Ultra moist and fluffy gluten-free sourdough pancakes made dairy-free! These delightful fluffy pancakes have that unique sourdough flavor and are fun for the whole family! Make the batter the night before for an amazing breakfast or brunch the next day!
After making my Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter and Gluten-Free Blueberry Sourdough Muffins, I’ve been on a sourdough pancake rampage.
We’re talking sourdough pancakes for dinner, breakfast, snack, oops I didn’t mean to eat a stack of pancakes just now, but I did just now kind of torrid love affair.
All of this to say, if you haven’t tried sourdough pancakes yet, this experience alone is worth the trouble of growing your own sourdough starter…in my humble opinion.
Recipe Highlights:
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Ultra Fluffy
- Very pronounced sourdough flavor
- Lower in carbohydrate than regular pancakes.
Allowing the batter to sit overnight gives it the opportunity to ferment, yielding an incredibly delicious sourdough flavor. The longer it sits, the more the bacteria and yeast will feed and reproduce, generating more sourdough flavor and less residual carbohydrate.
You’ll love putting your own gluten-free sourdough starter to use in this delicious recipe. It requires basic ingredients that you likely already have on hand!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for gluten-free sourdough pancakes.
Ingredients for Sourdough Pancakes:
GF Sourdough Starter: You will need some un-fed sourdough starter discard to prepare this recipe. The gluten-free sourdough discard is combined with flour and coconut milk, which feeds the starter and allows the pancake batter to ferment, creating incredible fluffy pancakes.
If you don’t need this recipe to be gluten-free, you can use regular sourdough starter.
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend: We need a GF flour blend that is designed to be a 1:1 replacement for regular all-purpose flour. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour for the best results.
Be sure to choose starchy flours for the best result. Whether or not the blend contains xanthan gum is inconsequential. You can also use cassava flour or buckwheat flour for different flour options.
Full-Fat Canned Coconut Milk (or milk of choice): We need milk to form the batter. I love using full-fat canned coconut milk because it creates a rich and decadent pancake. Use any type of milk you prefer.
Regular cow’s milk, oat milk, almond milk, and cashew milk are all great options. If you use regular cow’s milk, be sure to refrigerate the batter rather than allowing it to sit at room temp.
Large Eggs: A couple eggs get whisked up and added to the sourdough pancake batter after it has sat, just before making the pancakes. The eggs help the pancakes rise and keep them held together nicely. I haven’t tested this recipe without eggs using an egg replacer like flax eggs, so I’m not sure how it would turn out.
Avocado Oil: A touch of oil brings richness and creates a tender crumb, much like the texture of regular cake. Olive oil, canola oil, and melted butter all work.
Pure Maple Syrup (optional): I like adding a touch of pure maple syrup to the batter for an imperceptible sweetness to complement some of the sourdough flavor.
Baking Powder: The leavening agent here, baking powder helps the pancake batter rise.
Sea Salt: A pinch of salt elevates the flavor of the pancakes.
Pancake Toppings: Choose your favorite toppings for these fluffy sourdough pancakes. I love classic butter and drizzle of maple syrup, but peanut butter, almond butter, honey, and fresh fruit are great options too.
Do I Have Let the Batter Sit for 8 Hours?:
You do not need to allow the pancake batter to sit for 8 hours in order to use it. You can use it immediately – the pancakes will just not be quite as fluffy and they won’t have as pronounced of a sourdough flavor.
If you do have the time and forethought, though, I do recommend allowing the batter to sit so you can get the full experience!
Are Sourdough Pancakes Low-Carb?
Provided you allow the batter to sit overnight (8 to 10 hours), the pancakes will be lower in carbohydrate than regular pancakes, as the bacteria and yeast will feed on the carbohydrate in the flour and use it to grow and reproduce.
The longer the batter sits, the less residual carbohydrate there will be.
To put it into perspective, 1 cup of sourdough discard contains 47 grams of carbohydrate, whereas 1 cup of the gluten-free flour I use contains 120 grams of carbohydrate.
The flip side of this is you don’t want the batter to sit for too long, as the bacteria and yeast will run out of food and die, leaving you with pancake batter that won’t leaven (in other words, the pancakes won’t be fluffy).
How to Make Gluten-Free Sourdough Pancakes:
Stir together the sourdough discard, flour and coconut milk in a large bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow it to sit overnight (4 to 10 hours). This will be very thick! If you choose to use regular milk instead of coconut milk, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate instead of allowing it to sit at room temperature.
When you’re ready to make the pancakes the next day, whisk together the egg, oil, and pure maple syrup in a small bowl.
Sprinkle the baking powder and sea salt over the sourdough pancake batter, then add the egg/oil mixture to the mixing bowl. Stir everything together until very well combined.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add enough coconut oil, avocado oil, or cooking oil of choice to coat the surface, about 1 tablespoon.
Once the skillet is fully hot, measure out ¼ cup of pancake batter and pour onto the hot skillet. Allow pancakes to cook until sides have firmed up, about 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip and cook another minute or two, until pancakes are cooked through.
Top gluten-free pancakes with desired toppings and enjoy!
Store leftover pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze sourdough pancakes in a large zip lock bag for up to 3 months.
This great recipe is the perfect way to use extra starter. The next time you’re craving pancakes and have some extra sourdough starter to use up, whip up these fluffy sourdough pancakes using pantry essentials.
Recipe Customizations:
- Use regular milk instead of coconut milk.
- Swap the avocado oil for melted butter.
- If you don’t eat a gluten-free diet, follow this same recipe using regular all-purpose flour and regular sourdough starter.
- Add chocolate chips, fresh blueberries, and/or chopped nuts to the batter just before cooking the pancakes.
- Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the batter just before cooking the pancakes.
- Use regular sugar in the batter instead of pure maple syrup.
If you love sourdough discard recipes, also try my Gluten-Free Sourdough Chocolate Cake or my Gluten-Free Sourdough Waffles.
More Amazing Gluten-Free Pancake Recipes:
- Coconut Flour Zucchini Pancakes
- Paleo Avocado Pancakes
- Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
- Paleo Carrot Cake Pancakes
- Vegan Poppy Seed Pancakes with Caramelized Figs
- Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes
What’ll you put on your gluten free sourdough pancakes?!
Fluffy Gluten-Free Sourdough Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter *
- 1 1/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk or regular milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil or melted butter
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Stir together the sourdough discard, flour and coconut milk in a mixing bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow it to sit overnight (4 to 10 hours). This will be very thick! Note: You can also store the bowl covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for the 4-10 hour timeframe. I recommend doing this if you're using regular milk instead of coconut milk.
- When you’re ready to make the pancakes, whisk together the egg, oil, and pure maple syrup in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle the baking powder and sea salt over the sourdough pancake batter, then add the egg/oil mixture to the mixing bowl. Stir everything together until very well combined.
- Heat a non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add enough coconut oil or cooking oil of choice to coat the surface, about 1 tablespoon.
- Once the skillet is fully hot, measure out ¼ cup of pancake batter and pour onto the hot skillet.
- Allow pancakes to cook until sides have firmed up, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook another minute or two, until pancakes are cooked through.
- Top with desired toppings and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Would buttermilk work? I make my own buttermilk
Hi Deborah! I haven’t tested the recipe with buttermilk myself, but I’m betting it will turn out deliciously! Let me know if you try it 🙂
Hi, have you substituted eggs before?
Hi Grace! I haven’t tried it myself, but it may work 🙂 I generally find gluten-free all-purpose flour doesn’t necessitate eggs as much as grain-free recipes do, so I would think it would work. It might be worth googling a vegan sourdough pancake recipe though, just to be sure you’re getting the result you’re looking for.
Thanks, this recipe was delicious. I made with discard Ifefrosted, used coconut kefir and little bit of leftover coconut milk. Perfection!
Thanks so much for sharing, Lynne! I’m happy they worked out so well for you! xo
These are a hit with my family. My daughter wants me to make extra for multiple breakfasts. Do the pancakes freeze well?
Hi Amy! I’m happy to hear your family enjoys the pancakes! Yes, you can freeze them! I often freeze pancakes and just reheat them in the microwave for an on-demand breakfast 🙂 xo
Hello!
I’ll be using regular milk, so that doesn’t change how it needs to sit at room temp for 4-10hrs?
Thanks!!
Hi Melinda! I’d recommend covering the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it 🙂 For the best results, I would go with overnight but a few hours will work if need be. Hope you enjoy!
Could I sub flax eggs for the eggs? Three of my kids have egg allergies
Hi Amy! I haven’t tested the recipe using flax eggs instead of regular eggs, but I think it will work. Because this recipe uses a gluten-free flour blend which contains starchy ingredients and we’re using a sourdough starter which helps with leavening, the eggs aren’t quite as important as a recipe made without starchy flours and sourdough starter. I hope you and your family enjoy the pancakes! xo
I have some discard I. The fridge that hasn’t been fed for several days, that will be fine to use for the pancake recipe? I’ve never used any unfed starter before and the recipe so I just wanna make sure I’m doing this right 🙂
Hi Tara! Yes, absolutely, the unfed starter will work great for the pancakes 🙂 Simply measure out the amount you need and keep the rest of the starter in the refrigerator (or feed it). Hope you enjoy! xo
Would it have the same effect to rest the batter in the refrigerator overnight? We use regular milk and the thought of the milk being on the counter in room temp overnight is making me cautious to try this.
Hi there!
I was wondering if you could use almond flour as a substitute
for the gluten free all purpose flour? The only starter I have right now is made
from einkorn. Do you think I could use my starter in this recipe?
Any tips would be great I’m trying to make these for Mother’s Day.
Thank you!! 😊
Hi Zak! My apologies, I just saw this! I’ve never tried using almond flour with sourdough starter, so I’m not sure how it would work out. I have, however, seen other recipes from bloggers for sourdough goodies that call for almond flour, so I know it can be done. I would try googling a sourdough pancake recipe with almond flour so that it turns out well! Off the cuff, I found this one: https://vanillaandbean.com/gluten-free-sourdough-pancakes/ and this one: https://ohsofoodie.com/keto-sourdough-pancakes/ which may get you closer to where you want to be 🙂 xo
These pancakes turned out so good! My non gluten free husband loved them! I added blueberries to half of them and it was amazing! Since I found out I have celiacs a couple months ago, I am working on finding recipes that both of us would like, so I don’t have to make two different dishes.
I’m so happy you and your husband enjoy them, Betsy! Thanks so much for the sweet note! My heart goes out to you on your diagnosis…sounds like you’re making the best of it! xoxo
I like using my food scale whenever possible. Since I made two batches, here’s the average weights:
232 g of full fat coconut milk
147 g for 1 cup of gluten free all purpose flour Bob’s Red Mill (no xathan gum)
36 g for 1/4 cup of GF APF (mentioned above)
Total 183 g of flour. Looking forward to having these pancakes in the morning.
I forgot to add that the cup of starter is 200 g.
I had my pancakes this morning. They were on the runny side, so they were really crisp and thin. I forgot the baking powder.
My husband’s Lenten pancakes were fluffy and gummy. I used psyllium husk as the binder.
Thanks so much for sharing, Stephanie! That’s super helpful!
Hey Julia!
I would love to try this pancake recipe, and just started a GF sourdough starter 5 days ago. I noticed in the recipe notes you said to use “un-fed starter.” What do you mean by that? I think my starter is good to go, as it’s got a sour smell and been proofing/growing well over the last few days. Any insight is appreciated! Thanks so much!
Hi Rachel,
Generally when you make sourdough recipes, you use sourdough discard, aka un-fed sourdough starter. This means you don’t feed the starter before using it. So simply take some of the starter and use it for your batter. After taking some of the starter, you can feed the starter that remains. Make sense? Enjoy!!
@Julia,
Can’t wait to try this! How do I feed the leftover starter after making pancakes? I’m assuming the initial sourdough mixture is left on the kitchen counter for the 4-10 hours? Not in the refrigerator?
Thanks! My GF daughter will LOVE these recipes.
Jeanne
Hi Jeanne!
I do a 1:1 ratio of gluten-free flour to water when feeding the starter. My Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter (https://www.theroastedroot.net/gluten-free-sourdough-starter/) tutorial has everything you need to know about feeding and maintaining a starter 🙂 Hope you and your daughter enjoy all the recipes you try! xoxo
AMAAAAZING! So good I had to shout it!
I went gluten free 3 years ago due to an allergy, I think, lost count—it has been a long and hungry journey. I had fully given up on my breakfast favorites and swore off waffles and pancakes were next on the list. GF just wasn’t working for me. But then I found your pancake recipe. And I had just started a sourdough starter. It was kismet!
These pancakes nearly brought me to tears. I let the sourdough portion of this recipe sit way longer than 10 hours, because life got in the way, but I think the deeper sourdough taste gave me the flavor I was so missing in gluten filled breakfast foods. It’s like that full buttermilk yeasty flavor.
I’m giving waffles one last try and just mixed up your sourdough waffles. Truly can’t wait to wake up in the morning and hopefully have a waffle win!
This is so sweet, Amanda! I’m so happy you like the pancakes and that you’re giving the waffles a try as well! It is incredible how uniquely flavored they are…definitely a breakfast to look forward to! Thanks for taking the time to share your sweet words! xoxo
Fluffy indeed! We left the pancake starter sitting for 17 hours instead of your recommended 4-10hrs. It definitely had more pronounced sourdough taste but still good. Next time will let it between between 4-10hrs. Also we replaced maple syrup with yacon syrup. Also made a separate batch with blueberries added to the batter. Great recipe. Many thanks!!
These are the BOMB!!! Kids devoured, and anti-sourdough husband loved them. Thank you. Best sourdough pancake recipe I’ve found.
Yaaaaay I’m so thrilled to hear it, Elsie! I really enjoy them too…I’m happy you and your family like them! Thanks for the sweet note. xoxo
I made the Gluten-Free Blueberry Sourdough Muffins last night and I was so surprised how light they were. I can imagine these pancakes will be as light and flavorful as well.