sourdough waffles
Need to get rid of your sourdough starter discard but don’t want to throw it away? Use it to make these easy and delicious sourdough waffles! Tender, fluffy and lightly sweet with a hint of sourdough flavor, these waffles make for a tasty breakfast any day of the week. Bonus: You can make pancakes with the batter, too. HAPPY DAY.
Girl Versus Dough Turns 10 Years Old
This week marks my 10th (!) anniversary of starting this dear ol’ blog. On a muggy August morning in 2009, I hit publish on my first post for basic bread dough (I’m not going to link to it to save your eyes from the photography, but trust it is a sight to behold). I had no idea what I was doing, both on the blog and in the kitchen, but it became my mission to learn how to better at all of the above (what can I say: It’s the Enneagram type 3 in me, for better or worse).
Fast-forward a decade, hundreds of recipes, thousands of photos, places traveled, friends made, a long hiatus, a return, life lived in an RV, two kids, houses purchased and sold (and thus, multiple kitchens used) and here we are. It’s so cliche, but so true: Some days, I feel like I’ve been blogging for 100 years. Other days, it feels like I started last month. Such is the path of a journey lived in the ever-changing world of the Internet.
I have nothing extravagant planned to celebrate a decade of GVD, but I do want to say: THANK YOU. Those two words don’t even adequately express how grateful I really am for this community. You blow me away with your enthusiasm, your encouragement, your humor, your kindness. You’ve helped me through the best of times and the worst of times. You’ve made my recipes and it still shocks me (in a good way)! Like, wow, this is the real deal. YOU are the real deal. So, thank you for being the best group of baking lovers a blogger could ever have. We are family. I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING.
Sourdough Waffles
Anyway, before I get too misty-eyed, let’s talk about these sourdough waffles! I promised y’all back when I posted my How to Make Sourdough Bread series that I would try to offer recipes for using up that sourdough starter discard so it doesn’t go to waste every time you feed your starter (for more info on that whole deal, check out my sourdough starter recipe and it’s companion post how to feed sourdough starter).
So yes, it’s true that you’ll need to have a living, active starter to make these waffles. It’s what gives them a delicate sourdough-like flavor. The good news is, if you have a starter going, you’re just steps away from having homemade sourdough bread AND sourdough waffles in your life. Hooray! Looks like we’re celebrating, after all.
How to Make Sourdough Waffles (or Pancakes)
The process to make sourdough waffles is very much like that of making regular waffles: You mix together a batter, cook it in a waffle maker (I purchased this one recently and I love how it makes four thick waffles at a time) and eat. The biggest difference here is that you add sourdough starter discard to the batter so you don’t have to throw it in the trash instead.
The end result is a fluffy, light, soft, sweet and slightly sourdough-flavored waffle that tastes even better topped with fresh whipped cream, berries and a generous glug of maple syrup. I speak from experience.
Bonus: You can also make sourdough pancakes with this batter! Just cook the batter on a hot griddle instead as you would any other pancake.
Tips for the Best Sourdough Waffles
A few tips to win at waffle-making:
1. You can add anywhere between 6 to 8 ounces of sourdough starter to your batter–it really just depends on how much you have. I usually have about 6-7 ounces of starter left over to discard/use in my batter. Generally speaking, I like to use sourdough discard that’s been out of the fridge and fed a few times so it’s very lively and bubbly and flavorful–however, you can also use starter from directly out of the fridge. In short, this is a very forgiving and flexible recipe!
2. Make a double-batch of these waffles and freeze them for on-the-go breakfasts throughout the week. I like to let my waffles cool completely, then place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer until fully frozen. Then, I’ll put them in a resealable freezer bag and store them in the freezer. In the morning, I’ll pop one in the toaster, slather it with peanut or almond butter and be on my merry way.
3. Feel free to add a handful of chocolate chips or chopped berries to the batter for extra flavor. Honestly a chocolate chip sourdough waffle with peanut butter and maple syrup on it sounds like heaven right now.
For more sourdough adventures, be sure to check out my How to Make Sourdough Bread series (with printable guides, step-by-step photos and instructions and more!). Happy Monday, my friends, and enjoy these wondrous waffles.
*NOTE: The flowers on these waffles are for decorative use ONLY. Please do not decorate your waffles with inedible flowers if you plan to decorate them/eat them as such.*
More Sourdough Recipes!
- sourdough cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting
- cinnamon raisin sourdough bread
- easy sourdough focaccia
- sourdough blueberry muffins
Sourdough Waffles
Description
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk plus more as needed
- 6 to 8 ounces sourdough starter by weight
- 3 tablespoons butter melted and cooled slightly
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until well combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk eggs and 1/2 cup milk until well combined. Whisk in sourdough starter until completely blended. Add flour mixture and melted butter; stir until combined. The batter should be the thickness of pancake batter; depending on how much starter you added, you may need to add in more flour or milk to reach the desired consistency.
- Cook in heated waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions.
Notes
- Adapted from Serious Eats
- I used about 6.5 ounces of sourdough starter and needed to add about 1/3 cup extra milk to reach pancake batter-like consistency with my batter. So don’t be surprised if you need to add quite a bit more flour or milk!
- If you don’t have a waffle iron or don’t want to make waffles, you can make pancakes with this batter. Just cook them on a greased hot griddle instead of in a waffle iron.
Great recipe. I made it with buckwheat flour and a tsp of cinnamon. I used 8 ounces of starter and the batter was thick but worked fine in my waffle iron.
My family LOVES this recipe! So easy that it’s ready right away and doesn’t need to be refrigerated overnight. When my starter is ready to make bread, the leftovers are ready to make waffles. So yummy!
I made the waffles for my grandkids. They said they are the best they have ever had. Easy recipe. We loved it!
Hi Stephanie! Is it possible for my sourdough starter to be too sour (in the fridge for a week since the last feeding) that it would affect the taste of the waffles negatively?
Jinyoung, Yes, that is entirely possible! It might be better suited to your tastes if you use a starter that’s been fed a few times since it was in the fridge — give it a try!
i made this morning. Thank you. it was delicious!
I have made several sour dough recipe’s THIS IS THE BEST !!!!!! buttermilk wins the day. TKS
These turned out amazing! I had a bunch of extra starter so I made several batches and froze the waffles for later. Thank you so much for the recipe 🙂
I have made this recipe twice and the waffles come out great! They have a similar taste to overnight waffles, so if you don’t think about waffles until Sunday morning and you have the sourdough starter, you can still have waffle magic.
Both times I got seven square waffles from the recipe, so double it if you have more people (or a bigger appetite)!
really good. I’d add a pinch of cinnamon next time. they were so fluffy, they escaped from my waffle maker.
Perfect as written. I didn’t change a thing.
Big fat fluffy waffles!
perfect!
Delicious! Made these with a brown rice sourdough discard and used gluten-free flour. So crispy on the exterior!
This was the first sourdough waffle recipe I tried and it’s a winner! No need to look anywhere else. Thank you!
Turned out great. Added vanilla. Used a Cuisinart waffle maker and the recipe yields 4.
These waffles are AMAZING! I recently started making sourdough bread and was looking for ways to use the excess starter. They turn out crispy and so flavorful. Thanks for such a great recipe!