Golden Sourdough Starter Waffles
_Proven, _Sourdough, Breakfast, French, German, Soul Food, USA
Ingredients
460g (2 cups) buttermilk
55g (1/4 cup) water (used to adjust batter consistency)
113g (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
100g (1/2 cup, stirred down) ripe sourdough starter
250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour, einkorn flour, or a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat
14g (2 teaspoons) sugar
2 eggs
5g (1 teaspoon) sea salt
3g (1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
Description
Due to the long fermentation time, these waffles are impossibly light, crunchy, and slightly tangy. In addition to wonderful flavor, because the flour is fermented for several hours, the entire batter becomes aerated, resulting in a waffle that will surprise you on your first bite. They have just the right ratio of sweet to savory, with a slight but noticeable tang at the end.
Directions
The night before:
Add buttermilk and the melted and cooled butter to a large mixing bowl. Then add your ripe sourdough starter and mix thoroughly (use a whisk and your hands if needed). Sprinkle the sugar on top and whisk in your flour, a little at a time, until incorporated.
If necessary, use some of the 55g (1/4 cup) reserved water to break up the batter until it resembles a traditional pancake batter (it should pour slowly from a spoon). If you have a 100% hydration starter, you might only need a splash of this water or none.
Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature overnight.
In the morning:
Warm your whole eggs to room temperature by letting them sit in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Sift the baking soda and salt onto the top of the batter. Crack the eggs and place the whites in one clean bowl and the yolks in another. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Lightly scramble up the egg yolks in the second bowl. Pour the yolks into the batter and gently stir through. Then, using a spatula, fold the eggs whites into the mixture until just incorporated (and no more).
Cook in your smoking hot waffle iron until done to your liking.
Notes
My Notes:
* veganize: use dry egg replacer (Biovegan Eiersatz). Mix everything in including baking powder and salt and ferment overnight (worked well by accident, maybe its better to add those in the morning)
* Waffle Iron Times: 6 Minutes is very soft; 8min. is perfect, 10min very crunchy (all flipped at half time)
* almost 1/4 cup batter per waffle. Makes 8-9 double waffles.
Recipe Notes:
If you want to increase the amount of sourness, you could hold back some of the sugar in the mix, let the batter ferment longer, or ferment for the same time but at a slightly warmer temperature. Making these recipes won't require a tight schedule, though, so you can mix the night before and make them whenever you get to the kitchen in the morning.
I've found these waffles freeze incredibly well. I'll freeze them in freezer bags and then toast them throughout the week straight out of the freezer using the “frozen” option on my awesome toaster. Perfect every time.