Sourdough Waffles

[MelissaH]

Sourdough Waffles

Serves 4 as Main Dish.

My favorite waffle recipe is originally from King Arthur, and it's written for a fairly goopy starter (not a firm starter). I refresh mine with equal masses of water and flour, a little more than 4 oz. each per refreshment. This is one of my favorite things to do with the part of the starter that gets removed in the refreshing. I generally don't measure too carefully when I make these, which is atypical of me!

Sometime, I'll try the method Cook's Illustrated recommends in an article from March 2004 or thereabouts: heating the buttermilk, mixing all the ingredients (including the eggs but completely omitting the baking soda from the batter) together from the start, and refrigerating the batter overnight to rise. I'm concerned that if I left this particular version in my fridge, my starter would be too sluggish to do much. But if you try it before I get to it, let me know how it works for you!

• 2 c flour (can use half WW; about 9 oz)
  
• 2 T sugar, more or less
  
• 2 c buttermilk (I generally don't have buttermilk on hand, so I about half-fill my 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup with plain yogurt and then fill the cup with regular milk, making sure I stir a bit to avoid an
  
• 1 c sourdough starter (usually works out to about 8 or 9 oz, but I use whatever I remove from my starter jar just before adding water and flour to refresh)
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/4 c oil or melted butter (melted butter tastes better, but always seizes when I try to mix it in)
  
• 1 tsp salt (I use kosher)
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  

Mix flour and sugar in whatever bowl you'll use for the batter. I like an 8-cup bowl with a spout and a handle, because it makes it easy to get the batter into the waffle iron.

Mix together milk and starter. Break up the starter as well as you can. Stir into flour. Cover (I use a shower cap swiped from a hotel) and leave out overnight.

In the morning, blend in eggs, oil, salt, and baking soda.

My Black and Decker waffle iron (makes square waffles, which can easily be divided into four quarters) needs about 3/4 cup of batter per waffle.

Any leftovers freeze well, and can be toasted straight from the freezer for future breakfasts.

Keywords: Vegetarian, Waffle Iron, Easy, Breakfast, Brunch

( RG1806 )