Blueberry Sourdough Pancakes with Strawberry Sauce

This morning I had a "waffle" disaster when the nonstick surface of my trusty waffle iron failed. So for plan "B" I took the rest of the batter I'd made, added a few extra ingredients and made pancakes out of them. They came out so well that I may have found a new favorite breakfast and my waffle iron might find itself retired for a while.

Light, fluffy and full of flavor, these pancakes beat the pants off anything you can get at IHOP. You can omit the blueberries and/or strawberries for variations or expediency, and I think I'll experiment with other flavor profiles such as raspberries, blackberries, nutmeg, pumpkin, cardamom etc. Some may work and some may not, but it'll be fun trying them all out.

Note that the main ingredient for the pancakes is my homemade sourdough starter. You can always substitute your own pancake batter, but for me the sourdough makes this dish stand out. If you're local to Austin and want to try this recipe but don't have any starter, I would be more than happy to let you have some of mine. The cool part is it only takes a very small amount of an established starter, and after a few days of feeding you'll have your own thriving colony.

On the other hand, if you have the patience and want to grow your own from scratch do what I did and follow this link.

Ingredients (makes 2 large pancakes)
1 cup proofed sourdough starter
1 extra large egg
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 - 1 cup blueberries (or to taste)
2 TBSP butter
Maple Syrup

Strawberry Sauce Topping
1/2 cup strawberries, chopped (or to taste)
1/2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp lime juice

1. To prepare the strawberry topping, add all ingredients to a small saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the strawberries break down

2. Preheat a nonstick 12" skillet on medium high

3. While heating, combine the starter, egg, olive oil, sugar and baking soda in a plastic bowl and mix until fluffy. Use plastic or wooden utensils, not metal.

4. Spray (or oil) the skillet, then pour on half the batter and swirl around to cover the entire surface area. Scatter as many blueberries as you want across the pancake (if desired).

5. Cook until bubbly, the edges pull away from the pan and the top is no longer runny, then carefully turn (or if you're brave, flip it) and cook about 30 seconds to a minute more on the other side

6. Turn out onto a plate, spread with butter, drizzle with maple syrup, then roll up and transfer to another plate.

7. Cook the second pancake while rolling up the first. When they're done, top with the strawberries, add some maple syrup and enjoy.