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Fluffy Gluten-Free Sourdough Pancakes

Ultra moist and fluffy gluten-free sourdough pancakes made dairy-free! These delightful 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!

two plates of Gluten-Free Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes with bite taken out of a stack

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.

What you need to know about these pancakes is the following:

  • 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.

Close up shot of fluffy sourdough pancakes with syrup dripping down

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).

Two plates of sourdough pancakes with syrup being poured on the top of one

How to Make Gluten-Free Sourdough Pancakes:

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! 

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.

Mixing bowl of sourdough pancake batter

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!

Plate of fluffy pancakes with a fork cutting a bite out of the stack

close up photo of bite of fluffy pancakes

Recipe Adaptations:

  • 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
  • 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.

More Amazing Gluten-Free Pancake Recipes:

Stack of sourdough pancakes with bite taken our

What’ll you put on your sourdough pancakes?!

My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!

If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag me at @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!

two plates of Gluten-Free Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes with bite taken out of a stack

Fluffy Gluten-Free Sourdough Pancakes

Yield: 12 pancakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Resting Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Dairy-free, gluten-free sourdough pancakes that are moist and delicious!

Instructions

  1. 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!
  2. When you’re ready to make the pancakes, whisk together the egg, oil, and pure maple syrup in a small bowl.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Once the skillet is fully hot, measure out ¼ cup of pancake batter and pour onto the hot skillet.
  6. 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.
  7. Top with desired toppings and enjoy!

Notes

*Use un-fed sourdough starter.

Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1 of 12
Amount Per Serving Calories 133Total Fat 6gUnsaturated Fat 0gCarbohydrates 18gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 3g
Fluffy Gluten-Free Sourdough Pancakes made dairy-free

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Stephanie

Monday 14th of March 2022

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.

Julia

Thursday 17th of March 2022

Thanks so much for sharing, Stephanie! That's super helpful!

Stephanie

Tuesday 15th of March 2022

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.

Rachel

Thursday 29th of July 2021

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!

Jeanne

Sunday 9th of January 2022

@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

Julia

Saturday 31st of July 2021

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!!

Amanda

Monday 3rd of May 2021

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!

Julia

Tuesday 4th of May 2021

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

Annie L

Tuesday 30th of June 2020

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!!

Elsie

Thursday 11th of June 2020

These are the BOMB!!! Kids devoured, and anti-sourdough husband loved them. Thank you. Best sourdough pancake recipe I've found.

Julia

Monday 15th of June 2020

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

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