda.
This is the easiest and best GF sour dough discard starter recipe I have ever made! I used Stevia ” for baking” sugar substitute and 1:1 Measure for Measure GF flour and they were out of this world! I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes! Molly
Delicious! I added some plain Greek yogurt and flax meal for some bonus nutrition. Also used coconut milk, cut back by half. Great pancakes!
These gf pancakes are the best we’ve tried (out of 8!)! Our whole household is gluten free, df & egg free, and we all love them! We’ve also recently started making our own sourdough bread on large quantities, so this is a great way to use up all the discard! I’m going to check your library for more gf discard recipes! Thank you! It would be great to have an auto-multiplier feature on your recipe, as I make a triple batch each time – we’re a family of 6 and like to make enough for reheating a 2nd breakfast!
We’re a family of 6, egg free, gf, and df too! What did you use for the egg? I’ve tried flax egg in pancakes before and they always seem gummy, but I’d love to try this recipe to use up my discard.
Try making chia seed” eggs”.
These gf pancakes are the best we’ve tried (out of 8!)! Our whole household is gluten free, df & egg free, and we all love them! We’ve also recently started making our own sourdough bread on large quantities, so this is a great way to use up all the discard! I’m going to check your library for more gf discard recipes! Thank you!
This recipe is delicious! I did find that I used quite a bit less flour than called for to make the batter good for pancakes. I’ve made these pancakes with butter and eggs, and also made them with oil and egg replacer. Both ways come out soft, fluffy, and delicious! They aren’t gummy like other gluten free recipes sometimes are.
I just made these pancakes. They are delicious!! Will definitely be making these again
Could I add pumpkins and some cinnamon and nutmeg to make pumpkin pancakes??
Hi Jen. Yeah, I would try and add 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree and some spices (cinnamon and nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice blend). You may need a little more flour but I don’t think so. Good luck, sounds delicious!
Worked great for waffles
Thank you so much for share this type of articles keeps the users interest in this article, I really like to read this awesome blog.
Love them! Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. They’re my new go-to pancakes too!
I love pancakes and these are THE BEST pancakes I’ve ever had. EVER!! I did add another 1/4 cup of discard and doubled the vanilla and added chocolate chips and a smidge more milk. Honestly you have to make these if you love pancakes! Thanks so much!!
Delicious! My new go to pancake recipe. My picky kids loved them as well.
The best, and most delicious. I feel satisfied with my baking, even if my first time try at making gf sourdough doesn’t work out. These pancakes would have been worth it. in terms of reheating after having them in the fridge would I just pop into the toaster?? Or is there a better way. Thanks again
I love using the toaster to reheat them! It makes them a little crisp. You can microwave them too though.
This recipe is perfect! Even with some modifications (like using honey and cashew milk instead of sugar and cow’s milk), it turned out to be everything anyone could want in a pancake recipe. The pancakes don’t fall apart when flipped, rise nicely, and are so good that even my non-gf family members said, “They taste like pancakes.” In my opinion, that’s probably the highest compliment they could have given, besides the fact that they came back for seconds. This will definitely be my go-to gf sourdough discard recipe! (A word to the wise, do not use your discard too early in the process of making your starter; the first time I made this recipe, my new little starter was only four days old and my hubby got a stomach/gut issues that lasted a couple of days. After more research, I learned that it’s recommended to only begin using the discard after you’ve been building your starter for at least a week.)
This was the first recipe I made with my gluten free sourdough discard. I didn’t tell my kids they were gluten free, and they couldn’t even tell the difference. My super picky daughter even came back for seconds and said they tasted like restaurant-style pancakes.
Fantastic recipe, gave a light, fluffy pancake that wasn’t on the sweet side–perfect for stacking and adding toppings or just having with a pat of butter and syrup! Definately making again (and again and again)!
Can the batter be made ahead and refrigerated overnight?
Hi Karen. I haven’t done that with this recipe in particular, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! I’ve done it with others and it is a great time saver. Makes busy weekend mornings fast.
Great recipe aside from the baking soda. Had to cut in 1/2 as that’s all I could taste when I first made them. Once I cut that back, they were delish!!
Amazing! I ran out of all purpose flour and had to use a half cup of almond flour and they were perfect!
I’m gluten intolerant so I can have sourdough bread and sourdough discard if bread is made with natural fermented yeast. My question is, can I use regular sourdough discard for this recipe or is it just for gluten free sourdough discard. Thank you
Hi Jose. This recipe is specifically tailored to gluten-free flours. But, since it’s just pancakes you should be able to use regular sourdough discard as well. However, depending on the ratio of your discard, you may need to add more milk or flour (1 tbsp at a time) till it reaches the correct consistency. Hope this helps!
My celiac kiddo says they taste like “real” pancakes! I totally agree. These are fabulous and there really is no difference from the “real” thing!
Awesome recipe – thanks!! A keeper for sure.
These were the best pancakes I’ve ever made! Love that they are gluten free and I get to use my gluten free sourdough discard. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Excited to try this! We are egg free as well. Do you think I could use applesauce or flax meal and water(flax egg) as a substitute?
Hi Brandie. Yes, I think a flax egg would work awesome! I haven’t tried it with applesauce so I’m not sure if it would.
I use Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer instead of eggs and almond milk…works just fine!
I tried this recipe on the first day of using my sourdough discard. It is so great that even my children asked for more. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Fantastic flavor and texture. This will now be my go-to recipe.
This is going under my KEEP forever boards! I don’t use gluten free starter BUT I use gluten free flour a lot for pancakes. We are sensitive to gluten and I have the MTHFR genes and need to stay away from gluten but sourdough bread has made a huge difference. I have yet to tackle gluten free bread but wanted to try the pancakes using the starter. I love the benefits from the starter but was afraid to try my hand at coming up with my own recipe. Baking is not my forte but I’m determined to get better at it. This recipe was fantastic! I did make it dairy free as we are sensitive to dairy also. I used unrefined Coconut oil and almond milk in the batter and they turned out great!! I had recently made full sourdough pancakes with AP flour a few weeks ago and my kids thought these were much better! that’s great because we suffered some from those but didn’t with these! 😊
Great to hear, thanks Mitzi!
Really tasty. I used buttermilk, fresh lemon zest and blueberries. I got the recipe for my gf sourdough from Homestead and Chill – lots of great recipes. Also my best success with Gluten Free Sourdough bread was from Bakerite.
I looked at the Bakerite Company and they only supply to other companies. Where did you get their products and which did you use with best success? Thank you!
Great recipe although I would do half a teaspoon of baking soda for a nicer taste.
I’ve tried so many gluten-free sourdough pancake recipes that I’ve lost count. This recipe is by far the best I’ve come across. The pancakes rose well, the texture was perfect, and they were quite tasty. Thank you so much! This will be my go-to recipe from now on. 🙂
This is a keeper! It has a great texture. The only thing I added was cinnamon.
Adding cinnamon is always a great idea!!
A friend just shared a sourdough starter with me a couple weeks ago, so your recipe was very timely.
The pancakes are delicious, with that little zing of sourdough taste that brings me back to growing up in Alaska.
Keep up with the great recipes, always look forward to seeing the new ones coming out
Thank you, Doug! I love hearing that! Recipes that give you childhood nostalgia are the best.