Sourdough is a delicious and versatile kind of bread and dough that is great for anyone, beginner or expert.
Meanwhile, waffles are one of the most popular varieties of syrup distribution and are incredibly simple to make.
This article will teach you how to take the two and make them into a delicious confectionery, perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Contents
What’s a Sourdough Starter?
The most important part of any sourdough is the starter. Without it, the dough won’t rise, will lack its signature flavor, and, overall – won’t be sourdough.
This is often a daunting step in the recipe, which prevents many from wanting to create sourdough, but with careful time and effort, it can be done.
This section of the article will cover the basics, from making to maintaining your own starter from scratch.
Making a Sourdough Starter
Ingredients
In order to make the starter, you will need a few ingredients and a few pieces of equipment.
These will go as follows:
- Flour (amounts may vary).
- Water (varying amounts, as purified as possible).
- A warm dry place to ferment (between 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit).
- A glass or plastic mixing bowl.
- A plastic spoon.
- A breathable filter such as a coffee filter or cheesecloth.
- A place to allow the mixture to ferment.
Once you have all of the components together, it is time to begin mixing and prepping.
Sourdough Starter
- You will start by combining a ¾ cup of flour with a half cup of water. Be sure to use a large bowl to prevent things from overflowing.
- Begin mixing. Stir as fast as possible, without spilling, to create lots of air bubbles, as this will allow the organisms that will create your starter to form. After this, cover the mix with a coffee filter or thin towel, to keep bugs or dust out, while allowing the concoction to breathe.
- Set the mixture in a warm space for between 12 and 24 hours. You should feed the organisms forming every twelve hours or so, by adding the same amount of water and flour to the mixture.
- Once you see bubbles, you will know the organisms are present. Continue the feeding process for another 12 to 24 hours, being sure to stir the mixture vigorously each time you do.
- After between five and seven days, your starter will have enough yeast and organisms to be usable!
- Keeping the starter healthy is quite simple; just continue feeding it as necessary once or twice a day, using the same flour and water as used to start it.
How to Make Sourdough Waffles
Ingredients
Now that you have a starter, it’s time to begin on the dough for your waffles. This part, while much less time consuming, will require special techniques and some work to get perfect.
Furthermore, the waffle batter is going to be different from standard bread dough – much lighter and fluffier, as well as containing more sugar.
In order to make this variety, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- 1 cup flour (the same kind as the starter).
- 1 ½ cups of baking powder.
- 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- 1 teaspoon of salt.
- 2 eggs.
- ½ cup of milk.
- 8 ounces (by weight) of starter.
- 3 tablespoons of melted butter.
From there, it’s time to begin prepping your dough and, then, your waffles!
Sourdough Waffles: Recipe
- In a medium bowl, start by combining the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt until all are well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine the milk and eggs before slowly adding the starter; be sure to keep mixing as you add, until all are evenly incorporated.
- Start adding the flour mixture and the butter gradually, mixing until completely smooth. You may need to add more flour or less, depending on the thickness of your starter. Ideally, it will be the thickness of pancake batter.
- Once everything is mixed properly, it is time to prep your waffle iron. Turn it on and add butter or cooking spray as necessary, allowing it to set before applying the batter. Then, follow the iron’s cooking instructions from here.
- Now that your waffles are cooked, it’s time to consider what you will pair with them. Given the sourdough nature of these waffles, they are less a breakfast food and more a brunch, lunch, or dinner one. As such, they should be paired appropriately. Maple syrup, while certainly delicious, won’t exactly fit flavor-wise with the sourdough starter, so it is advised to use honey or other such substitutes. That sour flavor is also ideal for chicken and waffles!
Here’s a video showing how to make sourdough waffles with blueberries!
Conclusion
Through the help of this article, not only have you learned to create delicious waffles, but also one of the most daunting ingredients in the baking world: sourdough starter!
Keeping that starter warm is key to its health, and from there, you’re all set!
See also: the best waffle irons.
Have you tried making sourdough waffles?