These Sourdough Banana Pancakes are light and airy, with just the right amount of crisp on the edges. They are seriously pancake perfection!
Serve these fluffy pancakes with a delicious fruit salad with honey lime dressing!
With the amount of sourdough bread that I bake, I always have a ton of sourdough discard around! I'm sure you do too! Sourdough pancakes are always a hit, but if you have some overripe bananas on the counter but you don't want to make banana bread, make these fluffy banana pancakes! They are the perfect way to use your sourdough discard!
If you love sourdough, be sure to join our sourdough Facebook group where we share lots of helpful tips and tricks to be successful on your sourdough journey!
What is Sourdough Discard?
Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you are not feeding. When you are "feeding" your starter to make recipes such as Dutch oven sourdough bread with, you add equal parts flour, water, and starter to a mason jar and let it rise.
You can't feed your entire starter, as it doubles and sometimes triples in size, and that's a lot of starter to have on hand! The portion that you don't feed is the discard. If you are new to sourdough, be sure to check out how to feed and maintain a sourdough starter post all about how to keep your sourdough starter happy.
With your sourdough discard, you can make lots of delicious recipes! I love making sourdough brownies for desserts, sourdough discard cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and sourdough chocolate chip cookies for a special treat!
Ingredients to Gather
- Overripe Bananas. The bananas should be brown and spotty. Too yellow and they won't have the sweetness that you want in these pancakes.
- Melted butter. This helps make the pancakes light and fluffy. You can use vegetable oil or coconut oil if you have it on hand.
- Sourdough discard. You can use active, bubbly starter if you have it on hand. Both would work great!
- Milk. Whole milk, 2% milk, or your favorite non dairy milk will work in this recipe.
- Eggs. The eggs help keep the pancakes together.
Be sure to check out the printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
How Do You Make Sourdough Banana Pancakes?
They are super easy to make! Let me show you how to make them!
In a large mixing bowl, add the peeled the bananas. Mash them with a fork or a potato mashed. You want the bananas to be very mashed. Add the eggs, melted butter, sourdough discard, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well until the ingredients are completely combined.
In a medium bowl, add the dry ingredients. Mix well and then pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until the ingredients are just combined, do not overmix. There will be a few lumps in the batter.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a skillet. Using an ice cream scoop or a ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop some batter into the skillet. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes over medium to medium high heat. Small bubbles will start to come through the batter. The edges of the pancakes will also start to dry out. When you see these two signs, it's time to flip the pancakes.
Flip the pancake over and cook on the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately.
Lynn's Tip!
Do not push down on the pancakes when you flip them. Pushing down on the pancakes make them flat, and not light and fluffy. Don't push down with your spatula!
Variations and Substitutions
- Add some mix ins! You can add chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, pumpkin spice, or your favorite mix ins.
- Make them mini! Just like silver dollar pancakes, instead of using an ice cream scoop or measuring cup, use a tablespoon! This will make the perfect mini pancakes for kids.
- Add your favorite toppings! Top the big stack of pancakes with maple syrup, butter, or whipped cream. Sprinkle some fresh berries or slices of fresh banana to the top of your stack of pancakes. You can even slather some Nutella on the top of your pancakes. There's nothing quite like bananas and Nutella!
Storage Info
Once the pancake batter is mixed together, cover the batter with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container. This will also long ferment the batter to make it even easier to digest. The batter will stay fresh in the refrigerator up to 24 hours.
Once the cooked pancakes are cooked, store leftover pancakes in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator up to 4 days. To reheat them, place them in the toaster oven for 1 minute or until the pancakes are warm. You can also reheat the pancakes on the stovetop in a dry pan.
How To Freeze Pancakes
Once the pancakes are cooked, allow them to cool to room temperature. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in freezer bags. Freeze the pancakes up to 4 months.
To reheat these delicious pancakes, place them in the toaster oven in a single layer for 2 minutes or reheat them in a dry pan over the stovetop.
Sourdough Banana Pancake FAQs
That's because the bananas should be overripe and have a lot of sugar in them. Too much sugar and it will overpower the pancakes.
Yes! Since we are not long fermenting or waiting long to cook the pancakes, active sourdough starter or sourdough discard can both be used?
Yes! You just need to defrost them before you add them to the batter.
More Sourdough Recipes
📖 Recipe
Sourdough Banana Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 large Bananas Mashed
- 1 cup Sourdough Starter Inactive, not fed
- 1 cup Milk
- 2 Eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 tablespoon Butter Melted
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until fully combined.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the bananas. Mash well until a puree forms.
- Add the starter, milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and melted butter. Mix well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, it's ok if there are a few lumps left in the batter.
- Preheat a nonstick pan and add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan. When the butter is melted, add a scoop of the batter to the pan.
- With the heat on medium to medium high heat, cook the pancakes. When the outside of the pancakes start to look dry and there are bubbles in the middle of the pancake, carefully flip the pancake over.
- Let the other side cook for 2-3 minutes until both sides are golden brown. Repeat this process for the rest of the pancakes.
Notes
- Depending on how big you make the pancakes will depend on how many pancakes you get from this batter. I was able to get 10 pancakes from this recipe using a ¼ cup measuring cup.
- The bananas should be very ripe, brown and spotty. If they are too yellow they won't add the sweetness to the pancakes that we are looking for.
- Once the cooked pancakes are cooked, store leftover pancakes in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator up to 4 days. To reheat them, place them in the toaster oven for 1 minute or until the pancakes are warm. You can also reheat the pancakes on the stovetop in a dry pan.
Lynn Polito says
When I need a break from banana bread, this is my go to recipe!