Easy overnight or same day gluten free pancakes with the delicious flavor of sourdough. They feature earthy oat and almond flour, a bit of butter, a touch of maple syrup and eggs. Like in my Gluten Free Sourdough Waffles, use your discarded Gluten Free Sourdough Starter in this fluffy and flavor-packed sourdough pancake recipe! | Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Bob’s Red Mill!
Pantry Staples
I’ve been futzin’ with this gluten free sourdough pancake recipe since last fall after creating my first gluten free sourdough starter and then a loaf of gluten free sourdough bread. The texture and fluffy factor of these pancakes had to be just so before I shared the recipe with y’all. And finally, after a lot of testing, this recipe came together.
Made in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill, I’m excited to share their pantry staples with you, highlighting a brand I trust for high quality ingredients to fuel my family’s lifestyle. Bob’s Red Mill pantry staples are accessible and offers a wide array of whole grain and gluten free options should you need.
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats are naturally gluten free, but to ensure these oats maintain their gluten free integrity, Bob’s Red Mill handles them with care in their dedicated gluten free facility and batch tests to ensure gluten free status.
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About the Key Ingredients
- Gluten Free Sourdough Starter Discard – this is a high hydration (120%) sourdough starter that is an essential ingredient in this recipe.
- Milk – you can use plant or pasteurized whole dairy milk. I use Homemade Cashew Milk half diluted with water.
- Eggs – aids in binding and helps create a fluffy texture.
- Homemade Oat Flour – from Gluten Free Rolled Oats. I DIY oat flour in a Vitamix. It’s quick, easy and economical.
- Super Fine Almond Flour – be sure to use super fine almond flour for proper texture, binding and flavor.
When developing this recipe, I tested to see if I could make it egg free. To replace the eggs I tried flax and chia eggs, a banana and applesauce. I made a lot of pancakes! None of these ingredients worked for me in this particular recipe as they made the pancakes gummy rather than light and fluffy.
At a Glance: How to Make Gluten Free Sourdough Pancakes
Allowing the batter to rest overnight amps up the sourness in such a good way. But too, this gluten free pancake recipe can be whipped up quickly when cravings strike. Either way, you’ll have pancakes on the table in no time! Here’s how to do it:
For Overnight Pancakes:
- First, whisk your sourdough starter discard with milk, maple, vanilla extract, then add the dry ingredients: gluten free oat flour, and almond flour.
- Second, cover the mixture and let it rest at room temperature (or in the refrigerator) overnight.
- Third, the next morning, whisk in the egg, butter or oil, baking powder and soda, and salt.
- Last, bake on a nonstick griddle or skillet.
For Same Day Pancakes:
- First, whisk your sourdough starter discard with the oil and other wet ingredients.
- Next, whisk in the dry ingredients.
- Last, bake on a nonstick griddle or skillet.
Tips for Making the Best Pancakes!
- Test to see if the griddle is hot enough. I set mine at 375F but notice the temperature fluctuates a bit as it attempts to maintain the proper temperature. To see if the griddle is ready, flick a few drops of water on it. If the drops sizzle and evaporate fast, it’s ready. You can also make a tiny pancake!
- The edges of the pancakes will cook first, so that’s where you’ll see bubbles first appear. As the pancakes cook, bubbles will appear and pop in the center. Once you see these bubbles, gently lift the pancake and take a peak underneath. When golden (I like mine a bit darker), flip and finish cooking the pancake.
- Share with real maple syrup and top with sweet cherry compote, blueberry compote or stewed apples.
Traci’s Tips
- Overnight Ferment: if you prefer not to rest pasteurized milk batter overnight at room temperature, you can put the batter in the refrigerator overnight to ferment. Pull the batter out of the fridge then rest at room temperature for about an hour before mixing in the eggs, butter and leaveners.
- New to gluten free sourdough? Check out my easy gluten free sourdough starter guide then whip up a loaf of the best gluten free multigrain sourdough bread.
- Weigh Your Ingredients for best outcome.
Gluten Free Sourdough Pancakes (Same Day or Overnight)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 grams) Gluten Free Sourdough Starter, discard, I recommend my recipe linked here for best results
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) Milk, I use homemade cashew milk
- 4 tablespoons Maple Syrup, + more for serving
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (90 grams) Gluten Free Oat Flour, I DIY oat flour
- 2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (90 grams) Super Fine Almond Flour, I use Bob's Red Mill
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter , or Coconut Oil melted (if using coconut oil, warm to the touch)
- 2 Eggs, large
- 1/4 +1/8 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
- 4 teaspoons Baking Powder, non aluminum
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
Top With (optional):
- Stewed Apples
- Rhubarb Jam
- Berries, butter, bananas!
Instructions
For Overnight Pancakes (**see note):
- Whisk your sourdough starter discard with milk, maple, vanilla extract, then add the gluten free oat flour, and almond flour. Whisk to incorporate.
- Cover the mixture and let it rest at room temperature overnight for 8 – 12 hours. The mixture will ferment overnight and be fluffy the next morning (it will look dryish).
- The next morning, to the fluffy sourdough mixture whisk in the egg, butter or oil, baking powder and soda, and salt. The mixture will seem dryish at first, but once the ingredients are incorporated, the batter will be thinner. Whisk to incorporate the ingredients. You'll notice right away how fluffy and light the batter becomes.
- Heat a nonstick griddle (affiliate link) or buttered cast iron skillet on medium heat (375-400f / 190-204c). Before scooping the batter, stir it down (you may have to do this several times through the cooking process because the batter is so fluffy!). There's no need to oil or butter the pan if using a nonstick pan. If not using a non stick pan, lightly oil or butter the pan.
- Use a measuring cup to scoop up the batter, add about 3 Tbs to the griddle and spread it gently in a circle pattern (the pancakes will be about 4" in diameter). When bubbles start appearing towards the center of the pancake, gently lift the edge of the pancake to see if it's golden-brown. Bake a little longer if needed. Flip the pancake when the color is to your liking or bubbles appear around the edges with a few on top. Cook the pancake until the underside is golden-brown and the pancake is cooked through.
For Same Day Pancakes:
- Whisk your sourdough starter discard with milk, maple, vanilla extract, butter or oil and eggs. Whisk in the dry ingredients: gluten free oat flour, almond flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. You'll notice right away how fluffy and light the batter becomes. Set aside and allow the batter to rest for 10-20 minutes.
- Heat a nonstick griddle (affiliate link) or buttered cast iron skillet on medium heat (375-400f / 190-204c). Before scooping the batter, stir it down (you may have to do this several times through the cooking process because the batter is so fluffy!). There's no need to oil or butter the pan if using nonstick. If not using non stick pan, lightly oil or butter the pan.
- Use a measuring cup to scoop up the batter, add about 3 Tbs to the griddle and spread it gently in a circle pattern (the pancakes will be about 4" in diameter). When bubbles start appearing towards the center of the pancake, gently lift the edge of the pancake to see if it's golden-brown. Flip the pancake when the color is to your liking or bubbles appear around the edges with a few on top. Cook the pancake until the underside is golden-brown and the pancake is cooked through.
To Serve:
- Share right away or place on a plate and keep warm in a 200F (93c) oven until ready to share. Share with real maple syrup and top with sweet cherry compote, blueberry compote, easy stewed pears or stewed apples.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Made it? Leave a comment below!
The most helpful comment may include recipe rating, feedback, any modifications or helping other commentors.
I have made these pancakes at least a dozen times with my sorghum starter using 120% hydration, mostly as oven pancakes, but also in a cast iron skillet. While the flavor is great and they keep my diabetic son’s blood sugar from spiking, they are incredibly crumbly and we always end up eating a good 20% of the pancake by pressing all the crumbs together on the plate with a fork and scraping them into our mouths. Very messy and it makes them difficult to store frozen because they break so easily. That’s the reason for 4 stars versus 5.
HOWEVER, last night I finally decided to add some xanthan gum, and that greatly improved the texture! I also used 100% hydration sorghum starter, and I’m not sure how much of a difference that made, other than making it pretty difficult to spread on the sheet pan to make oven pancakes. I will probably go back to 120% hydration. Anyway, I used 1.5 tsp of xanthan gum based on the recommended amount for “quick bread” by assuming that there was 1/2 cup of flour in the starter, plus approximately 1 1/2 cups of the oat flour plus almond flour. I think I probably could have gotten away with 1 tsp (especially with 120% hydration starter), but the end result was fluffy pancakes that held together when sliced and when pulled apart by hand, but they were not chewy or gummy. Perfection!
Hi Kate! Thank you for your note and sharing your experience! The starter I tested this recipe with (and recommend) is a sweet white rice flour based starter with buckwheat (or brown rice flour) which have different properties than sorghum flour. Using a different starter probably impacted the texture of the pancakes. But I’m so glad xanthan gum worked for you in the end!
Hi!
What would be a good sub for the oat flour for someone who can’t have oats?
Thanks!
Hi Leah! While I’ve not tested substitutes for this recipe, Jennifer in the recipe comments below subbed a few ingredients including oats “with a combo of millet and buckwheat.”
We loved these! To cut the carbs a little (so we could pour Maple syrup on top), we substituted 2Tbsp coconut sugar for sweetner in the mix. Still came out great! Honestly, the best gluten free pancakes we’ve had in 13 years.
Hi Brittany! Thank you for your note, sending a smile and trying another pancake recipe! SO excited!!
These are a huge fail. I cannot understand the good reviews. They are dry and crumbly almost like sand. Why on earth would four tsp of baking powder be necessary? Never seen a pancake recipe call for that much. They’re so dry that they just absorb every drop of syrup on the top pancake. At least the flavor is OK, but I had to add a lot of milk and extra oil to improve the end result.
Hi Meagan! I’m curious if there were any ingredient substitutions and/or different brand of almond flour used. After many tests and trials of this recipe, I landed on the specific amount of leavening called for in the recipe for optimal lightness and texture. Last, can you tell me about your GF sourdough starter? Is it the one from my recipe? Thank you for sharing and letting me know.
Can’t do almond flour so I substituted fine sorghum. Otherwise, everything was the same. My starter is a 6 month old mix of brown rice, sorghum, white rice, oat, and buckwheat.
Hi Meagan! Thank you for following up. I understand now why the pancakes didn’t turn out as expected. Unfortunately, the two-star rating seems to be based on a different version of the recipe. My recipes are carefully developed using the specific ingredients listed. While I sometimes suggest substitutions if I’ve tested them myself, that wasn’t the case for this particular pancake recipe. Almond flour plays a key role in providing structure to gluten free baked goods due to its high protein content. It also provides moisture and added tenderness due to its fat content. When substituting with other flours, it’s important to note that different flours absorb liquid differently and have other characteristics, which can affect overall texture, flavor and hydration of a recipe. Last, I’m not sure about the hydration level of your sourdough discard. The one I recommend on this site is 120% hydration. Using a different discard with more or less hydration can also impact the pancake consistency. I hope this helps clarify what might have gone wrong, and I appreciate you giving the recipe a try!
Is this safe to leave out on the counter overnight, with milk in it?
Hi Julie! I’m not an expert, but I’ve not experienced a problem (using pasteurized milk). If you like, you can ferment overnight in the fridge. Pull the batter out of the fridge then rest at room temperature for about an hour before mixing in the eggs, butter and leaveners. Or, you can use plant milk.
These turn out perfect every single time. My toddler loves to make these with me so we have made them over a dozen times and they never disappoint. We always do the overnight version and follow the recipe exactly as written except we add blueberries or mini chocolate chips. We have cooked them in a mini waffle iron, on an electric griddle, and on cast iron and they turn out great each way. It makes a lot so we often freeze and reheat in the toaster or half the recipe.
We have also tried these with the 2 bananas as the egg substitute since we were out of eggs. The texture is much more dense but for a GF vegan pancake the flavor was still great.
Hi Allison! Love that you and your toddler make these pancakes together. Thank you for your note and sharing how you’ve baked these. Blueberries or mini chocolate chips sound perfect!
Only good if you value perceived ‘healthiness’ over flavor or texture. These cooked into sand on my griddle, gritty and lacking the ability to hold together. I added xanthan gum after the first 6 went in the garbage and they hold together a bit better but still not well enough to freeze or pass for good pancakes. I did not change anything in the recipe, more to my own detriment.
WHAT?! These are AMAZING! I don’t have almond flour so I used my King Arthur Measure for Measure. I also made another batch where I took out 30 grams of each flour and substituted 30 grams of my vanilla protein powder. Those were my favorite! But the original recipe is amazing on its own.
Hi Jessica! Hooray! SO excited. Thank you for your note and sharing your tips with us.
What would you use in place of almond flour? My youngest can’t have nuts so I was curious if you knew a good substitute
Hi Aislinn! I’ve read that you can substitute almond flour with a gf flour blend, but I’ve not tried it. If you experiment, please let us know how it goes!