I had no idea what a monster I would create when I gave a small jar of starter, and a recipe for sourdough crèpes, to Jay’s mom’s sweetie, Gunars. He adapted the crèpe recipe into that of waffle batter, and for the past year, he has been gracing us with the most heavenly crepes and waffles each morning when we visit. (Update 2/4/14 – four years later, he is still at it.)
These waffles are by far the best I’ve ever had – light and crispy on the outside, chewy and gooey on the inside, and slightly sour – the perfect vehicle for berry preserves and barely sweetened whipped cream on a leisurely morning soaking up the sun.
Start the crepes the night before. Mix the starter with more flour and water, and let it sit overnight. The next day, stir in some sugar, salt, eggs, oil and flaxseeds. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes while you fire up your waffle iron. Get to it, serving the waffles as they cook.
Extra waffles can be frozen and reheated for quick, luxurious breakfasts all week long.
The waffle master, enjoying a well-deserved breakfast
Sourdough-Flaxseed Waffles
Makes 8-10 8″ round waffles
1 cup liquid sourdough starter
3 cups all purpose flour (or a mixture of white and whole grain flour, such as spelt or whole wheat)
3 1/2 – 3 2/3 cups water (enough to make a stir-able consistency)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons whole flaxseeds
The night before, mix the starter, flour and water in a large bowl until smooth. Cover and leave overnight.
The next morning, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar, soda, salt and seeds. Stir into the batter, mixing just to combine. Let rest for 15 minutes. The batter should be full of bubbles and fairly thin.
Heat the waffle iron, and cook according to the iron’s instructions, using about 2/3 cup batter per 8″ round waffle. Eat while hot and crispy with your choice of toppings, such as:
creme fraiche, yogurt or softly whipped cream
fresh fruit
jam or preserves
I will definitely be making these again. Once my husband mastered the waffle iron cooking time, they came out light with a nice crispy outer. I love that the recipe includes flax seeds and even my husband (who accuses me of trying to put too much "stuff", aka.: healthy stuff,into his food, didn't complain about the flax seeds. I didn't really notice them in the cooked waffles except for the slight flavor they added which I think is yummy (I used roasted flax seeds).
In an attempt to use up some batter more quickly than the waffle iron would, I also made some pancakes. They weren't nearly as good as the waffles but they will still get eaten. The waffles and pancakes that didn't get eaten got frozen and taken to work for weekday breakfasts. With 1 batch of batter, we made about 9 6.5in waffles and maybe 10 4in pancakes.
Yay! :)
I would imagine other kinds of nuts could be used, e.g., cashews or even walnuts.
I borrowed a friend's waffle maker, made this recipe and the waffles came out great! Since I'm the only here who eats waffles, I let the left-overs cool and then froze them. The other day I put one of the frozen waffles in the toaster and had it with bacon and maple syrup. It was almost as good as the freshly made ones and much better than any frozen ones I had bought in the store.
The only changes I made were the inclusion of baking powder as well as baking soda and using milk instead of water.
I began making sourdough pancakes when Alanna;s brother and sister, Lucas and Jessie, were little, using a little book published by someone named "Sourdough Jack." It originally had some "special" yeast for the starter. That's been long gone. I can't find that little book, which had some great recipes, had lost the cover but still was used occasionally. I hadn't thought about making sourdough pancakes or waffles for many years until I read the recipe on Bojon Gourmet and Lucas and family were coming here to Oregon for vacation. Thanks for the reminder about how great sourdough pancakes and waffles can be!
You're so welcome, Dad! Thanks for introducing me to the wonders of sourdough breakfast foods all those years ago! The bacon/maple version sounds great, as do your variations on the recipe. Thanks for the sweet comment.
Where do we buy ‘starter’ from?
Bearing in mind I currently live for two more years in the Middle East.
Would love to try these. Could I make starter myself ?
Yvie :-)
You can! There are lots of sourdough starter tutorials online. :)
I made a new starter, got it from Amazon. I made your flax seed waffles yesterday and they were, as before, great! But I have a couple of questions: Julie says that, unless one crushes the flax seed, you don’t get the nutritional value from them. Is that your opinion? If so, why not crush them?
I always added some flour to the starter and put it back in the fridge. But some recipes tell you to leave the starter out overnight so that the yeast will begin to work on it. Some experts even tell you to feed the starter every day, but I always just did it once a week. Do you have any information about this?
Thanks,
Dad