Sourdough instead of buttermilk

Buttermilk adds a lot of flavor to things like cornbread and pancakes. It also adds the acid needed to react with the baking soda in the recipe. You get a fluffier pancake or a loftier cornbread.

What do you do if you don't have buttermilk on hand, though? You guessed it-- a tablespoon of vinegar is a common solution, or a little lemon juice will work. However, there is an even simpler, tastier solution that may eliminate that desire for buttermilk altogether. Sourdough.

Sourdough is one of the oldest methods of leavening there is. Unfortunately, it seems to intimidate a lot of people. Honestly, if it were so hard to use, it would have disappeared in baking a long time ago.

Next time you're making that special batch of pancakes, substitute the buttermilk in the recipe with sourdough. The only change in the routine is to make sure you have fed your starter the night before, and that you have enough to use for the substitution. There are several methods of making sourdough pancakes, most of which include making the batter the night before. But if you have at least a cup of starter, you don't really need to do that.