Vegan Sourdough Banana Pancakes
These delicious sourdough vegan banana pancakes are the best way to use up extra sourdough starter and brown bananas. Long-fermented for easy digestion and made with simple ingredients, these pancakes make for a healthy, easy breakfast.
We love making fancy breakfasts in my house whenever we have time. It’s such a delightful way to slow down and savor the morning. While there are so many fantastic choices for relaxing breakfasts, pancakes make the top of the list.
These vegan sourdough banana pancakes are the perfect weekend breakfast. They are fluffy, lightly sweet, and great for your gut health. Best of all, you can make extras and eat the leftovers all week long!
A Few Notes on Making Sourdough Pancakes
If you are active in the kitchen and like bananas and sourdough, you likely run into a similar problem to mine: brown bananas and oodles of extra sourdough starter.
In my search for a recipe that would allow me to avoid this waste, I discovered that I couldn’t find many recipes for sourdough discard banana pancakes that are also vegan. Whether you eat plant-based or not, this recipe is a tasty way to use up old bananas and sourdough discard. It’s especially helpful if you’re out of milk or eggs!
My favorite thing about this sourdough banana pancake recipe is that the batter is long-fermented. In sourdough terms, this means that the batter is left out at room temperature for 8-12 hours for the sourdough starter to break down the sugars in the flour, which reduces the gluten and phytic acid. Long fermentation makes flour-based treats more easily digestible and healthier for your gut.
For the sourdough starter in the recipe, I generally use extra levain from bread making. I use this discard when it’s ripe and at its best. Because of the baking powder in the recipe, you can also use sourdough discard that is unfed.
Sourdough Banana Pancake Substitutions
If you’re missing one of the ingredients in this pancake recipe, don’t worry! Pancakes are generally forgiving of substitutions.
These pancakes are vegan, but if you don’t need a plant-based recipe, you can make lots of substitutions to fit what you have on hand!
- Plant milk: Any milk will do for this recipe. You can substitute whole cow’s milk if you aren’t dairy-free.
- Flax eggs: Feel free to substitute regular eggs (not vegan) or chia seed eggs.
- Sugar: You can swap the sugar for maple syrup if you’re looking to avoid white sugar. You can also omit it altogether; the bananas make this recipe fairly sweet on their own!
- Melted coconut oil: You can substitute any neutral oil or melted butter.
How to Freeze Sourdough Banana Pancakes
Making a big batch of these pancakes and freezing them is a great way to meal prep quick breakfasts! To freeze the pancakes, lay them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe airtight container in a single layer. Place a piece of parchment paper before adding another layer of pancakes. Freeze for up to 6 months.
When you are ready to eat them, take out as many pancakes as you need and heat them in a microwave, toaster oven, or on a skillet.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do these pancakes taste sour from the sourdough?
No, they don’t. Sourdough starter does not tend to make baked goods taste sour unless the bread ferments too long, or the baker adds citric acid to make it sour. You wouldn’t even know these pancakes have sourdough starter in them!
What else can I make with fresh sourdough starter?
Sourdough starter can be used in just about any baked good that has flour in it. I love making sourdough English muffins, banana bread, and rolls.
Best Toppings for Vegan Sourdough Banana Pancakes
These pancakes are perfect for any of your favorite sweet pancake toppings! Try them with:
- chocolate chips
- banana slices, fresh berries, or other fresh fruit
- vegan butter
- peanut butter or almond butter
- pure maple syrup
- fruit compote
Equipment Needed For Sourdough Banana Pancakes
- Frying pan, cast iron pan, or griddle
- Spatula
- Glass jar for sourdough starter
Easy Vegan Sourdough Banana Pancakes
These tasty vegan sourdough banana pancakes are the perfect way to use up brown bananas and sourdough starter!
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 2 cups alternative milk (I use homemade almond milk. Soy milk or oat milk would be great too.)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 flax eggs (2 T ground flax seeds with 6 T warm water)
- ½ cup ripe sourdough starter
- 4 tbsp melted coconut oil
- ½ cup very ripe bananas, mashed
- Oil for cooking
Instructions
The Morning Before
1. Feed your sourdough starter and allow it to rise on the counter at room temperature until it has doubled in size.
The Night Before
1. Combine ripe sourdough starter, flour, and plant milk in a large mixing bowl and mix.
2. Cover with a damp towel and leave on the counter at room temperature overnight.
The Next Morning
1. Make your flax egg by combining ground flax seeds with warm water in a small bowl. Allow the mixture to sit until it has thickened (around five minutes).
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, flax egg, and applesauce. Make sure the flax egg is evenly distributed by mixing vigorously.
3. Add the melted butter, salt, and baking powder and mix just until combined.
4. Combine the banana mixture and the flour mixture from the night before and mix.
5. Preheat a cast iron skillet on the stove at medium heat until it feels warm when you hover your hand over it. Once it is hot, sprinkle a little cooking oil onto it.
6. To cook the pancakes, scoop 1/4 cup of batter onto the hot skillet and spread just enough to make it a ~4 inch circle. Once the top is bubbling and the edges start to curl (2-3 minutes), it's time to flip. Cook the other side until golden brown (another 1-2 minutes). If the pancakes are browning too quickly and the inside isn't cooking, turn the stove down to medium-low or low heat.
6. Continue until all of the batter is used up. Serve with your favorite toppings.
Notes
*If you don’t wish to long-ferment your pancakes or you simply don’t have time, you can skip that step and fry the pancakes immediately.
**This recipe can be made with unfed sourdough starter or sourdough discard in place of the ripe sourdough starter if you aren’t long-fermenting the batter. Because of the baking powder, you will still get fluffy pancakes.
