Apple Butter Sourdough Pancakes

One of my family’s favorite fall breakfasts are these Apple Butter Sourdough Pancakes. The classic fall flavors of apple butter, maple, and pecans come together in this warm sourdough pancake recipe to get your cool mornings going!

This sourdough discard pancake recipe gives you three subtitle fall flavors: apple butter, maple, and pecans. None are overwhelming which I appreciate. I prefer hints of flavors inside of classic recipes to spice things up for a season, holiday, or occasion.

Apple Butter

Each year, there is a local fall festival. Well, there are several fall festivals. However, for this particular festival, a family friend of ours makes apple butter to sell. I bought a couple pints directly from them and used that in these pancakes. I have seen apple butter for sell at other festivals, the farmers market, cute country boutiques, and in the grocery store. Obviously, apple butter is going to be more available during the fall, but should be able to find it at the grocery store year round.

Maple

Absolutely, positively my favorite fall flavor. Maple anything is a go for me. Warm maple syrup is so good on a cool fall morning. Maple syrup is so versatile. It goes well with sweet and savory alike. Another option for maple flavor that I have recently utilized is maple sugar. It can be expensive so I’m selective of when to use it.

Pecans

Pecans are my fall nut of choice, but I would also enjoy walnuts on these pancakes. You can completely leave these off if you are allergic or do not like nuts. If you prefer more texture, you can leave them whole or chop the lightly. The finer you chop the pecans up, the more cohesive the texture is while still having the pecan flavor.

Sourdough Discard

Sourdough discard is collected when your sourdough is ready to be fed again. The container with your sourdough has been fed, it has risen while being bubbly and active. It has passed the phase and dropped back down. At that point, the container is full of sourdough discard. This discard is what you will use for this recipe. I got my sourdough starter from here.

Ingredient List

• 3 cups Flour
• 1 cup Sourdough Discard
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Sugar (optional)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups Milk
• 1 Egg
• 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/4 cup Apple Butter
• Unsalted Butter, as desired
• Maple Syrup, as desired
• Chopped Pecans, as desired

How to make Apple Butter Sourdough Pancakes

In one bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients: sourdough discard, honey, milk, egg, coconut oil, vanilla, and apple butter. Then, in another bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar (optional), salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Next, pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir. This mixture should be the typical consistency of pancake batter. Depending on how wet your sourdough discard is, your may need to add flour or milk to reach this desired consistency.

Heat your skillet to 350 degrees or heat pans over medium heat. Once they have heated up, coat the surface with unsalted butter. We like a lot of butter. Like, a lot of butter.

I like to use a soup ladle to pour out the batter onto the skillet or pan. It helps me to have a more consistent pancake size. Once you have filled your skillet or pan with pancake batter, let it cook for approximately 4 minutes. Your pancakes should begin to cook through around the edges and be covered with bubbles. At this point, you can flip your pancake over to cook on the other side. This is where I often get impatient and flip too early. Do not be like me!

When your pancakes are cooked all the way through, about 2 to 3 more minutes, you can remove the pancakes from the skillet or pan. I like to stack my pancakes until I have one large tower of pancakes. This helps to keep them warm if I need to do several batches, which I normally do. Then, when you’re completely done, they’re still warm enough to melt butter. Yummy!

Dress Up Your Sourdough Pancakes

Because I live the maple flavor so much, I add butter and maple syrup to each pancake as I stack. This is my preference. You can choose to just add butter in between and reserve the maple syrup for the top pancake on. You could also just put your toppings on the very top pancake. This is where the phrase “you do you” is actually encouraged!

So, for me, it is hot pancake, butter, maple syrup, pancake, butter, and then syrup. Another option with the butter is to melt it first in a pan and pour the melted butter over the pancake. This helps keep the pancake warm and allows it to soak up more butter. Win! Win!

If you choose to add nuts to the top, and I strongly encourage this, take a handful and chop up into small pieces. Again, I prefer pecans and I like the texture and taste of smaller pieces. I do not get to say this a lot so I repeat it here, you do you!

Other Optional Topping for Apple Butter Sourdough Pancakes

• Ground cinnamon
• Chopped apples
• Freeze dried apples
• More apple butter
• Whipped Cream
• Raisins
• Dried cranberries
• Peanut butter
• Chopped walnuts
• Caramel

Recipe Notes For Apple Butter Sourdough Pancakes

• If your sourdough discard is more watery, you may need to add additional flour when combining your wet and dry ingredients.
• If your sourdough discard is less watery, you may need to add additional milk when combining your wet and dry ingredients.
• If you determine you need to add more flour or milk but add too much, just add more of the other ingredient until you reach the right consistency. For example, if you realize you need more flour and the consistency becomes too thick, just slowly add more milk, and vice versa.
• These pancakes will keep in the refridgerator well for about 5 days in an airtight container.
• You can freeze extra pancakes easily in a freezer ziplock or reusable pounch.
• To reheat, either put the pancakes in the oven at 350 degrees or in a pan with melted butter for a few minutes on each side.

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