Overnight Sourdough Pancakes
Sourdough Pancakes are started the night before so you can have a fresh stack for breakfast mere minutes after waking up. This is another great way to use that discard!

Table of contents
About this recipe
If you don’t already have one, I can show you how to make a sourdough starter and how to feed a sourdough starter.
Even though I’m a baker by profession, I’m definitely not a morning person. If you’re like me and prefer the least amount of work first thing in the morning, you’ll love this recipe.
Make the sponge the night before, then it takes about a minute to finish mixing the batter in the morning.
Process Photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.

- Make the sponge the night before.
- In the morning add the eggs, oil and leavening.
- Use the batter right away.

- As soon as the leavening is added, the batter becomes bubbly.
- Use a scoop to portion the pancakes.
- Flip the pancakes when there are bubbles across the top side and the bottom side is nicely browned.
Recipe Tips
- Make your sponge the night before with unfed starter (aka discard). The sponge will be active and ready to mix by the time you wake up in the morning.
- The older your discard, the more sour your pancakes will be. If you want very tangy pancakes, save your discard in the refrigerator for at least a week before mixing the batter.
- Up to half the all purpose flour can be replaced with whole wheat or rye flour to make whole grain pancakes.
- Serve the pancakes hot off the griddle or hold them in a 200°F oven if you prefer to serve them all at once.
- The pancakes freeze well. Extras can be lined up on a sheet pan and frozen. Stack the frozen pancakes into a freezer bag. Just pop them in the toaster or reheat on the griddle.
Serve Sourdough Pancakes with real maple syrup. I’m a fan of grade B maple syrup’s strong flavor (it’s sometimes called Grade A extra dark).
You Might Also Like
If you’ve got a waffle maker, I recommend my Multi-Grain Sourdough Waffles.
For something a little heartier try these Sourdough Crumpets.
For a little international flair, you’ll love these sweet or savory Dutch Pannekoeken.
I know you hate to throw away that sourdough discard. Check out these recipes that use sourdough discard.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a star rating and a quick comment. Ratings and comments help my recipes show in search results. Thanks!
Sourdough Pancakes
Ingredients
Overnight Sponge
- 8 oz unfed sourdough starter (1 cup, 100% hydration)
- 10 oz All-Purpose Flour (2 cups, see note)
- 2 oz granulated sugar (¼ cup)
- 18 oz buttermilk (2 ¼ cups)
Batter
- Sponge
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 oz vegetable oil (¼ cup)
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- butter or oil for cooking
Instructions
The night before:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 8 oz unfed sourdough starter, 10 oz All-Purpose Flour, 2 oz granulated sugar and 18 oz buttermilk. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.
In the morning:
- Preheat a griddle or cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Preheat the oven at 200 °F if you want to hold the pancakes before serving.
- In a small bowl, whisk 2 large eggs with 2 oz vegetable oil. Add the egg mixture to the sponge and mix until combined. Sift 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder½ teaspoon baking soda over the batter.
- Mix until the baking powder, baking soda and salt are completely dispersed in the batter. Use the batter immediately.
- Turn the heat up to medium under the griddle or pan. Lightly brush the preheated pan with butter or oil. Use a large scoop or 1/3 cup measure to portion the batter into the pan, leaving 3" between pancakes. Cook on the first side until there are bubbles over the entire surface and the edges are beginning to brown. Flip the pancakes and cook until the second side is nicely browned. Adjust the heat as needed to allow the pancakes to cook evenly.
- Serve pancakes immediately or hold in warm oven till ready to serve.
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Equipment
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This was my first sourdough recipe since I just began the sourdough journey a week ago. They were great. I did sub in half a cup of whole wheat flour since we rarely eat just white flour, and they were delicious. I added some finely chopped pecans and blueberries and they baked up beautifully. Sourdough is such an interesting phenomenon. I look forward to trying more of Eileen’s recipes.
This must be the best pancake recipe in the universe! I’ve been making pancakes for over forty years, but this is, hands down, the tastiest! Brava!
Having used Eileen’s other discard recipes, I mistakenly fed my discard in the morning so that it was really active by the time I used it. There didn’t seem to be any adverse effects.