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Turning 100% Hydrated Sourdough Starter into Crisp Waffles

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Turning 100% Hydrated Sourdough Starter into Crisp Waffles

 

Being new to the world of bread making, I don't like to keep my starter neglected in the fridge for more than a week, and I do like to see it fed and doubling in size so I can predictably bake a loaf as the need arises.

Like many people who maintain a sourdough starter, I occasionally have more starter than I have time or need for baking bread. 

I have made a lot of waffles in my day and the light and crisp waffle has usually eluded me.  But, coincidentally, when turning my excess starter into Belgian waffles, I wind up with really really great waffles.  They are always crisp. They are always light. They are always delicious. Forgive the lack of measurements, but please take heart, that the recipe is very forgiving.

I feed my 100% hydration starter enough flour and water to get my starter to double. Generally, this means I have nearly 4 cups of starter to cook with (reserving some starter that I again feed and place in the fridge....but it would be more efficient to feed the starter initially, separate some of it and put that in the fridge while the rest of it doubles up).

Pour the starter into a mixing bowl, add an egg or two, and add a 2-3 tablespoon fulls of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of honey, stir it all up. Then sprinkle some baking soda on top, stir that in lightly.  Heat up the waffle iron and you are good to go. I let the waffles sit out on a cooling rack while I eat what I eat, and once they are cooled off I place in freezer bags and put them in the freezer.  They toast up quite nicely.

 

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

sound great.  A fine way to use up starter.   Works great for pancakes too i'm guessing!

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Your waffles look delicious - especially with the sliced bananas on top.

Several years ago I ran across THIS formula by proth5 for sd waffles and it has been my go-to waffle recipe ever since.  Huge hit with the kids but they like me to toss in chocolate chips too…..teens now so mom consents but when they were younger (i.e. smaller than I was :)….no chocolate chips.  The pre-ferments add a whole new dimension to the word 'waffle'.

Thanks for the peek at you wonderful breakfast meal.

Janet

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

All I can say, Janet, is that my waffles came out really just the way I wanted them too - perfect crunch and perfect texture, and I did not have to follow so many steps. Not saying they would not be better if eggwhites were separated and beaten to soft peaks, etc., but these were really really good and all I did was feed my starter the night before, add some eggs, honey, olive oil and baking soda before firing up the griddle and I am good to go. 

Now, I intended to add salt but am pretty sure I forgot to do so, and as a result, I think I won't bother with the added salt in the future.   I did use grade b maple syrup and was in heaven.

Xenophon's picture
Xenophon

...I'm from Belgium and dare say that I know what a good yeast dough waffle should taste like.  I had been toying with the idea to try something similar with yeasted pancake batter but hadn't come around to trying it yet.  Will mix up a batch tomorrow and give it a spin + let you know.  Thanks!  This at least gets around the familiar waffle problem:  huge quantities of fat in the traditional recipes.

Xenophon's picture
Xenophon

Thanks for having posted this, here's the outcome:

 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/37283/sourdough-lean-belgian-waffles