Breakfast > Sourdough Hotcakes >
Sourdough Hotcakes
Starter:
2 C all-purpose flour
1 pkg. active dry yeast
2 C warm water
In a large bowl, combine the flour and yeast. Stir in the water until the dough becomes smooth. Cover bowl with waxed paper, and let stand for 48 hours in a warm place (stirring occasionally). The dough should rise and form bubbles, separating. (If this doesn't happen, mix together another starter and begin the process again). Either process with the instructions below, or store the dough in a covered crock pot in the refrigerator until needed. If you don't have a pottery crock pot, use a glass or plastic container with a lid.
1 to 2 C flour
Milk
1 or 2 eggs
Dash of salt
1 tsp. oil
1 or 2 TBS sugar
1 or 2 tsp. baking powder
Remove the crock pot from the refrigerator for processing. (Note: Crock pot should not stay in the refrigerator for a period longer than about 2 weeks before processing. However, you can process the sour dough as many times as you want; you don't want the sour dough level in the crock pot to get too low. You don't have to make hotcake's each time you process unless you want to). Remove the crock pot from the fridge at some point in the afternoon and let it sit on the kitchen counter for 3 to 4 hours to warm up. Then put sourdough in a large bowl, and add a tablespoon of sugar, mixing well. Then let it sit on the counter again for an additional three hours.
After three hours, add 1 to 2 cups of flour (depending on how much dough you are working with), and then add milk a little at a time and stir. Use a large wooden spoon for stirring. Keep adding milk and stir until the mixture becomes rubbery. (Note: It is very important to stir it thoroughly). Then let the bowl sit overnight. It's best if left in a warm place. You can also warm the oven and then turn it off, placing the bowl of dough in the oven and letting it sit there overnight. However, let the oven cool down just a bit before placing the bowl inside. Another option is to leave the oven light on and leave the bowl in overnight. In the summer months, it is generally warm enough to just leave out in the kitchen.
The next morning, the dough should have risen. How much it swells will vary. When my father first started making the sourdough, his first attempts had the dough overflowing the top of the bowl. But normally, the dough should swell just a small bit, and it shouldn't change the taste of the sourdough. If you don't want to make hotcakes, place the dough back into the crock-pot and put it back into the refrigerator. Otherwise, keep the dough you want to use for hotcakes, and return the rest to the crock-pot.
Place the dough you've kept out in a bowl, and add 1 or 2 eggs (depending on how much dough you have), a dash of salt, a teaspoon of oil, and 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar (depending on desired sweetness of hotcakes). Next, add more milk a little bit at a time. (Note: It is important that you add the milk in very small amounts at this stage of the process - maybe a tablespoon at a time. The mixture thins very quickly and can get too thin if you're not careful). Use a wire whisk while stirring in the milk, making the batter fairly thin. After batter has desired consistency, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of baking powder and mix thoroughly again. Let sit for about thirty minutes to one hour, then stir again before making hotcakes. The batter should be light and bubbly.
Cooking: Spoon portions of the batter on a hot griddle. Cook until each side is golden brown, flipping over once. Dot hotcakes with butter and serve with preferred syrup.
*Shenanchie's Note: This recipe has been in my family for generations. There has been a sourdough starter in the house for as long as I can remember, kept in a special crock in the refrigerator. On a trivial note, birds love the leftover hotcakes.
*Sourdough batter image (C) Shenanchie.
*Recipe source: William "Mike" O'Toole (1921-1993) and B.R. O'Toole (1928-2014).
HOME | Recipes | News & Updates | About Food Fare | Contact | Site Map
