Recipe: Crazy Easy Sourdough Discard Waffles (Egg-Free)
Every time I make these I just think of Donkey from Shrek saying, “And in the morning, I’m making waffles!”. Truth be told though, you could make this recipe into either waffles or pancakes, depending on your preference.
Why sourdough waffles?
Sourdough waffles are far superior when it comes to blood sugar management than regular waffles. Significantly less of a blood sugar spike, predigested starches and gluten, a lower potential for inflammation across the board, and lots of beneficial probiotics thanks to the fermented starter. Another example of how food preparation and quality can facilitate food freedom and dietary variety!
Making sure you have enough starter for this discard recipe…
The 2 cups of starter called for in this recipe might not seem like that much, but once you start measuring the starter and the air comes out (or if its discard and it’s already lost most of its air), it loses quite a bit of its volume.
If you can save your discard starter for a few days in the fridge (find out what I mean by this here), you should have more than 2 cups built up in just a few days. Since there’s no additional flour in this recipe, you can use the discard straight from the fridge for this recipe, no need to bring it to room temperature first.
If you don’t have any discard in the fridge and you’re feeding your starter in the evening and planning to make these the next morning - aim to keep around 100 g of starter in your jar to feed that night, then put your discard from that evening in a container in the fridge. These two combined (the discard and the next morning’s active starter) should give you just enough to make the waffles in the morning, with 50g of starter leftover to keep your starter going.
I make these waffles regularly so I always include at least 100g of starter in my daily feedings - this way I’m never left without enough.
Ingredients:
2 generous, overflowing cups sourdough starter (can be fresh starter, discarded starter, or stored discard starter straight from the fridge)
2 generous tablespoons melted grass-fed butter, slightly cooled, plus more for coating the waffle maker
1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or a bit less, depending on your preference)
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
Directions:
Plug in your waffle maker to allow adequate time for it to heat all the way up (this is the key to crispy waffles)
In one large bowl, whisk together all ingredients (wet and dry)
Once the waffle maker is fully heated, use a silicone brush to coat both sides of it with grass-fed butter
Pour just enough batter over the waffle maker (about 1/4 - 1/3 of the batter) - note: the batter expands a lot while cooking
Cook until crispy (waffle will be stiff, easy to remove and much darker in color once all the way done cooking - be patient on this last step to avoid soggy waffles!)
Serve with more grass-fed butter (or saw freshly whipped raw cream) and a drizzle of maple syrup or some fresh berries
Makes 3-4 full-size, circular Belgian waffles
Recipe variations: typically I make these plain, but I’ve also tried adding frozen wild blueberries (lots of antioxidants!) to the batter per my toddler’s request.
Especially when adding the blueberries, make sure you let the waffle maker heat up all the way prior to adding the batter. They also take a few minutes longer to cook with the blueberries because the berries release a bit of moisture. The blueberries make the waffles much stickier.
I hope you enjoy these gut-friendly, blood sugar-friendly sourdough waffles! These are a go-to breakfast high-quality carb staple in our house!
Find the original pancake recipe that inspired this sourdough waffle recipe here.