One of the best ways to use your never-ending sourdough discard is to make discard pancakes! Easy and fluffy, these overnight sourdough pancakes are very simple to make. With the main batter made the night before and left to ferment, these fluffy sourdough pancakes are easier to digest and quicker to make in the morning. Enjoy with your favourite toppings for a lazy Sunday morning treat!

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Ingredients and Substitutes
- sourdough starter discard: use unfed starter but avoid old overly acidic sourdough starter that has formed a layer of liquid on the surface – it will make the pancakes too sour.
- milk: we used dairy milk, but creamy dairy-free alternatives will work too: cashew, oat or soya milk would be best.
- plain flour: also known as all-purpose flour.
- honey: clear runny honey works best. Alternatively, substitute it with golden syrup, maple syrup or agave nectar. If you don’t have any of these, simply use sugar!
- butter: salted or unsalted, you choose!
- egg: a small egg will do.
- baking powder: not to be confused with baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). If you want to use bicarbonate of soda, reduce the amount to ¼ teaspoon in this recipe.

Method
The night before you wish to eat your pancakes, whisk together the main batter ingredients. That includes a sourdough starter, flour, milk and honey. Cover with a large plate or clingfilm and pop in the fridge to rest and ferment overnight. Preparing the batter the night before means it only takes a minute to finish it ready for cooking the next morning. More importantly, the sourdough starter has time to break down the gluten in the flour overnight, making your pancakes so much easier to digest.
In the morning, melt your butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan on low heat. Then swiftly whisk it in your overnight sourdough pancake batter together with an egg and a pinch of salt. Finally, whisk in baking powder, and you’re ready to cook!

You can use either oil or butter or a mixture of the two for frying. I remember hearing on one of the Masterchef episodes that you should add butter for flavour and oil for colour. Either way, don’t add too much. Pancake batter already contains some butter. And, if you’re using a non-stick frying pan, you can get away with using very little extra fat.
Using a small ladle, pour pancake batter into the frying pans. There’s no need to spread them out – they will do that naturally. Take care ladling to keep the pancakes apart, so they don’t merge into one (guilty as charged!). Fry until the surfaces of the sourdough pancakes are covered in bubbles (almost crumpet-like), then flip them over and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Tips For The Best Sourdough Discard Pancakes
- This goes for all pancakes, not just these Overnight Sourdough Pancakes. Add your baking powder just before you cook. To maximise the lift from leavening, the batter must be used immediately.
- You can add ¼ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda instead of baking powder to your pancake mix if you wish. Pancakes with bicarbonate of soda turn out even fluffier, in my opinion. But it’s just a personal preference to add baking powder – no matter how little bicarb I add, I can still smell and taste it…
- The longer it’s been since you last fed your sourdough starter, the more sour your pancakes will be. We personally like a bit of tang from sourdough. So we make our fluffy sourdough pancakes with a starter that hasn’t been fed and kept in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- If you want to serve all pancakes at once, you can keep them warm in the oven as you go. Just preheat to 100°C and keep the pancakes covered with foil until you’re finished cooking.
- You can reheat any leftover pancakes in a toaster to enjoy them the next day!

Recipe FAQs
Yes, this is an overnight recipe, so your pancake batter will stay in the fridge overnight anyway.
Absolutely. Stack the pancakes with squares of baking parchment in between, then wrap them tightly in clingfilm. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in a toaster or at room temperature. You can easily reheat them in a toaster too. Or use a more conventional method by topping them in a lightly greased frying pan and cooking on low heat for a minute or two.
Best Toppings for Overnight Sourdough Pancakes
Pancake topping is a serious matter! Here, at Somebody Feed Seb, we all have our favourite pancake toppings, but we all love the following:
- Mango, Toasted Coconut and Cream
- Strawberry Compote
- Chocolate Sauce
- Caramelised Pears (that we use for our Gingerbread French Toast Recipe)
- Butter and Maple syrup! Lots of it!
Other Delicious Pancake Recipe Ideas
For other pancake ideas, that don’t use sourdough discard, have a look at some of our recipes below:
- Vegan Refined Sugar-Free Pancakes
- Tropical Pancakes with Toasted Coconut and Mango
- Savoury Gluten-Free Zucchini Pancakes
Other Sourdough Discard Recipes
We have a collection of Sourdough Discard recipes for you to choose from for your next bake! But our favourite recipes include:
- Fruit & Seed Sourdough Crackers | Perfect for Cheese Board
- Sourdough Lime Drizzle Cake
- Sourdough Starter Discard Crackers
Recipe Card

Fluffy Overnight Sourdough Pancakes
Ingredients
- 100 g sourdough starter discard 100% hydration
- 80 ml milk
- 50 g plain flour
- 1 tablespoon honey runny
- 15 g butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 small egg
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
The Night Before:
- In a large bowl, whisk together sourdough discard, flour, milk and honey. Cover with a plate or clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight.
The Next Morning:
- Take the overnight sourdough pancake batter out of the fridge and whisk in an egg, melted butter and a pinch of salt. Lastly, just before frying, whisk in baking powder.
- Preheat a large frying pan (or two) with a little oil or butter. One small ladle per pancake, pour the batter into the pan(s) and let it spread out naturally. Make sure you don't overcrowd the pan and keep them apart, so they don't merge with each other.
- After about 2 minutes, bubbles cover most of the surface of the pancakes. It's a cue to flip them over and fry again for 1-2 minutes.
- Repeat with the remaining batter. See tips on keeping them warm in the text above.
Nutrition

Janessa
Such a wonderful way to use sourdough discard. They turned out SO fluffy!
Ieva
Thanks for trying our recipe! Glad they turned out well! 🙂
Beth
I can’t wait to try these. I love making sourdough pancakes. They have this certain something that you just can’t get from other kinds.
Ieva
Absolutely! Let us know what you think if you get to try them!
KarenAnn Levine
How do you make our get sourdough starter?
Ieva
Hi, Karen. You can either buy sourdough starter online, ask for some from your local bakery (if they bake with sourdough) or make your very own starter from scratch (https://somebodyfeedseb.com/sourdough-starter/). 🙂