alaskan sourdough pancakes

Is anyone else coming off a major holiday sugar crash like me? All I want to do is eat candy and then sleep. I know my kids feel the same way because I have been finding sugar dusted all over the kitchen, like they are just eating spoonfuls of it straight out of the sugar bowl. Nice. Time for a detox, I think. And maybe a little baking sans sweetness.

For anyone who knew me about two years ago, you’ll remember my obsession with bread baking. Well, that quickly wore off once Brian found out he was gluten intolerant. Is it possible to make someone intolerant from feeding them too much bread?  I wonder. So I don’t get to bake too often anymore, but I still love to indulge on occasion, even if for the ritual.

For Christmas, we were given an Alaskan sourdough starter from a woman at Brian’s office. She told me that it had been in her family for three generations and was passed to her by her father. How cool is that? I’m thinking it must be like my family’s passed on tradition of making meat pie (which my mom wrote about on her family cookbook blog)… but I do tend to romanticize things like bread and baking. Family food traditions are so great.

So far I’ve made sourdough pancakes and two giant loaves of bread. The boys are loving eating sandwiches on homemade bread again and I’m just ripping big chunks off and slathering them with butter. I used the King Arthur recipe, but I think I need a better one. The pancakes however… to die for. I’ve never before made sourdough pancakes and boy are they delicious and tangy.

This is the recipe that came with the starter, and I’m sharing it with you with permission (thanks!). The pancakes are thinner than what I’m used to making, which is awesome for me and my tendency to burn pancakes on the outside and keep them raw in the middle. Also, if you don’t have a starter, you can buy one, try to make your own (I found lots of instructions on google) or put a call out in your community. Does anyone remember that Amish Friendship Bread starter that was going around about 10 years ago? Man, I loved that stuff. I should start a resurgence. Anyway. Recipe.

Sourdough Pancakes

2 cups fed starter
1-2 eggs (I used 2)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon baking soda mixed with a tiny bit of water before adding

Beat first six ingredients together in a large bowl. Add baking soda mixture. Cook like a pancake.