Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein

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I’m Sonja and “For The Pleasure Of Eating” is my food blog.

Whether you’re looking to shed a few pounds or discover new recipes, my blog is the perfect place to find ideas that impress your family and friends while creating a party in your mouth!

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Just the breakfast you need for fall, my Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein give you an easy and quick breakfast with hidden veggies from the pumpkin, extra nutrition from the protein powder plus a contrasting slight tang from sourdough discard. The result is a fluffy, satisfying pancake with a bright colour to make you feel all warm and cosy.

Why You Want To Make This

Sourdough

In pursuit of uses for my sourdough discard, I basically add it to pretty much anything that contains flour, starting from flat bread over waffles all the way to cookies and cakes.
I feel it adds it’s benefits and so much flavour to anything it touches.

Two studies found that sourdough might be able to help with celiac disease due to eliminating the toxicity of wheat flour during long term fermentation.

Considering most of these benefits occur once the sourdough had time to slowly ferment, I usually make these the evening before and put the dough in the fridge, to give the little yeast bacteria time to do their job. Even though I’m not gluten intolerant, but the benefits in nutrition would be helpful for anyone.

Protein

Now apart from the sourdough, which would be plenty of reasons to eat these, I’ve also added protein powder, which replaces part of the flour. Why, you ask, would I add protein?
Personally I found, while tracking my macros during my weight loss journey, I’m not even close to eating enough of it every day, as I’m not the biggest fan of meat and pulses. And while nuts for example are a great source for protein, they also have a lot of calories, so I can add them only sparingly, if I want to keep my weight.

Considering protein can help you keep your bones strong, help with building muscle, and help with feeling fuller for longer, I find it pretty important to get enough of it. And Protein powder is a very practical way for me to do so.

Now of course I could just drink a protein shake or two per day, but I’d rather not drink my calories, but prefer to find ways to include it into my food.
How do I do that? I replace up to ¼ of the flour and sugar in a recipe with it. Which, in my mind is a win/win situation.

Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein Ingredients

Pumkin Puree

Apart from it giving these Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein their stunning colour and a lovely flavour, Pumpkin also sneaks in some vegetables. Another “trick” I used during my weight loss period. The generally low caloric density but high fibre of them, help us feeling full as well and gives our bodies the nutrition it needs to function well.
So I usually try to add both vegetables and fruit to all of my meals.

Whole wheat flour

Also for added fibre and nutrition benefits, I’m adding some whole wheat flour. Plus of course its lovely nutty flavour plays really well with the pumpkin. Think “Pumpkin-Pecan” and you know what I mean.

Spices

Of course you can’t have pumpkin pancakes without pumpkin spice. So I’m adding some of that too. If you can’t find it, mix your own. It’s a base of 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/8th tsp clove, ¼ tsp allspice and ¼ tsp nutmeg. Since I live in Ireland, where it’s not easily available in supermarkets, I usually mix a bigger batch and keep it in a little container in my spice cupboard.
Alternatively you could just add cinnamon.

Raising agents

While the sourdough itself has raising powers, we want really fluffy pancakes. So I’m adding some baking powder and soda here.
A note on that: If you leave the pancake batter to ferment overnight, as I often do, only add those right before frying, as they will lose their effectiveness if they stand too long.

Toppings

Pancakes without toppings are only half good, aren’t they? Which means I’m adding even more fruit here. For fresh and juicy flavour as much as the benefits they give me. .
In this case I’m using blueberries, one of my all-time favourites and plums, because their acidity goes just so well with the pumpkin.

You could use any fruit you enjoy really. Berries, apples, grapes would all go really well with these Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein. Greek yoghurt would be nice too. And of course, as I did here, some cinnamon sugar and/or maple syrup.

The Process

Mix the wet and protein

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sourdough discard, pumpkin puree, egg, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Mix well until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

In a protein shaker, vigorously mix the protein powder and soy milk, until there are no lumps left and you have a very creamy mixture. Add to the sourdough mix.

I often speed this process up by putting the protein powder and all the wet ingredients I can fit into my Nutribullet, just mixing it for a minute, until it’s really creamy.

Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein Process

Mix the wet with the dry

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

In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, and fine sea salt.

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.

Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein Process

Frying

Preheat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. If needed, lightly grease the surface with additional coconut oil.

Once the skillet is hot, pour approximately 1/4 cup of the pancake batter onto the skillet 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.

If you’d like to keep the stack warm while you fry the rest, keep them on a plate in your oven, set to the lowest temperature.

Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein

Meal Prep

As most of my recipes, Sourdough Pumpkin Pancakes with Protein are great for meal prep.
There is the fact that you can prepare the batter, except baking soda and powder, in the evening and it only gets better overnight.

Once fried, they freeze really well and can be heated through simply in the toaster. I like to keep them in portions in little bags or containers, so I can just grab a super quick and healthy breakfast, when I’m in a hurry.

Looking for other breakfasts with Protein?

Try my Tiramisu Oats Two ways.

Or for a savoury breakfast, have a look at the Turkish Eggs with Asparagus. They are a stunning weekend brunch.

Looking for other sourdough discard ideas with protein?
Try these:

Sourdough Protein Pancakes with Wholewheat

Sourdough Pumpkin Waffles with Protein

Sourdough Chocolate Banana Bread with Rye and Protein

Sourdough Brownies with Protein

Sourdough Buttermilk Protein Pancakes

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?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share. It helps me a lot.