Sourdough Protein Pancakes with Whole Wheat

These fluffy Sourdough Protein Pancakes with Whole Wheat are a wholesome and nutritious twist on traditional pancakes. Packed with protein from the addition of protein powder, which enables us to skip the sugar, these pancakes are not only delicious but also a great way to use up your sourdough discard.

 

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• Why You Will Love This
• The Ingredients
• How to Make This
• Meal Prep

Why You Will Love This 

TL;DR

• Fluffy, Filling, and Healthy – These pancakes combine tangy sourdough, nutty wholewheat, and protein powder for a stack that’s as satisfying as it is nutritious.
• Protein-Packed – Two scoops of protein powder mean no sugar needed. Sweet, creamy, and perfect for weight-conscious foodies (I used “Cinnamon Danish” whey, but go wild with your favourite!).
• Goodbye Guilt, Hello Flavour – Wholewheat = more fibre. Sourdough = easier digestion + lower glycemic impact + natural rise = less blood sugar spike and more fluff.
• Discard Hero – A dreamy way to use up sourdough discard (even rye mix works just fine).
• Topping Heaven – Sweet or savoury? Both shine here. My favourite? Maple syrup and crispy bacon. You’re welcome.

Basically, these pancakes are everything traditional ones wish they were: wholesome, high-protein, and absolutely delicious.

Protein

While there are a few sourdough discard pancakes recipes out there (I got my inspiration from one of my favourite sites about sourdough “Farmhouse on Boone”), I wanted to add protein and part whole wheat in my Sourdough Protein Pancakes. For both flavour and nutrition. The whole wheat flour adds nuttiness and fibre, while the protein powder contributes the benefits of protein, but also sweetness, so I was able to skip the sugar, lowering the calories in the process. Great for those of us watching our weight.

I was brave here with the 2 scoops of protein powder, knowing it will become creamy and delicious if I pre-mix it into the wet ingredients. For me this works particularly well with “MyProtein” Whey (Not sponsored or affiliated), as it adds no floury or chalky feel to the batter and tastes incredible on its own. I’ve used “Cinnamon Danish” here, since I love the flavour it gives, but you could use any vanilla protein powder you enjoy. Or chocolate. Go wild. 😉

Why Do I Add Protein?

You mean apart from the well known physical benefits of protein for the body like helping you to build muscle, keeping your bones strong and increasing satiation, meaning you stay fuller for longer and with that can maintain your weight easier?

Lesser known is, that it also effects the brain by helping it to effectively transport information through neuropathways using the amino acods found in Protein.
This even has been shown to help protect from age related dementia.

If you’d like to read more about how and why I use protein, I wrote a blog post about it.

And another one about my weight loss journey, shedding 70lb within 1 year. Protein played a big part in that too!

With all those benefits, it’s no surprise that the recipes containing both sourdough and protein were popular enough for me to shift my focus.

Great Use for Sourdough Discard

Having a whole jar of sourdough discard in my fridge is a blessing. So many delicious recipes, each with its own endless possibilities. If you look closely, you see that my discard is a mix of white and rye sourdough discard. Which is completely fine to use.
There are lots of recipes for it you can find in the Bread and Sourdough Category of this site (Buttermilk Sourdough Waffles with Protein anyone?) but today, on special request, Pancakes!

Benefits of Sourdough

The beauty of sourdough is not just its unique flavour, which is very gentle in these pancakes, so they go fantastic with any sweet toppings you might like. Or, as special weekend treat, try them with maple sirup and crispy bacon. I promise you won’t look back.

It also makes flour easier to digest, for those of you with gluten sensitivity (not intolerance. If you are gluten intolerant, please switch to gluten free flour). It also lowers the glycemic index, important for diabetics and weight loss, as it means insulin will be released slower into the blood and with that less fat storage is triggered. And of course, it acts as a natural raising agent. Good news for fluffy pancakes, right?

I wrote a whole post on why I use sourdough with added protein and how it benefits you here.

Here are 10 delicious Sourdough Protein Recipes.

Ingredient Notes

• Sourdough discard – Adds a lovely gentle tang to the pancakes and, if left overnight in the fridge, gives a bit more rise
• Flour – I’m using a mix of whole wheat for better nutrition and  all-purpose flour for soft fluffyness for these.

Note:

Cups, due to the possibility of compacting the flour while dragging the container through it, can give you wildly different results. Use a tablespoon to gently fill the cup with flour, then drag the back of a knife over it to level. This should give you the closest to the standard 120g per cup of flour.

Alternatively, if you have kitchen scales, assume 120g flour per cup and weigh it out.

In some of my recipes I will give gram measurements for this reason, but I mostly try to accommodate the American cup system.

• Protein powder – My alltime favorite is the whey protein from MyProtein (neither affiliated nor sponsored) as I found it tastes best in all baked goods and desserts.
• Baking powder – As raising agent. If you are not using sourdough discard, but active starter and leave it overnight in the fridge you could probably leave it out. But personally I love the puffyness it adds. Just add it max 30min before frying.
• Soy milk –  Or any milk of your choice as the liquid
• Large egg – We are making pancakes after all
•  Coconut oil – Keeps the pancakes moist and soft inside and adds to a crisp crust outside
• Flavorings –  Kosher salt (use half of the amount given if using sea salt), vanilla extract and a bit of cinnamon (optional)

Equipment Used

Measuring Cups

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Glass bowl

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whisk

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Frying Pan

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How to Make this

Mix the wet

• In a large mixing bowl*, combine the sourdough discard, egg, soy milk, protein powder, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Mix well until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Mix the Dry

Note: You can prepare the batter the evening before, but if you do, leave out the baking powder until the next morning, as it would lose some of its effectiveness overnight.

Alternatively, if you have a very active sourdough starter, you could try to leave it out. But I’m using discard here, hence baking powder.

• In a separate bowl*, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, and fine sea salt.

Mix the wet into the dry

• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring gently with a spatula until just combined. Avoid overmixing; a few lumps in the batter are fine.

Fry

• Preheat a non-stick frying pan* or griddle* over medium heat. If needed, lightly grease the surface with additional coconut oil.
• Once the pan is hot, pour approximately 1/4 cup of the pancake batter into it for each pancake. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until bubbles start to form on the surface.
• Carefully flip the pancakes and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until they are golden brown and cooked through.
• Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate and cover with a clean kitchen towel to keep them warm while you cook the remaining batter.

How to Serve

As you see in the pictures, I love mine with blueberries and icing sugar. But in the end I decided to add a new maple syrup mix I discovered in Tesco: Half maple, half carob fruit syrup, meaning less calories. And god was I glad I did! None of the artificial flavour of the 0 calorie maple stuff, but “real” sweetness. Am I making sense? Do you know this weird “This is not really sweet” feeling some of the artificial ones leave? Or is that just me?

Other options are of course any berries you can get your hands on or, a longterm favorite of mine, Bananas and Nutella.

Meal Prep

On the meal prep side of things, it doesn’t get much more practical than these Sourdough Protein Pancakes with Whole Wheat. You can prepare the batter in the evening and keep it in the fridge overnight, where it will develop more flavour and get even fluffier due to the sourdough doing its thing. Just leave out the baking powder until morning if you do so, as it loses some of the effectiveness if left for longer.
And you can freeze them when done, just toasting the pancakes for a few minutes whenever a craving hits or you need a super quick, healthy breakfast.

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?

And if you enjoyed this recipe, please consider rating, sharing, or leaving a comment – your feedback truly helps my blog grow!

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