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Or use the batter to make pancakes!
I love baking with sourdough starter. Actually, I’m obsessed with my starter. When my boyfriend asks how my day went, I often include an update on my starter: “Eleanor smells fruity” or “Eleanor didn’t rise as much as I had hoped” or “I fed Eleanor rye flour today.”
A starter is a natural leaven that makes bread and other baked goods rise. Before the development of commercial yeast about 200 years ago, people baked with the wild yeast in fermented sourdough starters.
So, to make these waffles, you will need a starter. If you don’t have one and want to start one, check out my post on sourdough crackers, where you will find a brief tutorial on starting and maintaining a starter, plus some resources.
A few days ago on Twitter, someone told me she felt too intimidated to make a starter. I assured her that it’s not difficult. You just mix water and flour, stir it whenever you think of it over a few days and wait for bubbles to appear. Once it starts bubbling, you maintain it by discarding most of it and feeding fresh flour and water to the remaining starter.
Aside from the fact that these crispy-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside waffles taste buttery, tangy and delicious, I love making them as they use up an entire cup of discarded starter. I can’t bring myself to waste it.
I use this King Arthur Flour recipe with a couple of alterations. You can also use the batter for pancakes.
Ingredients
Makes 10 six-inch waffles
Sponge
- 1 cup unfed starter from the fridge
- 2 cups buttermilk (I culture my own)
- 2 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat plus 1/2 cup rye for this batch)
Waffle Batter
- All of the sponge
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Directions
1. The night before you make the waffles, combine starter, buttermilk and flour in a bowl. Cover with a towel or plate and let rest overnight. I like to use a glass bowl for my sponge so that in the morning, I can see the bubbles that have formed overnight. (I find the whole fermentation process fascinating.)
I set up a time-lapse of my sponge, but failed to plug in the camera, so the battery died after about four hours. I was able to capture the sponge rising in the 10-second video above though.
2. In the morning, you should see lots of bubbles as above (this is why I use glass—that looks so cool!). Stir in melted butter and eggs until combined.
3. Combine salt and baking soda and add to the batter. The batter will begin bubble up, this time with infinite tiny bubbles.
4. Bake waffles as usual in a waffle iron. For each 6-inch waffle, use about 1/2 cup of batter.
I’m not at all a fan of Teflon but I’ve had this waffle iron for ages, well before I started to purge my life of plastic and other materials made of dubious chemicals. I’m not sure what to do about it. I’ve heard those waffle irons you put directly on the stove element don’t work very well. Has anyone tried one?
Sourdough Waffles
Makes 10 six-inch waffles
Ingredients
Sponge
- 1 cup unfed starter from the fridge
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 cups flour
Waffle Batter
- All of the sponge
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Directions
1. The night before you make the waffles, combine starter, buttermilk and flour in a bowl. Cover with a towel or plate and let rest overnight.
2. In the morning, you should see lots of bubbles. Stir in melted butter and eggs until combined.
3. Combine salt and baking soda and add to the batter. The batter will begin bubble up.
4. Bake waffles as usual in a waffle iron. For each 6-inch waffle, use about 1/2 cup of batter. Or use the batter to make pancakes.
Those look fantastic! Yet another reason to get going on a starter.
Thank you! I hope you will. Starter is such a wonderful culture.
Yummy! And sour dough is so healthy for you!
They’re very yummy. Funny you should mention the healthy aspect of sourdough. I started to write about its health benefits in this post but the post started to get very long. Sourdough has so many benefits, I need to dedicate an entire post just to that. It’s now on the to-do list.
Yum! They sound delicious, I think I will try these as pancakes, as I don’t have a waffle iron 🙂
Good idea! They make delicious pancakes too.
These make my mouth water! Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
You’re welcome. Thanks for the comment 🙂
I’m glad I’m not the only one who can’t throw out bits of starter. I am always adding it to whatever I can just not to waste it. The waffles are a great idea.
I do have an old fashioned, non teflon waffle iron, and it is a drag to clean. As long as you can live with the cooked on grease on it, it works fine. I bought a very pretty one in Russia with beautiful designs on it, but hate to get it greasy. Maybe it’s time to bring it out.
Oh no, I can’t throw out starter. My daughter made bread kvass recently and I was so happy that she used half a cup or so of starter. I keep it in the fridge right now, so I’m feeding it just once a week. But when I left it on the counter and fed it daily, I felt I had a part time baking job. I had to use some every day to stay on top of it.
I don’t mind cooked grease. That’s better than Teflon. I bet people give those away regularly if they are that difficult to clean. I’ll check Freecycle for one. Thank you for the info 🙂
We made these two weeks ago… absolutely fantastic.
One got left on the Griddler waaaay too long and it was light and crispie like a sweet wafer cookie.
A second batch is bubbling tonight.
love the time lapse. and eleanor. haha! maybe i’ll name my starter… and my kombucha mother… the waffles look delicious. will definitely give them a go. 🙂
Thanks! I’d like to make some more time-lapse videos. I have some beet kvass, yogurt and buttermilk I could name. But those are easier to start and maintain, and I’m not as attached to them as I am to the starter. Eleanor and I have been through a lot—dough that won’t rise, dough I fermented way too long, bread I scored with a dull knife and deflated, leaven that fails, but then…a delicious loaf! I would definitely name a kombucha mother though 🙂
Great story with very detailed photos!!! Re: butter. OK, so I know you are a very busy person but when you have some time you could consider making your own butter…I bought a hand-crank churn which is sitting there waiting for me to try out. We get heavy cream in our weekly milk delivery (yup–we’re lucky to have such a thing here in NY!) so I use it for all kinds of stuff. I can let you know how it goes but I thought of you as I was prepping it. I plan to use those glass butter containers to store it–no waste! Second, I also have a nonstick waffle iron but I think even the stove-top one I got for pancakes has some kind of coating, too. Will have to do more research on that…thx for the tips!!!
Thank you! I’m glad you liked the post. I have thought about making butter. I read (probably Sandor Katz), that I can ferment the buttermilk leftover from making butter :O That would be so cool. Yes, please let me know how your butter turns out. I’m sure it will be fantastic! You’re so lucky you get milk delivered. I’m looking at a house later this month in the town my mum lives in, but I told my sister I can’t get milk in glass bottles there and that’s a deal breaker :p But I won’t tell that to the real estate agent or she’ll think I’m a lunatic…well, she may think that anyway. I wish I could test-drive one of those waffle irons. I could also just make pancakes and avoid the Teflon. But I love the crispy waffle exterior so much!
Will do! Once the harvest season is over and/if we’re bogged down in more snow, should have *lots* of time for experiments, I mean, recipes! 😉
I make butter all the time in the summer. I am lucky enough to get cream from a raw dairy in CT. That gives me buttermilk as a result from the process of making butter.
Unfortunately, not everybody in my family can eat dairy now. So instead I am trying these with almond milk and a splash on apple cider vinegar.
Wow looks yummylicious. …
Thank you 🙂
Yes! Perfect timing! I will be making these on Sunday morning.
Great! I think you’ll like them 🙂
Hi!
My starter, Veronica, is growing nicely! Thank you for your post, as this was my second try.
Questions: Do I discard 80% every time I feed her? Do I put her in the fridge at this point (when I begin feeding) or continue to leave her at room temp until she’s ready for baking?
And, I’m a little confused on the increased feedings before baking. Feeding once per day does not suffice?
Thanks in advance!
Jen
Hi Jen. Oooh, I love the name Veronica. Very pretty.
So, yes you use only 20% of your current starter to make a new starter. I store the other 80% “discard” in the fridge (or I use it right away) to make these waffles or pancakes, tortillas, etc.
After I feed my starter I leave her out for a few hours to rise and fall. I then either a) put her in the fridge and leave her there for a week to rest if I won’t be baking that week or b) keep her out on the counter and feed her daily. If you opt for b you get a lot of discard. When I leave Eleanor out, we eat pancakes most mornings. It’s a sacrifice, I know 😉
As for the frequency of feedings, if I have kept my starter in the fridge, to perk her up, I may feed her a couple of times a day before baking. But if I have her out on the counter, I will feed her once a day in the morning. The night before I bake bread, I will make my leaven, which is basically a giant starter. So technically she does get fed twice the day before baking. Some bakers say you have to feed twice a day. I have even read every four hours (almost like a newborn!). I have tried feeding it twice a day when I’ve left it out on the counter and I haven’t noticed a difference, but I’m not a professional baker.
I find keeping notes really helps with sourdough baking but I not everyone is as OCD as I am.
Oh one more thing. I made a slide presentation to try and simplify the process of making a starter. You can find it here: http://wp.me/p4sJ3i-5Oq
I hope this helps!
It does so much! Thank you!
I’m so excited to make these! I watched Michael Pollan’s documentary “Cooked” several weeks ago and was inspired to make sourdough everything after learning about the health benefits. I love fermented food but I hadn’t even thought about sourdough! My family tries not to eat bread in general but I think I’m going to make this the exception. I made my first starter a few days ago (her name is Dorothy or Doughrothy haha) and she is going strong and looking good! Thank you so much for taking the time to teach and inform about these recipes and health benefits in such a simple user-friendly manner! I have a question, have you ever made anything sourdough, whether bread, waffles, crackers, whatever, using a little barley flour in the mix? I bought some a while back for a recipe and want to put the rest to good use! I’ve heard its properties are similar to rye but I have no experience in the matter.
Hi Hannah. I’m a huge fan of Michael Pollan. I use his recipe for sourdough bread. I love your starter’s name! That’s great. I haven’t mixed in barley flour into anything (I don’t think…) but I have tried buckwheat for waffles and pancakes. It works well and is very nutritious. I imagine some barley flour would work too. I will have to try some. It’s good to have some variety. I hope you and Doughrothy have a nice weekend 🙂
Thank you! I made the waffles this morning, after going ahead and replacing the rye in the sponge with barley, and they were fantastic!! My husband and two-year-old loved them! : )
Yay! Thanks for letting me know the barley worked out 🙂
I’m SO EXCITED to give this a try. I’ve been obsessed with making my own sour dough waffle ever since I tasted it for the first time on a visit to Bouchon Restaurant. It was the ultimate waffle experience and I’m SO EXCITED I can now recreate it for my family and friends at home. Have you experimented with making this using a Kombucha based starter? I ask because I have Kombucha brewing in my pantry and was wondering if it would make a quick starter because it’s filled with happy yeast and bacteria.
I think you’ll like these Ann. They taste delicious. I haven’t experimented with my kombucha in my sourdough starter and have wanted to try. I have heard from a few people who do it and apparently it works well. I need to try it out. My starter needs a little boost. I think I’ve been storing her too closely to my sauerkraut and they don’t get along well.
Hi AM, Thank you so much for providing multiple recipes for discard…I currently have sourdough cracker dough in the fridge…can’t wait to roll it out and bake crackers! I made this recipe last week to make pancakes but I had so much discard (and my kids love pancakes so much), I doubled the recipe. I think that was a mistake, because although there was TONS of little bubbles after adding the baking soda and salt (so exciting and cool), it died off about halfway through. I was only cooking about 3 little pancakes at a time, so I was probably standing there for at least 2 hours lol. Is that not surprising and would you recommend not doubling the recipe? My kids and husband still loves gobbling them even though they are pretty flat. I was surprised they tasted more tangy than the sourdough breads I’ve made (same starter), but maybe that’s because I put extra lemon in my homemade buttermilk…I didn’t want to waste it and I had a little more juice to squeeze out that lemon :). Thanks for everything you do!!!
Hmmm. This recipe for waffles is very close to my non-sourdough recipe, for which I’m famous. Was really excited to try it. Darn. Combined the sponge last night. …not a smidgen of growth 7.5 hours later. Even used a glass bowl. Starter is active, fed recently, used it cold and unfed 36 hours ago with great results. then DUH! moment: could it be that (1) the recipe may call for the starter to be cold, but maybe the buttermilk should not have been? It was straight from the fridge, too. OR (2) my buttermilk is a bit older, great for baking biscuits but not drinking, i.e., more acidic. Was it just too much acid, when combined with sour starter?
It’s now been 11 hours, and not a whisker of rising to be seen. Was 7 hours too much time and it’s already fallen? Nah – the bowl would have had a smear on the sides. Help please!
Made fed starter to do a major “bread doughs in the freezer” day, then had to postpone. Now I’ve got nearly 1/2 gallon of unfed starter in the fridge to use up! Already tried your pancake recipe successfully. Trying the cracker recipe next.
Oh dear, I really want to love this recipe. But after 10 hours, I had no bubbles at all, even in a glass bowl. it took nearly 24 hours, by which time it was bedtime, and there still were not enough. So I hoped for enough the next morning – no such luck, the batter was back to it’s non-risen height.
So question: is the buttermilk supposed to be used cold, as the starter is cold, straight from the fridge? That’s what I presumed.
Then I looked over my notes, and realized, I keep whole wheat flour in the freezer – it was cold, too.
well, it’s just sitting here looking at me. any chance I can revive all this? More flour or something?
Hi Bonnie. Sorry I have not responded earlier. (I’m on the road.) Is your buttermilk cultured? I think that might be the problem. I use starter and buttermilk straight from the fridge so I don’t think the temperature is the problem. Do you have any dry yeast? If you run into this problem again, you could dissolve a little dry yeast (say 1/8 teaspoon or so) and that should liven things up. ~ Anne Marie
Question about sourdough starter! Is there a limit to how long it should be kept in the fridge? I try to use mine up on a regular basis but I’m wondering if it goes “bad” after a while? Thanks in advance and I absolutely love your recipes and blog!
I leave mine in for a week (or so) max. But other people have told me they neglect theirs in there for much longer. If you leave it in the refrigerator for a very long time, grey liquid will pool on top. Just pour this hooch off, stir up your starter and feed your it as usual. It will perk up within a few feedings. I hope that helps and thanks for the kind words about my blog 🙂
i recently made a sourdough starter (not named yet) and with the discard i made your pancakes and these waffles since. i loved the pancakes, so delicious. the waffles were also good taste, but i must admit, i don’t own a waffle press. i don’t want to accumulate appliances. so i made them in a panini press. they were crispy when made, but then on the plate became soft. next time i’ll try putting them on a wire rack. i hope that will help.
anyway, thanks for the recipes using the discard. i wouldn’t have started the starter if i didn’t found your recipes for the discard.
Hi Bojana, I’m glad you found the discard recipes. I can’t bring myself to throw out starter! I hope the wire rack trick works for the panini waffles. You could also try using the batter to make pancakes. Enjoy your sourdough adventures. ~ Anne Marie
I have a stovetop cast-iron waffle maker. It works pretty well. Coconut oil works well to coat it with, and I brush it on with a silicone brush. The trick is to make sure the waffle iron preheats before you pour the batter into it, and then flip it over to make sure you’re cooking both sides of the waffle.
I made these with a vegan chickpea egg, and “buttermilked” oat milk (oat milk plus apple cider vinegar) and they turned out GREAT! Froze two for future weekday eating.
Hi Carissa, thanks for the vegan info―I’ll pass it on. I’m glad the waffles turned out so well 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
So I LOVE these waffles and I’m planning a Star Wars brunch, so I’m contemplating a chocolate Deathstar version (turning them to the Dark Side, natch). Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking of replacing 1/2 cup of the flour with cocoa powder and adding a bit of sugar.
Update: I did make a chocolate version and it was delicious! I replaced 1/2 cup of the whole wheat flour with cocoa powder, and then added 1/4 cup sugar with the butter, eggs, etc. Yum!
If you dont have a waffle iron could u make pancakes with these?
When making the sponge to rest over night, does it stay on the counter or in the fridge? I ask because I don’t imagine the milk can stay out for hours. Thank you.
Kim, I’m wondering the same thing!
Hi Kim and Bethany,
You leave it on the counter overnight, at room temperature. The whole thing ferments, so the milk won’t spoil.
Enjoy!
Anne Marie
I love this recipe – thank you so much for sharing! I’ve been subbing the buttermilk for leftover yogurt whey and it works great. I’ve been using a stove-top Nordic-ware Belgian waffler and it works great – my understanding is that they use water-based non-stick coating.
Hi Erika,
Oh I’d love to try a stove-top waffle iron. I will look that up. I’m glad you like the waffles. Yogurt is a great substitution. I think milk kefir would be also.
Enjoy!
~ Anne-Marie
I’ve made this recipe several times with great success!
Also wanted to share where I got my waffle iron: https://www.toastercentral.com/waffles.htm
Not sure if the link will be censored out so just google “toaster central”. It’s one guy in NYC who restores toasters and waffle irons from the 40’s, 50’s and earlier. My vintage waffle iron works perfectly and I’m not worried about non-stick or it breaking after one year of use (since it is close to 70 years old!).
The early toasters from the 1920’s and 30’s are really interesting to look at too!
:O Thank you for that link, Jane! I would love to have a vintage waffle iron! I’m so glad to hear that it works. I’ve always wondered if it would stick. I’m going to check out the site right now.
~ Anne-Marie
I just received a cast-iron waffle maker (it’s for stove or fire-top… completely cast-iron) from my Nana (grandma) that was originally given to her by my great-great-grandmother…. probably from the late 1800s? Getting the history from her soon. But christening it with these waffles tomorrow morning! I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂
Hi Jenna,
What a fabulous heirloom! I would love to try using one of those. I hope it works well. Enjoy!
~ Anne-Marie