I'd have to say that I've been a little nervous about this. I've been making scratch pancakes for years, and usually they come out pretty darn good. So, this radical departure from my successful method had me a little worried.
First of all, the starter is a mass of flour and water that bubbles quite vigorously. You keep this stuff in the frig until you're ready to use it. Then take it out and through the magic of time and patience, along with another bunch of water and flour, eventually you end up with the foundation of a batter. You then add the other standard pancake ingredients like eggs (in my case, I used "flax eggs" - more on that later), sugar, salt, oil, milk (I used almond milk) and baking soda - pretty much in standard amounts. Mix all this stuff together to get your batter. Cook in a 400 degree cast iron frying pan.
The initial pancakes didn't come out very round; the batter was very gloppy and glutenous. But even the first one came out just great. They have more texture, and less cakey than traditional pancakes. Almost, dare I use the word, spongey? Almost the consistency of a fresh sponge cake.The "flax eggs" I used were made from Bob's Red Mills Golden Flax Seeds. They were milled in a coffee grinder (mini food processor) to a near powder and mixed with water, then refrigerated. This is the first time I've used this method and it not only worked well as a substitute for eggs (and very healthy) but also added a nice flavor, kind of nutty.
I've some of the pancakes in the freezer that should warm up nicely some morning in the future.
Now for some sourdough bread! More later...
