Sam's Sourdough Waffles

I have tried many waffle recipes in my life and I am 74 years old. These waffles are the best. They are light, crispy and taste great. I followed the recipe exactly. I love it that I can use my sourdough starter that I keep in my refrigerator.

Everyone loved the waffles went for seconds. Woke up my century old San Francisco sour dough Wednesday, fed it and got it going, Sunday morning early I mixed in about 200 grams of very happy starter into 108F filtered water with a teaspoon of sugar, stirred it all up and incorporated the flour. I let the batter sit for a few hours and when it was going off I finished the recipe exactly as called out. We used a Belgian style griddle and came out with fantastic, light , crispy, chewy, sour deliciousness. Unsalted sweet butter, Canadian maple syrup and macerated strawberries topped these golden beauties. Splendid, yeah I'll do this recipe again and again.

I struggle with left over sourdough starter and this was a perfect recipe. I don't usually leave the mix overnight, I mix everything on the spot, just with more sourdough starter and very crispy and tasty waffles! I kept some frozen and defrosted in the toaster and they were just as freshly made ones! Definitely I will be making more!

2 tsp salt is way too salty and I'm usually one that adds extra salt to recipes. These were so salty the first time around, no one could eat them. 1/2 tsp is perfect. Once the adjustment was made, everyone who has these loves them and usually walks away with the recipe.

These were great. I love how crispy the waffles turned out. To make these apple cinnamon flavored, I added a tablespoon of boiled apple cider and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

These waffles were delicious! I made the following changes: 1) I didn't plan ahead enough to allow the sourdough to activate overnight. Instead, I just used more starter than the recipe called for and cut back on the flour and water accordingly. I don't think I got the batter as thick as it should have been, and although the flavor was great, I think I'll try to follow the recipe in this respect next time in hopes of taller waffles. 2) I replaced the veggie oil with coconut oil... just personal preference. I served these with maple syrup and fresh strawberries... overall a delicious treat for a Sunday morning.

I reduced the amount of oil to about 1/3 cup and the salt to 1 1/2 tsp. The waffles came out crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. Waffle perfection! This is a keeper recipe!

These were fabulous. So light and fluffy. We doubled it for my family of 7 and they were gone in a flash with frequent requests for more.

These turned out exactly as others have expressed...tender, crispy on the outside, and just perfect. In this Covid-19 period of time, it has been great to reawaken my baking skills, and I am thoroughly enjoying the other recipes I have found on this site. On to my next session...sourdough English muffins.

The best waffles I have ever had!!!

This is the best waffle recipe I've ever made! I didn't realize waffles could be this fluffy.

Great Recipe. I was out of eggs so added 1 banana instead & used 1TB of apple cider vinegar in place of the water.

excellent recipe. made with whole wheat flour and reduced salt. added nutmeg for flavor. fluffy and crisp!

I followed the recipe exactly, and they turned out wonderful! In my waffle maker it made 8 large rounds.

Easiest waffles, taste great every time and a great way to use sourdough starter when feeding it.

I make these all the time and freeze them. Soooo good. My husband loves that they are crunchy on the outside and super fluffy inside.

Great recipe. It came out very light for me and the batter almost too thin for a waffle, with a lovely crispness. Almost lacy. I might thicken the batter a little next time. Also I realized I was out of veggie oil and so used a combination of peanut and coconut oils and added some butter. Had a great flavor!

I put in some rye flour and it made it even better!

Perfect the way they are written. We also made them with honey instead of sugar and still delicious. Then we tried applesauce instead of oil and still delicious. We do let the first step sit overnight.

These fluffy and delicious waffles are a fantastic way to use up sourdough discards. We make a double batch and freeze the extras. We reheat the frozen waffles in the oven at 400 degrees for about five minutes per side to restore crispness. They also keep in the refrigerator for a few days.

Great recipe. I did the initial "wake-up" overnight, and I cut the salt in half, since it was way more than my other batter recipe. Very good as waffles or pancakes.

I actually prefer to have it more fully broken down. I'll mix equal parts water and equal parts flour to add it to my starter until it has had a chance to fully autolyse. (about 24 hours before we eat it). Then I just finish the recipe. The kids love it and the adults of the house really appreciate it.

Yummy! My sourdough starter LOVED this recipe and it bubbled like beer. Super light and delicious.

this recipe will change your life!!! perfect crispy fluffy waffles with a hint of sourdough.

These were phenominal, I used a little less oil and salt as some other reviewers suggested. Light, delicious and so easy.

Great recipe, great waffles. It's a keeper and will make them again.

This is my go to sourdough waffle recipe! It’s excellent!

best sourdough waffles I've made to date!!

These are my go -to waffles! I use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. They come out perfect each time. I usually make the sponge the night before. These waffles also stay pretty fresh for days after in the fridge if you're cooking for 1 or 2. I just pop one in the oven for a little reheat and they're great! Thanks for a great recipe!

The batter was so thick we were skeptical that we would end up with an acceptable waffle. Wow, were we surprised. These were so light and crispy and just, downright delicious. Will definitely become a weekend staple at our house.

Reduced the recipe to 5 servings and was able to make one waffle and one small pancake. Both delicious!!

Perfect recipe. Highly valuable . Thank you so much for sharing.

these were excellent. light and fluffy. not too sweet with real maple syrup. garnished with banana and blueberries. thank you for sharing.

These were absolutely delicious! Would not change a thing. The bit of baking soda adds to a crisp finish. Will make this again and again! Also a good use for my sourdough starter that needs to be used regularly.

These waffles are amazing!! Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. We use no other recipe! The reason I gave four stars is I found the waffles a little too salty with 2 tsp. I reduced it to 1 1/2 tsp. Tastes amazing if you refrigerate leftovers and pop them in the toaster the next day!

Great flavor, soft and chewy on the outside, light crispy crust. Family approved!

Made some this morning with my brand new successful starter and they were delish! They were a hit with My picky waffle-loving boyfriend too.

Amazing.

I made it and it turned out perfect! My starter is almost 50 years old and I’ve made many different things with it. This was an excellent recipe

My family loved these waffles! They were so light and crispy.

My family loves these as pancakes. I make the recipe as written

Delicious. The batter is a bit thick and goopy so I wasn't sure if I did it right. But it came out perfectly cakey and golden. I added some vanilla sugar in second half of the batch to make it sweeter.

Made the recipe exactly as described and froze the whole batch thinking I would have a month of waffles ready to go. My husband found them and they were gone within the week. My husband claims them to be the “best waffles of his life” and thats saying something. I seem to also recall him insisting that I don’t tinker with the recipe! On my second batch today, exactly was described!

I didn’t change a thing with this recipe. So glad I didn’t because these were the best waffles I have ever made or eaten!

I made this recipe exactly as written. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. Best waffles I’ve ever eaten and in my case, that covers a long time. ; )

Fun it make and try.

VERY VERY LIGHT

Best waffles!! I was skeptical at first, but they were soo good!

Brilliant procedure. I beg you to reduce the salt in your cooking. You are personally on the far end of the salt taste spectrum. If you consciously reduce your salt intake, your palate will recalibrate towards towards 1/4-1/2 of what you calling for in a receipt. But there will be a “bland” period. I love and respect your cooking skills however you are currently way past reasonable with the salt content. Good luck! Thank god I’ve got a sauna to sweat this breakfast out my pores! Otherwise fantastic receipt.

I’m a newbie to sourdough. Made this with my discard and they couldn’t have been better! Boyfriend was totally impressed. Only variable was that ,y Belgian waffled used about 3/4 of a cup per waffle so it only yielded 7. And 4.5 minutes to cook. Came out crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Can’t wait to try this as pancakes!! Thank you, Sam.

I followed a few others and reduced the amount of oil to 1/3 cup and salt to 1tsp, also added a dash of vanilla. Good stuff.

EXCELLENT recipe! I used only 1/4 cup oil and omitted the baking soda solution and they were perfect amd exactly as described: crispy on the outside with a chewy thickness inside. They reheated beautifully in the toaster oven. We will be adding these to our breakfast-for-dinner menu for sure!

Delicious!! Crispy on the outside, nice a soft and fluffy on the inside. Great flavor!! Thanks!

These are THE BEST WAFFLES I have ever eaten. I have had a yeast waffle before, and frankly, hated it. This does not taste like a yeast waffle, nor does it taste like sourdough. It’s sooooo airy and crispy and OMG.No proper Easter breakfast with family today due to social distancing, so I made these waffles to make up for it. Well, I’m so glad I did. If you have a sourdough starter, please do yourself a favor and make these!

Made as directed, only cut in half. Made in old fashioned waffle maker and they turned out perfect. Delicious!

Words can not describe how great these waffles are... Super light, airy, crispy and just the right amount of chewy. These were so good, the poor bacon got neglected.

Not usually one to write a review but theses BLEW me away. Used my $15 Amazon mini waffle maker and they’re SO crispy and light golden with that perfect bread/toast/carbohydrate crunch with half the recipe’s amounts. Can’t believe I almost missed out on something so easy

These were perfectly light and crisp. I added 2 tsp of baking powder, almond extract, and some cinnamon. These would fabulous without the sugar as a savory waffle too. This will be my go to sourdough waffle. Thanks for this gem of a recipe!

So good! Still selling my kids my kids on sourdough, but covered in honey and butter they all still seemed to like it. I did use freshly ground whole wheat flour, and had to use a flax egg because i ran out of eggs. And I cut the salt in half like other commenters suggested.

I love this recipe! I have been experimenting a lot with sourdough lately. These are crisp yet soft and fabulous. I can hardly wait to try them with some fried chicken!

These are the best waffles I’ve ever eaten. While I love sourdough bread, I often have excess starter to use and thought it would be fun to make something different. Wow! The texture of these waffles is out of this world— crispy on the outside, soft and slightly stretchy on the inside. Just divine. We ate them with sweet toppings the first time I made them and then incorporated cheddar and herbs into the batter the second time, topped with bbq pulled pork and mashed potatoes. I don’t use vegetable oil and therefore subbed in butter and reduced the salt slightly. Other than that, I made them as directed.

Just made these and this will be my go to waffle recipe. Perfect. I didn’t follow recipe so I am sure they would have been better if I had prepped as directed. However just putting the sourdough flour and water together and letting it sit for an hour made amazing waffles.

My husband loves waffles. He reports that these waffles are the best he’s ever had IN 64 years. The salt seems like a lot but if you add the correct amount of sugar, the balance is perfect! We used avocado oil because it was all we had on hand and they were PERFECT.

Very adaptable and great way to use lots if sourdough discard. (I just can't throw it out!!) I also separate my egg whites and fluff them up and fold them in. Crispy outside, slight tang and soft inside. Perfect & easy. I also add cinnamon.

My favorite recipe - we make it every Sunday! I like to throw in dried blueberries to some of them to change it up. DELISH!

The perfect waffle. I’ve made this exactly as the recipe suggests (my go-to), and with several modifications. I came across it looking to use up my discard starter, and it’s great. That said, don’t let the sourdough part stop you from trying it - you can sub in more flour and water and it’ll still come out great. Second, and related - 4 hours to overnight is a suggestion. Again, they’ll then out great on short notice, and if you like a more sour flavor, it gets more intense with longer fermentation (I’ve gone up to three days). Also, the baking soda and water don’t need to be pre-mixed, it’s fine either way. I’ve also made these as pancakes (delicious), and added banana (perfect), and Nutella (my wife’s favorite). I’ve also cooked a vegan version, subbing 1 tsp baking soda and 1 Tbsp white vinegar (or lemon juice) for each egg - again, fantastic. This is an unbelievably resilient batter base, and I can’t recommend it enough. Give it a try the original way, then make it yours. You won’t be disappointed!

This recipe is sooooo light and airy and delicious. I made both waffles and pancakes from the batter. The pancakes are also light and airy but cooked up somewhat thinner than most pancakes. They were still delicious and there were none left.

The first time I made this my waffle iron quit on second one (grandpeople got the first) so I only was able to try a small piece but the flavor was sensational.

Delicious waffles! I've made them twice now. The first time I didn't let the sourdough starter and flour sit long (I didn't read that part in time). They were amazing. The second time I let the starter and flour sit overnight. The batter was super bubbly and made for odd waffles (lots of air holes). After a couple waffles I realized that the batter needed more flour. Adding extra flour to get a more normal waffle batter consistency made all the difference. And, as other have said, these are just as good the next day.

These are the lightest, crispiest, most delicious waffles I've ever made, and I've made a lot! thank you for sharing your recipe!!

Delicious! We have tried other sourdough waffle recipes. Some called for buttermilk. They were horrible. But, the waffles made from this recipe were light, crispy, browned wonderfully, and most importantly tasted terrific! These will be a staple in our household!

ALMOST exactly as I've made for over 30 years, but the extra egg and putting the water/baking soda together separately THEN adding it (plus a smidge of vanilla) made it more excellent.

Amazing. I will never make non-sourdough waffles again. So crisp and light and fluffy!

We love these waffles! They are light, crispy and delicious! I did cut the salt way down- used 1/2 tsp.

I have searched for the perfect recipe that my family would really like- this is it! I am very happy to have another great use for my sourdough starter. Thank you!

I made it and it turned out perfect! My starter is almost 50 years old and I’ve made many different things with it. This was an excellent recipe

I made them exactly as the recipe stated and they came out perfectly! So delicious, crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. I made them yesterday and my daughter is already asking me to make them again. Thank you!

it tastes really bad

I've been making these at least once a week for the past several months. After playing the the recipe, I have found that I like it much better with these two changes: 1-reduce salt to 1 tsp 2-substitute applesauce for most of the oil. I still add about 2T of oil, but sub the rest with applesauce and it's great. Way healthier. You can actually substitute applesauce (or plain yogurt) for oil in most baking recipes in case you didn't know!

This is a fantastic recipe. Everyone in my family loves it. I am hard pressed to think of a waffle that I like better than this one. Thanks for posting, Sam!

This is THE best waffle recipe. I make them for my kids about once a week during Covid 19. So delicious. I use a Belgian waffle iron.

Excellent use of discard. I made it in the morning and let it sit for about 3.5 hours. I used the discard from that morning so it was room temperature which may have given it a better start. I also used 1/3 cup of oil as many suggested. These were delicious and I appreciated not having to have buttermilk in the recipe. This is definitely a keeper recipe.

These are the best waffles!!! They are so fluffy and crispy. I have tried a few other sourdough waffles and this I the recipe I am going to keep using! Delicious!

I added about 1/4 of the flour as whole wheat. Outstanding.

Very flavorful waffles! I ate one with just butter while I was making the rest. Tasted like sourdough bread! So Good! I cut the salt and sugar in half and used half white flour and half einkorn flour. Will definitely make this again!

We make these every Saturday , sourdough sits in the fridge all week then I feed it Saturday after make my these delicious waffles. If you want it to taste more sour I add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar when feeding ... have fun!! No changes needed

Easy way to use up discarded sourdough starter. Whole family loved them. Great with frozen blueberries on top. :) I make these every weekend and we don't tire of them.

I made it as pancakes (I don't have a waffle iron) and it was amazing! Thank you for this recipe!

These are a hit! It’s my families favorite for Sunday breakfast. I make the batter, let it sit out, covered with a tea towel overnight....I also cut the salt down to 1 teaspoon. We love this and its a great way to use my starter!

Delicious and easy. The recipe is forgiving in that I weighed the starter (approx. 250g/C for me after stirring out the CO2 bubbles). Accurate? Not sure, but it worked! I then decided to increase the recipe yield by 1/4 without adding more starter. I let it sit for 5 hours and it was just fine. The only suggestion I have for fluffy Belgian waffles is to beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold them in. Mix the yolks in as the recipe directs for whole eggs.

Perfect recipe! I used self-rising flour so I dismissed the baking soda in this one. Turned out spectacular taste!

I've tried various waffle recipes, and these are the amazing combination of light & airy, yet a bit chewy once you bite into them, with tons of flavor. I reduced oil to 1/3 cup and they were great. Also tried them as pancakes and though they didn't rise much, the flavor and texture are outstanding.

Best waffles I’ve ever made and better than I have ever had in a restaurant. Made the recipe exactly except divided in half to make enough for two with leftovers for the week. Perfect.

I needed to use up some of my sourdough waste and this was a great recipe to try. I didn’t alter much of the recipe but I did cut back to about a tsp of salt and used warm water since it didn’t specify. My eggs were at room temp too and because I hadn’t planned early enough I boiled a cup of water in the microwave then put the first portion of the dough mixture to sit . It started to bubble around the 2.5 hour mark and was ready in 3.5 hours total. Excellent recipe and will be making these again.

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These waffles were delicious!

I added one extra Tablespoon sugar and only one teaspoon of salt. These were very good and a great way to use extra starter. I had way more starter than one cup so I had to adjust the dry ingredients a little at the end just adding a little extra dry. I will make them again.

I LOVE this recipe. I follow it exactly except I swapped the baking soda for baking powder because I hate the taste of baking soda. Comes out great every time. I make it at least once a week - whenever I feed my starter!

These waffles are great! The only thing I changed was the salt and oil I used a 1/2 tsp of salt and I substituted apple sauce instead of oil. They are light and fluffy and I am so glad I found this recipe. I think I will try freezing them like one of the reviewers suggested.