Crisp and light, Sourdough Waffles are so delicious! Simple to make using sourdough starter or discard. Top with delicious maple-glazed peaches or berries! Can be made ahead and frozen, or used as pancake batter. Video.
Crisp, pillowy, and light, Sourdough Waffles are a delicious way to use up extra sourdough starter discard during the warmer months when baking bread baking takes a back seat. In summer, when temperatures soar, I find bread baking goes by the wayside -the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven and heat up the house!
But I end up feeling very sorry for my sourdough starter. It used to have such purpose, turning out big beautiful loaves of crusty bread each week during the colder months. Now it just sits around feeling bored, week after week, with nothing to do. I feed it and put it back to bed until the next week. So sad. Until now! A friend gave me this brilliant idea of using the unfed starter in waffles ….and man oh man, is it good!
Why you’ll love Sourdough Waffles!
Those of you who have sourdough starter on hand will love this recipe, not only for the flavor and complexity it adds to waffles but for the deep satisfaction it brings of using up your sourdough discard rather than tossing it before its next feeding. And I’m certain once you try these, you’ll never go back.
Sourdough waffle ingredients
- Sourdough starter or discard – fed or unfed.
- Flour– All-purpose flour, whole wheat, or Gluten-free flour blend.
- Buttermilk – or whole milk (or plant based)
- Sugar- or use maple syrup, or honey for a hint of sweetness.
- Melted Butter or coconut oil
- Large Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda and salt
- Optional additions- chocolate chips, berries, etc.
How to make sourdough waffles (instructions)
- Make the overnight sponge. In a large bowl stir together the flour, discard, buttermilk, and sugar. Place in the fridge overnight, so it’s ready to use in the morning.
- In the morning, bring to room temperature, whisk in the eggs, melted butter, salt, baking soda, and vanilla.
- Make waffles! Pour into a greased waffle iron. (The batter also makes tasty pancakes, in a cast iron skillet!)
- Feel free to store cooked waffles in the freezer and toast as needed.
Optional sourdough Waffle toppings
- To top off the Sourdough Waffles, I’ve added caramelized summer peaches seared in a skillet with a little butter and finished with a generous drizzle of real maple syrup.
- This Sourdough Waffle recipe would also work well with caramelized plums, apricots, pears, apples, bananas, strawberries, or pineapple or cherries.
- Or use your favorite toppings- fresh fruit, fresh berries and whipped cream.
Give these a whirl, keeping in mind that it will need to rest overnight, so be sure to start this the night before.
More sourdough discard Recipes You’ll love!
Enjoy and let us know what you think in the comments below!
WAtch the Sourdough Waffle Video!
Sourdough Waffles
- Prep Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 13 hours 20 mins
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: Breakfast, sourdough
- Method: griddle
- Cuisine: Northwest
Description
Crisp and light, Sourdough Waffles are delicious and SO simple to make using your extra sourdough starter. Top with delicious maple-glazed peaches or stone fruit.
Ingredients
Overnight Sponge:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar (or maple syrup)
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup sourdough starter, (275 grams)
Morning Waffles
- all of the overnight sponge
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 –1/2 cup melted butter – yes, more is better 🙂 (or sub coconut oil, ghee, light olive oil )
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Glazed Peaches
- 2–3 large peaches, sliced
- 1–2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter
- 4 tablespoons real maple syrup, more for drizzling
Instructions
- To make the overnight sponge, stir down your refrigerated starter, and place 1 cup in a large bowl.
- Add flour, sugar, and buttermilk and mix. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight.
- The next morning, in a small bowl beat together the eggs, and butter. Add to the overnight sponge.
- Add the salt, baking soda and vanilla stirring to combine. The batter will bubble.
- Pour batter onto your preheated, greased waffle iron, and bake according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- To make glazed peaches, heat 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat.
- Add peaches. Let caramelize, and turn over to caramelize the other side. Once both sides have a little color, drizzle maple syrup over top.
- Serve waffles immediately, to ensure crispness. Lather with optional butter, top with caramelized peaches, and drizzle with more maple syrup if you like. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Yield: 6 6- 8″ thick waffles.
Notes
Here is a recipe for Sourdough Starter .
Feel free to play with different flours here- oat, spelt, einkorn- a blend is nice too.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: one 7 inch waffle (without toppings) using ¼ cup butter
- Calories: 335
- Sugar: 8.4 g
- Sodium: 612 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.1 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 10.2 g
- Cholesterol: 91.3 mg
Great!
The BEST waffles ever. I have served them to guests several times and they all comment on how delicious they are. Super easy to make too.
Great to hear Sylvia!
It was easy to make and to storage for later.
Perfect! Great to hear.
Best waffles I’ve ever made — thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Great to hear Victoria!
Wow, this is such a great recipe! I added some whole grain flours to the batch. Also made them plant based by using flax eggs and soy buttermilk (add 1 tbsp. vinegar to 1c. milk and let sit 5 mins.). Super light and crispy on the outside; lovely and tender on the inside. My go to waffle recipe now 🙂
Love the plant based version! So glad these worked out.
These are the very best waffles I have ever had! Crisp and light, they are delightful with any caremelized fruit topping.
So glad you are enjoying!
Yes, I mean two nights before. We are traveling Wednesday morning and I wanted to make the sponge Tuesday night to bake the waffles on Thursday morning.
So I haven’t tried this- so I’m guessing here- but I think it should be fine.
I’ve made this recipe several times, and we all love it. My question is, can you make the sponge two nights for baking?
Hey Cindy- sorry, do you mean two nights before? I do not understand the question. 😉
Wonderful recipe! I’ve been making these every week for my grandchildren. They are delicious fresh and also freeze well. Pop them in the toaster for breakfast before school.
Such a great idea Colleen- I’ll have to try that!
I just got starter from a friend. I have about 1/2 cups.
How do I get 2 cups of the starter to make this waffle recipe?
As you feed your starter daily, there will be a certain amount of “discard”. You can accumulate this in a jar and keep it in the fridge. Check out our Sourdough Starter post for more details!
I made this recipe at the beginning of the pandemic and I have not stopped thinking about it since- these are truly the most delicious and amazing waffles ever- and it’s fun to use my 100 year old Griswold waffle iron!
That is so cool Gabby!
Sourdough waffles with leftover starter are tasty. Do I have to cook all of the batter now or can I refrigerate?
You can refrigerate it Doug.
Made the sourdough waffles with starter extra. Tasty. I thought the batter was going to be too thin, but they crisped up nicely. Do I have to cook all of the batter now or can I put it in the fridge for later use?
Feel free to store for later!
Hi. I’m making these for dinner tonight, and just noticed the total time of 13 hrs 20 mins. Does that assume a 12 hr rise? Mine will only get 8.5 hrs at this point, do you think that’s sufficient? It’s going to be really hot here today.
Thanks!
I think it should be fine. And waffles for dinner- love that idea!
Thank you, they were delicious. Such a good recipe, love the tangy flavour.
Awesome Lisa!
These are the very best waffles I have ever had. They are crisp and full of sourdough flavor. Absolutely delicious!
Thanks so much Kirsten- glad you liked them!
Can you refrigerate leftover batter for a few days? This recipe made more than I needed to use for two.
Thank you.
Yes, I think that should be fine!
Hi,
For the sponge your instructions indicate that 1 cup sourdough starter = 275 g… is this correct?
Yes, this is correct. 🙂
Planning on making these this weekend!
My starter is in the fridge, should I feed my starter before putting this recipe together?
You can do it either way Gabrielle!
Loved these! What a great way to use my sourdough discard! I didn’t have buttermilk nor enough yogurt so I used about 1.5 cups plain, full fat yogurt with a splash of some almond milk. I was a bit worried when I saw the consistency in the morning (very thick, not bubbling) but it turned out great! Thanks for the tip about making your own buttermilk- I’ll try that next time!
Glad you enjoyed these Leanne!
Thanks for this recipe! Great way of using the sourdough discard. I sometimes replace half of the flour with buckwheat flour and they turn out great!
Great Ahu! Love the addition of Buckwheat!
What’s the reasoning behind the overnight sit for waffles? Why not just put it together in the morning like sourdough pancakes?
Hi Kara- great question- I think waffles taste better after they have time to process and ferment a bit but honestly, I bet they would probably be ok made like the panchakes. They yeast will help them rise. If you give it a try will let us know? Very curious!
Excited to try these waffles. I don’t have any buttermilk should I substitute yogurt or almond milk? Can I still leave it at room temp?
I think yogurt would work great!
I always substitute 2c milk and 2T lemon juice for the buttermilk. Sits on the counter all night in Phoenix. Perfect!
Sorry
I was so excited about how great
my waffles turned out ..using this recipe … I forgot to rate it
Good morning I just made a batch of these waffles…. This recipe is delicious… really great flavor..and so moist. I don’t ordinarily have waffles most I’ve tasted before were dry … you’ve made me a waffle fan … I will use this recipe this coming Saturday ..as a special back to school breakfast for my daughter… she’s a teacher …. Thank you so much … so happy i found your page
Thanks so much Josie!
Do I have to use buttermilk? I love in Panama and cannot find buttermilk here. Please help.
How about plain yogurt?
You can also make buttermilk by adding three teaspoons of vinegar to one cup of regular milk.
Do I leave the sponge overnight in fridge or room temperature?
At room temperature.