The Little Sourdough that Could

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)
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Not one for cliffhangers or drawn out suspense, I wouldn’t want to leave you guys wondering about what happened after my first unsuccessful experiment with sourdough. Well, as much as I’d like to say that it just took a bit of patience and prodding before that wild yeast sprung back to life… Days passed, feedings went by, and still it sat like a lump on my counter, inanimate as ever. There was no denying it; My sourdough was dead. The story could have easily ended there, but thankfully, Bazu was so kind as to send a replacement starter! Carefully handling the small parcel and feeding it precisely as instructed, only time would tell if I would ever have my own sourdough to enjoy.

36 hours later, I peeked in the jar to see how things were going, and was nearly knocked off my feet by how actively this once dormant ball of dough was bubbling! It was truly an incredible sight, something I never thought would really happen with my luck. Excited by the frothing mass, I quickly set to work looking for a first recipe to test it on, and prepped the dough for an overnight rest.

The very next morning, there were two wonderful things for me to be happy about: The starter was most definitely still alive, and I had a stack of delicious sourdough waffles to dig into!

Adapted and veganized from a recipe by King Arthur Flour, these waffles were nicely crisp on the outside while the interior remained soft and tender. Drowned in maple syrup as is mandatory in this house, it’s admittedly difficult to detect any “sour” notes, but I’m not complaining here. They’re a delight to wake up to, and an excelling starting point for those who are sourdough-shy.

Yield: 4 Servings

Sourdough Waffles

Sourdough Waffles

These waffles are nicely crisp on the outside while the interior remains soft and tender, with just a hint of sourdough twang.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup (4 Ounces) Unfed Sourdough Starter
  • 1 Cup Plain Non-Dairy Milk
  • 1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar
  • 1 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 Tablespoon Whole Flaxseeds
  • 2 Tablespoons Water
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Instructions

  1. The night before you’re planning on making your waffles, take your sourdough starter out of the fridge and measure out 1/2 cup into a large bowl. It might be easier to measure by weight in this case, so if you have a food scale, now is the time to break it out. Combine the non-dairy milk and vinegar together separately and let it sit for 5 minutes or so to curdle, and then add it in to the bowl, along with the sugar. Stir well so that the sourdough has “dissolved” into the mixture.
  2. Add your flour, stirring just to combine, and loosely cover the bowl. Kiss it goodnight, leave it out at room temperature, and let it rest until the morning.
  3. When you wake up, grind the flax seed down to a flour in a spice grinder and briefly whiz that together with the water to form a loose paste.
  4. Start heating up your waffle iron now because things move pretty fast from here on in.
  5. Add the flax goo into the bowl of now bubbly starter, as well as the oil, salt, and baking soda. Stir to thoroughly incorporate everything, but just don’t go crazy and overdo it.
  6. When your waffle iron is ready, lightly spray it with cooking oil and add in as much batter as your machine needs to make a nice waffle. This differs depending on which iron you use, but check with the manufacturer if you’re unsure.
  7. With my cute little heart-shaped iron, I got 4 full waffles, so if you want more than that (you can freeze them, too!) you might want to double the recipe.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 353Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 321mgCarbohydrates: 59gFiber: 3gSugar: 6gProtein: 10g
© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Breakfast and Brunch

28 thoughts on “The Little Sourdough that Could”

  4. That is awesome! Congratulations on your persistence. Do you know where one could get a sourdough starter, or perhaps make one? I would love to bake some sourdough goodness, but I don’t know how to get started. Thanks!

    1. sourdough starter is easy to make. You can buy a commercial starter but I recommend doing a wild yeast. Combine 1 cup of flour (I typically use about 1/2c rye to make it more sour and 1/2 unbleached all purpose flour) and 1 cup of lukewarm water in a large jar or bowl (large enough so the starter can double or triple in size). Stir it, cover with cheesecloth and leave on counter. Every day add 2 tablespoons of flour and two tablespoons of water and stir, cover and let sit. Continue this process for 5-8 days. Your starter will triple in size and become quite bubbly (you can taste it too, to make sure it’s sour enough etc). Once it’s made, you can refigerate and feed weekly :)

  7. Congrats on your starter ^-^ I still haven’t the gaul to try one yet as I’m not great at keeping things around like that, but as I’m working with my first Amish bread starter I might work my way towards sourdough soon enough ^-~

    Your waffles look yummy! My kiddos would get a chuckle out of heart shaped ones so I might just have to find one.

  10. I adore waffles! I often eat them with hot chocolate on and that for me is heaven! :-D
    thanks for the photo you make me dream!
    Have a fantastic day!
    Silvia

  11. I had never heard of sourdough waffles, but they look delicious.

    It looks like your waffle iron is actually smiling at the wonderful waffles it created in that picture!

  14. I just had waffles at Ben & Jerry’s yesterday, and I could’ve sworn yours remind me so much of them! *drools* I really need to look for my waffle iron now.

  15. Yay! I’m so happy the sourdough came back to life (sending it out in the mail is a nail-biting experience, believe me!).

    Also, those waffles look so gorgeous and I’m so jealous. I just *have* to get a waffle iron. But you’re right, certain things taste a lot more sour than others- it depends on how long the sourdough was fed before you started baking (I think it’s a curve- 8-10 hours being the most sour point, and then decreasing activity after that. I haven’t pin-pointed it yet!), and in the case of bread, how long and quickly or slowly it rose for, and how many rises it had. I look forward to seeing more of your baking creations, as always!

  17. I’m so glad that your sourdough experiments worked out! Those look divine. I feel sort of inspired to try my hands at working with sourdough.

    Kudos!

  18. Sourdough waffles, this is definitely the first I heard of. They look really crisp and yummy.
    Congrats to your success on sourdough. =)

  22. So great to hear that you finally had success! Thank you so much for this recipe, I always have so much unfed sourdough!

  23. Hannah, I made these today and they came out really great (although my waffle iron sucks). When I tasted the batter this morning I thought it was way too sour but after baking the sour taste was all gone. This is such a wonderful recipe!

  24. hi,

    they look really nice, i am yet to make my own starter. but may give it a go this long weekend. well here in australia.

    and start making some sourdough.

  25. This is a good way of using the starter you’d otherwise throw out when feeding starter up to make bread. If you already have it out and are feeding it, it only takes an hour or two to get bubbly with the new flour you add as part of this recipe–no need to start the night before, as long as a late breakfast is ok.

    Also, the flax-based egg replacement is absolutely not necessary. If you’re interested in flax for the nutritional content, go nuts; but the waffles will rise and cohere just fine without.

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