S is for: Sourdough Oatmeal Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Butter

Living in San Francisco, we are spoiled to have access to some of the best sourdough bread in the world. But what if you want to make your own sourdough creations?

First, you’ll need a sourdough starter. My Aunt Candy was nice enough to bring her starter at Christmas and share it with me, my mom and my cousin. It’s a starter that has been in our family for years, and she’s kept hers alive when others have failed. The key to keeping it alive is to feed it regularly and use it at least once a month.

If you aren’t fortunate to know someone with a starter, you can read about how to make one here, you can get a dried form of one for free here, or you can buy a live one online here.

The possibilities are endless…bread, biscuits, coffee cake…but for my first use of my starter, I opted for sourdough pancakes for my second installment of Valentine’s Day Breakfast ideas.

The night before you plan to make the pancakes, mix your starter with a cup of milk and a cup of flour. Stir well and store lightly covered at room temperature overnight. This is what it will look like in the morning. The next step is the most important of all…



If you’ve ever met my Aunt Candy, you’ll appreciate this direct quote: “In the morning before using, take out 8-9 tablespoons starter. Keep in refrigerator. If you forget to do this, you can kiss your starter goodbye and live with the guilt for the rest of your life.” Set remaining starter aside. 

I was feeling a little crazy that morning, so I decided to add some ground oats to my pancake mixture as well. This is NOT part of my Aunt Candy’s recipe, but I thought it added a nice heartiness and healthiness to my sourdough pancakes. I started with a cup of rolled oats and ground them up with the chopper attachment to my immersion blender. It was reduced to 3/4 cup ground oats.

To the portion of the starter you have not safely stored away in the refrigerator, add the dry ingredients,  eggs, oil (and oats if using).

Fry on a hot griddle until lightly browned on both sides. (The bottom of my panini maker worked perfectly for this).

I also made a strawberry maple compound heart-shaped butter to go along with my pancakes (perfect for that special someone on Valentine’s Day!) To do this, combine room temperature butter with your ingredients of choice (in this case, maple syrup and strawberry preserves). If you are making a log, it’s easiest to roll it up in some parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use. In my case, I wanted to make heart-shaped butter, so I wrapped it in plastic wrap and shaped it into a heart.

I even managed to make a heart-shaped pancake as well. What a perfect Valentine’s Day breakfast!