Chocolate Chip Sourdough Pancakes with Butter Leaves and Dried Cranberries

A lot of folks love sourdough, and are always looking for new ways to incorporate it into their recipes. In my never-ending search for the better pancake, I came up with this novel recipe. It’s fairly healthy for you, (if you ignore the chocolate chips), as you use buckwheat flour. My son loves chocolate chip pancakes (of course, I like them too!), so I thought, can I use the chocolate with the sourdough? I’m happy to report that yes, you can. Then to just gild the pancake lily a little more, dried cranberries got sprinkled on top, for color and more flavor. Of course, maple syrup (or anything else you like), goes on top. As an added touch, especially as we near the holidays, I came across a novel way to use butter decoratively: Butter leaves. They are very easy to make once you get the hang of them and look impressive. Check it out in my photo, but you can use any small cutter. One word of caution, as I used a fairly plain leaf, after the maple leaf I was after tended to crumble. Sharp edges don’t do well. Hearts would work well, or a snowman. Let’s start with the pancakes:

Chocolate Chip Sourdough Pancakes

I cup buckwheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ cup sugar

2 tbl. vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup sourdough starter, fed or unfed

¾ cup mini chocolate chips, or ½ cup of the larger chips

½ cup dried cranberries

In a large bowl or measuring cup (at least 4 cups), place your dry ingredients. Add your oil, egg, sourdough starter and mini-chips, mixing well. If you’re using the larger, regular chocolate chips, just sprinkle a few on each pancake as you cook them. Have a hot griddle or large frying pan oiled, even if it’s non-stick. Pour dollops of batter, which should be “pancake consistency” onto the pan. If your batter is too thick, you can always thin with some milk. When bubbles form, and the bottom is browned, flip. If using the large chips, don’t let cook too long after flipping, so they don’t burn. Place onto plates or a large platter when cooked. Sprinkle with dried cranberries and add syrup. Eat while warm.

For the Butter Leaves:

¼ to 1/3 inch slices of butter, salted or unsalted, slightly chilled

1” cookie cutters or canapé cutters

Use the cutters just as if you were making cookies, only instead of dough, it’s butter. You don’t want the butter too cold, or it tends to crumble. You don’t want it softened either, or they will not turn out. I would suggest taking refrigerated butter out and letting it warm up for 10-15 minutes. After pushing the cutter into the butter, use the end of a fork or tip of a spoon to push the butter out gently. Even a finger works well. I made mine a little thicker, about 1/3”, use that if they break too much. Any scraps can be re-used for other purposes. Keep chilled.

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