Vegan Sourdough Pancakes (6 Ingredients!)

April 12, 2023 by Casey Markey

Make fluffy, airy vegan sourdough pancakes in minutes with a nourishing sourdough starter and just 5 other pantry staples! These will quickly become your family’s breakfast staple!

Now that I’m a healthy sourdough starter mom, I’ve been experimenting non-stop with vegan sourdough recipes. I recently posted this vegan sourdough waffle recipe and today I’m sharing an incredibly easy recipe for vegan sourdough pancakes! My family never gets sick of these sourdough pancakes, especially when we serve them with homemade peanut butter, berry compote, and maple syrup.

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Why this recipe works!

Thanks for this vegetarian sourdough pancake recipe, I Don’t waste any of my sour starters! You can use fresh-fed sourdough starter or starter that has been chilled in the fridge for a few days. Both work and are a great way to use up a bunch of sourdough starters.
Adding baking soda to the batter is what makes these vegan pancakes Super fluffy. Sour starter is naturally acidic, so when the baking soda hits the starter, it creates a light and fluffy batter.
Adding sourdough starter to your vegan sourdough pancakes gives you Benefits of fermented grains first thing in the morning. It’s a win-win situation!
These vegan sourdough pancakes heat up beautifully and can be frozen. I often make way more than we need so we can enjoy them for days in a row.

material

All ingredients for vegan sourdough pancakes are measured into bowls on a wooden cutting board.

sour starter (fed) – Your sourdough starter can be hot or cold when you go to make these sourdough pancakes. The most important thing is that it has been fed and grown and fermented for several hours at room temperature.
Hemp eggs – Obviously, vegan sourdough pancakes will contain no eggs. Instead of chicken eggs, you will make two flax eggs. To make two flax eggs, all you need to do is whisk 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water. Let this mixture sit and thicken for about 5 minutes before using it in this recipe.
coconut oil – I love to bake with coconut oil. It adds a natural sweetness to this recipe. See below for replacements!
Maple syrup – For a touch of sweetness, I like to add a few tablespoons of maple syrup. You can omit this ingredient if you want less-sweet pancakes or if you plan to add chocolate chips or blueberries to the batter.
Baking soda – One of the most important ingredients in this recipe! I forgot to add it once before and my pancakes didn’t turn out well. After you mix the other batter ingredients together, you sprinkle some baking soda on top and stir it into the batter. The baking soda will react with the acidic sourdough starter and create a light and fluffy batter.

See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Alterations

coconut oil – Any oil will work in this recipe. I have used vegetable oil and light olive oil and they both work great. The more neutral taste, however, the better!
Maple syrup – If you don’t have maple syrup on hand, you can use another liquid sweetener, such as agave, brown rice syrup, or honey, if you’re not vegan. I have not tried this recipe with dry sweets.
Mix-in – We love adding blueberries or chocolate chips while cooking our pancakes! After I put some batter in my skillet, I sprinkle the mixture we’re using on top of the uncooked dough and press the mix-ins into the batter. If you are able to cover each chocolate chip or blueberry with a little batter, it will prevent the pancakes from sticking after flipping.

How to Make Vegan Sourdough Pancakes

A large rectangular glass container filled with bubbly, active sour starter.

Step 1: Feed your sourdough starter about 8 hours before you want to make these pancakes. However, how long it takes for your starter to bubble and activate depends on the temperature in your home. Here in Malaysia, my starter is ready to use after only 4 hours!

Beat the vegan sourdough pancake batter in a wooden mixing bowl.

Step 2: Make your hemp eggs. Set them aside while you prepare the rest of your batter. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the fed sourdough starter, oil, maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the thickened sesame eggs.

Baking soda sprinkled over vegan sourdough pancake batter in a wooden bowl.

Step 3: Finally stir in the baking soda, making sure any clumps are broken up.

Fluffy, bubbly vegan pancake batter stirred together in a wooden bowl with a wooden spoon.

Step 4: Allow the baking soda and sour starter to react for a few minutes. While the batter sits, preheat your skillet. After 5 minutes, your batter should be nice and fluffy and even have some bubbles!

Three sourdough pancakes are cooking in a black frying pan.

Step 5: Pour your ⅓-1/2 cup batter into your preheated skillet and spread the batter into a nice circle using your fingers or your measuring cup. Let the pancakes cook until many bubbles rise to the top and the bottom is golden. Flip and cook another minute or two on the other side.

Vegan sourdough pancakes cooling on a black wire rack.

Step 6: Place cooked pancakes on a wire rack or enjoy immediately!

An overhead shot of two stacks of vegan sourdough pancakes topped with vegan butter on a blue plate.

hints: You only want to flip the pancake once! So before you flip them for the first time, make sure the top has lots of bubbles and the bottom is nice and golden brown.

Expert tips

👉🏻 Did you know that you should replace your baking soda every 30 days?! I kept it for years! Now, when I buy a box of baking soda, I write down the date I bought it. After 30 days I throw it away and replace it with a fresh box. Using fresh, activated baking soda will ensure that these vegan sourdough pancakes are nice and fluffy!

👉🏻 As I mentioned above, make sure you only flip your vegan sourdough pancakes once. Let the pancakes get nice and bubbly on top and golden brown on the bottom before flipping.

👉🏻 If you’re adding some mix-ins, add them to the top of the pancakes right after you pour the batter into the skillet. Then press each blueberry or chocolate chip into the batter with your fingers and cover lightly with the raw batter. This will help prevent your pancakes from sticking to the skillet when flipping.

storage

If you have any leftover sourdough pancakes, you can cool them completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Alternatively, you can cool them completely and then flash freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet before transferring to a freezer-safe zip-lock bag.

Recipe FAQs

What is the difference between a sour starter and a sour quitter?

A sour starter and a sour drop are the same thing, but for different purposes. When you’re first making your sourdough starter, you’ll want to discard some of the starter so you don’t end up with too much sourdough starter. Once you have a sourdough starter well established, you can use that sourdough leave in recipes like pancakes and waffles so you don’t waste any more dough.

Why does my sourdough starter look like pancake batter?

100% hydration sourdough starter should have the consistency of thick pancake batter. If your starter is too watery, you probably watered it too much or let it sit too long, aka over ferment. If it’s too thick, you probably fed it too much flour or it needs to ferment too long at room temperature.

What can I do without talking?

Once you have a well-established sour starter, there’s no need to throw any of it away! You can make many amazing bread products with sourdough, including pancakes, waffles, flatbreads, muffins, quick breads and more!

What can I use instead of eggs in my pancakes?

In this vegan sourdough pancake recipe, I use two flax eggs instead of chicken eggs. To make a flax egg, you whisk together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water. Let this mixture thicken for about 5 minutes before adding it to your pancake batter.

Why aren’t my sourdough pancakes fluffy?

If your sourdough pancakes aren’t fluffy, you may have left your sourdough starter to ferment too long or not enough. You want to make sure you use a well fed starter and additionally, you add baking soda to the batter. Baking soda reacts with sourdough starter to create super fluffy pancakes!

More vegan pancake recipes!

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