It happened. A member of my household became one of those quarantine sourdough people.

This means we have lots of sourdough starter and nothing to do with it (no oven, no microwave, just a 20-year-old dysfunctional stove). So we’ve been doing sourdough pancakes. When I say pancakes, don’t think of the fluffy white-flour, sugar-filled, butter-and-syrup stacks. Instead, imagine we are trying to make something functionally as close to bread as possible, without an oven. No sugar, no fillers, just eggs, sourdough starter, and not much else.

Surprise! That’s actually pretty close to the way many miners made their meals during both the California Gold Rush (1848-1855) and the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska (1896-1899). With no town, no oven, and no yeast, sourdough was practically ubiquitous with miners, and cooking it with eggs over a fire was easier than finding somewhere to bake real bread.

I don’t exactly have a recipe for this one either. You can look for any recipe related to Klondike-style or sourdough flapjacks. Mine are made with just sourdough starter mixed with whole wheat flour and water, and a couple of eggs. I’ve found that whole wheat flour is sometimes still on shelves where all-purpose has sold out (plus bran is good for you!). For these reasons, it is the only flour I currently own. I’m sure you can use whatever flour you have, though I’m not sure how starters react with gluten-free options.

I mixed the ingredients and allowed them to rise for about two hours before cooking. You can speed this up by adding baking soda, if you like. Cook each pancake on a lower heat, allowing it to puff up fully before flipping it over. The goal is to create an almost-baking-like environment in the pan.

The results: these are delightful. They have a hint of sour, and a lot of hearty texture. They are filling and sturdy. I made mine large like crepes, as making them this size and shape made most sense for flipping and using up all of the space on the pan. You may, of course, cook these any size or shape you like. These are great with any toppings (including the Depression prune pudding/jam from a few weeks ago!), and are also irresistible with none at all. Give these a try. I absolutely cannot get enough of them, which I suppose is a good thing because I don’t have a lot of other options for flour consumption at the moment.

If you want a recipe because you need to measure things in order to feel that all is right in the world, here is one I found that looks like a simple enough base to work from:

https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/klondike-style-sourdough-pancake-recipe-zmaz85ndzgoe

Final verdict: if you, too, have taken up sourdough during these scary and unprecedented times, this is a good way to use it. These can be time-consuming, but they are worth it.