Simple Sourdough Discard Crepes Recipe (No Waiting or Added Flour!)

The very first sourdough discard recipe I made was for discard crepes. I had missed the peak rise on my new starter, so had plenty of discard in my fridge. With my kids home one morning, and craving a special breakfast, I settled on crepes.

I turned to the internet, of course, in search of a recipe. The internet, however, let me down this time. I couldn’t easily find a simple recipe that did not require added flour or a waiting period (and most of the recipes I found required both).

But, my kids were hungry. I had a lot of discard. And I was eager to get some crepes in the pan.

Necessity is the mother of simple discard crepes

After scanning a handful of recipes, I threw caution to the wind and started mixing up ingredients that felt like they were in the right neighborhood. We were on the pantry challenge at the time, which meant we hadn’t bought groceries in over a month. I added somewhat bizarre ingredients such as leftover almond pulp and skim milk powder.

Therefore, I wasn’t optimistic when my first sourdough discard crepes hit the pan. But this recipe I had randomly created turned out beautifully soft and delightful crepes that my children gobbled up as fast as I could make them.

They even said the resulting crepes were better than Uncle Joey’s. Which, trust me, is very high praise indeed.

I returned to this recipe within the next weeks, and started writing down the ingredients I was adding. Don’t worry, I removed almond pulp from the ingredient list.

These sourdough discard crepes are now beloved by everyone in the household. Whether we stuff them with ham, cheese, and arugula for lunch or Greek yogurt and cherry sauce for breakfast, they are a oft-requested hit.

Make these crepes work for you

The beauty of these sourdough discard crepes is that the recipe is flexible enough to accommodate you and your schedule. You are very welcome to add several tablespoons of sugar and vanilla for a lovely sweet crepe. You can also add in some flour—I did include some home-ground soft white wheat the first time I made them.

However, I went on to refine the recipe so the only flour that is needed is that which is already in your discard. Hence, these crepes are from a true sourdough recipe as all the flour has been naturally fermented through your starter.

These discard crepes actually taste remarkably similar to a standard crepe recipe. If you’re curious about the sourness factor, you could check out ways to make sourdough bread either more or less sour.

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But what about the flax?

Don’t let the ground flax distract you away from this discard crepes recipe. It is definitely not necessary—I have often made this recipe without it.

However, I personally enjoy the slight texture that the crepes get from the inclusion of ground flax. Because I feed my starter with organic white flour, I also like that this ingredient adds some valuable fiber to the recipe.

There are lots of other nutritional benefits to flaxseed meal. It is also a cheap ingredient that is readily available. For vegans ground flaxseed can function as an egg alternative, although this recipe is dependent on the real eggs as well. However, as you can imagine, adding some ground flaxseed does help to develop structure within the crepes.

Include flaxseed meal in the recipe, or don’t. It won’t matter to the overall outcome, which will be fabulous discard crepes that you will want to make again and again.

Sourdough Discard Crepe Recipe