Sourdough Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

There’s nothing quite like a crisp fall morning breakfast with these Sourdough Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes!

Using sourdough discard and pumpkin puree keeps these pancakes moist, but the real magic comes from adding ground, toasted pecans into the flour. The pecans provide a somewhat savory and nutty flavor, extra protein, and add a fluffy texture to the pancakes.

These pancakes lean somewhat savory, as they’re only lightly sweetened with maple syrup and seasoned with pumpkin spices. They’re perfect for dousing in maple syrup and salted butter, or your other favorite pancake toppings.

Be sure to follow my detailed instructions and tips for frying the pancakes so you always get crispy edges!

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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Easy and quick recipe that comes together in less than 30 minutes with minimal tools.
• Can rest the batter overnight
  • You can easily make this pumpkin pancake batter the night before and let it rest in your refrigerator overnight.
• Fluffy texture from ground pecans
  • Almost like my Sourdough Buckwheat Pancakes, these sourdough pumpkin pancakes stay fluffy due to the addition of gruond pecans (or another nut flour). Nut flour is gluten-free, so it helps keep the pancakes light and minimizes gluten development, even though there is some all-purpose flour in the batter as well.
• Crispy edges with a spongy, fluffy middle
  • The crispy edges come from frying the pancakes in coconut oil (or another neutral oil) in a cast-iron skillet and adding melted butter and maple syrup in the batter.
• Not too sweet
  • The sourdough discard pumpkin pancakes are a little savory and only sweetened with maple syrup, making them the perfect canvas for your favorite pancake toppings.

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🔍 Tips for Making Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes

• Can rest the batter overnight
  • Since pancakes come together so quickly, I make them right before cooking, but you can mix everything the night before and refrigerate the batter if you want to save a few minutes in the morning!
• Toast the pecans for more nutty flavor
  • To maximize the nut flavor, toast your pecans (or other nuts) before grinding into your dry ingredients. I recommend this for any recipes with nuts or seeds, including my Einkorn Salad with Radicchio & Oranges, Sourdough Tahini Honey Cookies, or even the oats in my Sourdough Chocolate Protein Granola Bars.
• Don’t overmix the batter
  • It’s normal if some lumps remain in your pancake batter after mixing. Don’t overmix the batter or you’ll get tougher, chewy pancakes from gluten development (just like you don’t want to overmix cake batter, sourdough biscuit dough, or sourdough scones).
• Use sourdough discard or active sourdough starter
  • You can use active sourdough starter or unfed sourdough discard in this recipe. Cold starter is perfectly fine to use straight from the refrigerator.
• Fry in coconut oil or another high smoke point neutral oil
  • Frying pancakes in butter can result in burnt pancakes due to butter’s low smoke point (350ºF). Instead, I recommend adding the butter to the batter so you get the flavor and richness. Then, use refined coconut oil or another neutral frying oil with a higher smoke point (vegetable, canola, grapeseed, avocado) to cook them!
• Use a cast-iron skillet for crispy edges
  • Cast-iron skillets are my favorite for recipes like my Sourdough Honey Cornbread and Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting because it cooks evenly and is non-stick when seasoned properly.
  • Cooking pancakes in cast iron retains heat well and gives them the best even color and texture.

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🛠 Tools Needed:

You only need a few basic tools to make these sourdough pumpkin pancakes. No mixer or blender required!

• Baking scale: Flour and sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients is the best option! Weighing your ingredients by weight will make your baking more consistent and accurate.
• Food processor: I use a food processor with the S-blade to easily grind the pecans and dry ingredients together. However, you can use a blender, spice grinder, or even a mortar and pestle to grind the pecans into a fine flour. If you’re using pre-ground nut flour, then you can just whisk the dry ingredients together.
• Whisk: For mixing the wet ingredients.
• Cast-iron skillet (optional): You can use a non-stick pan or electric griddle if you’re cooking many at one time, but a cast-iron skillet works best for crispy edges and even cooking.
• ¼ cup scoop or ladle (optional): Helps with even pouring to make round, equal-sized pancakes. You can you a large liquid measuring cup with a spout or pancake batter dispenser too.
• Spatula or fish spatula: for flipping the pancakes.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed:

See below for my ingredient recommendations and possible substitutions.

• All-purpose flour: Can substitute some or all of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour if you’re looking for an even heartier pancake.
• Pecans, toasted: Toasted and ground pecans adds nutty flavor and fluffiness to these sourdough pancakes that pairs excellently with the pumpkin puree and maple. You can substitute the pecans with walnuts, almonds, or another nut flour. Even a nut-free, gluten-free flour like oat flour or buckwheat flour would be good in these!
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda: The mechanical leavening agents assist with rise, the fluffy texture, and browning the pancakes.
• Pumpkin pie spices: The mélange of warming spices helps make the pancakes taste more like, well, autumn. You can make your own pumpkin spice (or purchase it) with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. Alternatively, you can substitute the spice with cinnamon and ginger or other warming spices you enjoy.
• Salt: You need to season the pancakes to bring out the flavors in the pancakes or else they’ll taste flat. I use Kosher or sea salt.
• Maple syrup: These pancakes lean savory, but maple syrup adds a bit of sweetness that pairs well with the pumpkin and spices, just like in my Sourdough Pumpkin Maple Cookies.
• Pumpkin puree: I like baking with Libby’s canned pumpkin puree for its flavor, color, and consistency. This recipe doesn’t use a full can (about ½ cup pumpkin puree), so you can save the rest for other sourdough pumpkin recipes like my Sourdough Pumpkin Whoopie Pies or Sourdough Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.
• Sourdough Discard
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips.
• Buttermilk: I always make pancakes with buttermilk because it makes them more tender and adds a slight tang like in my Sourdough Buttermilk Pancake Mix. You can use powdered buttermilk and reconstitute it or substitute with milk and a little lemon juice or white vinegar.
• Eggs: Adds structure to help bind the ingredients together and rise.
• Unsalted butter, melted: Butter adds richness to the batter and helps brown them and get crispy edges, but you can substitute it with another fat such as coconut oil, avocado, or vegetable oil.
• Coconut oil or another neutral oil, for frying: Butter can burn quickly due to its low smoke point, so I prefer frying pancakes in refined coconut oil or another higher smoke point oil, such as vegetable, grapeseed, or avocado oil. Ghee (or clarified butter) is also fantastic for even more buttery flavor!

Sourdough Pumpkin Pancake Variations and Toppings

Maple syrup and butter are always welcome on top of these pumpkin pancakes, but there are lots of other variations and toppings you can easily add to the versatile recipe as well.

• Chocolate chips: Fold in ½ cup of mini chocolate chips after mixing the batter.
• Nuts: Add ½ cup of chopped toasted pecans, walnuts, or other nuts to the batter after mixing.
• Cinnamon butter: Top the pancakes with homemade cinnamon butter for an extra cozy and decadent experience.
• Sweetened cream cheese topping: Whipped cream is a fun topping, but adding some whipped cream cheese pairs so well with the pumpkin.
• Spicy pumpkin pancakes: One of my favorite coffee shops serves a spicy pumpkin latte with a touch of cayenne added for a little heat. To give your pancakes a little kick, add ¼ tsp or less of cayenne to the pumpkin spice.
• Fruit: Blueberries and other common berries don’t necessarily match the pumpkin-fall flavors, but sliced bananas or apples would work!

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🥞 How to Make Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes

Follow this visual and detailed recipe guide as you make the best sourdough pumpkin pecan pancakes. This recipe makes about 10-12 large pancakes, but it’s easy to double the recipe so you have more.

1. Mix the Dry Ingredients

If you haven’t toasted your pecans yet, add them to a dry cast-iron skillet (or another skillet) and toast them on medium heat for a few minutes, tossing occasionally until they’re fragrant and toasty. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Add the pecans and all of your dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda) to a food processor with the S-blade.

Process for a minute until the nuts are ground into a flour and the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed. It’s okay if there are some slightly different-sized pecan pieces, but they should be largely uniform.

If you want to add large pieces of chopped pecans to your pancakes, you can fold them into the batter later.

2. Whisk the Wet Ingredients

Whisk the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl, including the buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, and sourdough discard.

Whisk in the melted butter last.

3. Mix the Sourdough Pumpkin Pancake Batter

Add all of the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and use a spatula to mix the pancake batter until the flour is hydrated.

It’s okay if some lumps remain (don’t overmix).

If you’re adding any inclusions, such as toasted nuts or chocolate chips, fold them in in now.

4. Cook

For pancakes with crispy edges and a fluffy interior, it all comes down to technique and the type of pan you use.

I use 2-3 TBS of refined coconut oil, during frying, which may be more oil than you’re accustomed to. Place the oil in the pan and heat it over medium heat until it’s hot. Then, turn the pan down to medium-low.

There should be a layer of hot oil so that the pancakes will immediately start to fry when you put the batter in it.

Scoop about a ¼ cup of batter into your pan with hot oil (I use a ladle or a ¼ cup scoop) and cook one or two at a time in my 10-inch pan. This can be faster if you have a larger pan or make smaller pancakes.

Cook the pancake for 2-3 minutes until visible bubbles appear in the center. Lift up one side with a spatula (I like a flat fish spatula) to make sure the pancake looks dark brown with a crispy ring around the edge.

Then, quickly slide the spatula underneath the pancakes and flip over. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side until it’s evenly browned. Remove the pancakes from the pan to serve immediately or store warm until you’ve finished frying the rest of the batter.

Replenish the oil in the pan as necessary in between pancakes, as the pancakes will soak up some of the frying oil.

Finally, repeat the process with the remaining batter.

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How to Store Pancakes

I recommend cooking and serving these delicious sourdough discard pancakes while warm and crispy. However, you can freeze them for your convenience.

To freeze, let the pancakes cool completely and then place them in a freezer-safe airtight bag. They can stick together, so you may want to put a piece of parchment paper in between each pancake. Freeze for up to two months.

Before cooking frozen pancakes, wrap them individually in aluminum foil and cook them in the oven at 350ºF for 10 minutes. The aluminum foil will help them not go dry when you reheat them. This will help keep them more crispy without getting too limp.

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❓ FAQs:

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Other Sourdough Fall Recipes You May Enjoy:

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