Today is the first day of school after the winter break and we have had an amazing one. My mom, the kids and I took a trip back home to Palestine that I will tell you all about when I sort through all the pictures 🙂

It was a wonderful time to slow down, recharge and reconnect with loved ones and childhood memories.

Now that we are back refreshed and ready to start school, what better way to greet the new semester than with a breakfast recipe?

My kids love pancakes and we already have quite a few family favorites like this one and this one. But ever since I cultured my own sourdough starter, we have added a new recipe to our list of “pancake recipes that we love” and it has managed to make its way to the top of the list in no time. I found the recipe at one of my favorite blogs, Korena in the kitchen. These sourdough pancakes are super easy to make, they are light , fluffy and the sourdough adds a wonderful new dimension to them, it is not a tang nor are they sour, it is just a unique and wonderful taste that the sourdough brings to the recipe.

Because every sourdough starter is a little different I adapted the recipe to work with my starter. Instead of adding water, I actually need to add 2-3 tablespoons of flour to the batter to get the right consistency, I have also found that waiting for 10 minutes after mixing the batter gives better results than starting to cook the pancakes immediately.

My kids love mini pancakes, they usually have them with a little jam or layered on mini skewers with fruits but since we are lately obsessed with Frozen (something I think Kristy understands) we made these for breakfast in the last weekend before school

The mouth:  A slice of strawberry

a little labneh for the tooth

The body: pancakes

The eyes:  Labneh mixed with sugar and rolled into little balls

Tiny date slices for the iris

The nose: Rock chocolate candy

The buttons: Rock chocolate candy

The arms and hair: thin slices of dates

The snow: Sugar for the falling snow and labneh mixed with sugar for the snow on the ground

Sourdough pancakes

3/4 cup sourdough 100% starter (fed or unfed)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/3 cup powdered milk

1/4 cup sugar

2-3 tablespoons all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tea spoon salt

Add the egg, vanilla and oil to the starter and whisk until combined.

Add the powdered milk, sugar, flour, baking soda and salt to the starter mixture and whisk until smooth. The batter will be a little thinner than that of regular pancakes and a little foamy due to the baking soda reacting with the sourdough

Note: Unlike regular pancakes you do not need to worry about over whisking here.

Lightly oil a heated pan with a bit of vegetable oil on a paper towel.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan for large pancakes and 1-2 tablespoon for small ones.

Cook until the edges are slightly dry, the surface becomes a little dull instead of shiny and the bottom becomes deeply golden

Flip using a thin spatula and cook until the other side is just as deeply golden, about 30-45 seconds.

Serve warm with your favorite syrup (Mine is homemade strawberry syrup) or jam.

Notes:

Add the flour a little at a time and try pouring one pancake and check for consistency. If your batter is too thin add more flour, if it is too thick add some water. I usually need 2-3 tablespoons of flour for this recipe