These overnight sourdough waffles have quickly become a family favorite!
You guys. I have discovered the wonderful world of sourdough! I’m so excited to share more about it, but for now I want to talk about these amazing waffles.
My first bite of these overnight sourdough waffles and I was sold. Done. Why would I want to make any other waffles ever again? Well, that’s being a bit dramatic. But these are goooood. I had heard that sourdough waffles were amazing, and now I know what all the fuss is about. Crispy with a hint of yeasty, sourdough flavor, and so easy to make.
Simply mix together a few ingredients for the overnight “sponge”, then add a few more things the next morning when you’re ready to cook the waffles.
It’s been our Saturday ritual the last month or so to whip up a batch of these overnight sourdough waffles. What a wonderful start to the weekend!
Something else that I’ve been enjoying lately is my new waffle iron! The folks over at Pleasant Hill Grain were kind enough to send it to me to test out, and I’m so glad they did.
I’ve had a cheap teflon-coated electric one for years, and I always felt a bit bad about using it. It was the only nonstick cookware that I owned, and it was starting to cook unevenly. When I finally decided to try to make the switch to a cast iron waffle maker, I was disappointed that most of them were made in China. So I held out a while longer.
Then I saw this Skeppshult cast iron waffle maker on the Pleasant Hill Grain website, which I had considered buying in the past, and glory be: it’s made in Sweden! Of course I wanted to try it out.
Overall, I really like this waffle iron. I had a few little quibbles with it, but they can easily be remedied:
- I have used this waffle iron multiple times, and I only had an issue with the waffles sticking a few of those times. After I sprayed it generously with avocado oil and ran some waffles through it, it righted itself and the waffles no longer stuck. And I’m assuming it will only get better over time if I treat it properly and make sure to keep it well seasoned. Cast iron waffle makers are notorious for sticking, so I was pleased that it wasn’t an irreparable issue.
- When you spray the iron with oil, it tends to drip out the back of the iron a bit onto your stovetop. It wipes up really easily, or you can lay down a piece of aluminum foil to catch any drips. I made a little tray of foil and it worked well! I highly recommend picking up a can of avocado oil spray – it makes greasing the iron so easy!
- This one is actually more of a pro than a con, but I thought I’d mention it: The iron is actually fairly heavy! But I wouldn’t really have it any other way. I can tell that it’s well built because it has some weight to it. It swivels easily on my stove grates, so it isn’t really an issue for me.
I can honestly say that after testing this iron I would buy it for myself. But I feel like I need to nitpick for you guys. ❤ It’s not exactly the same as a nonstick iron and it requires a little more hands-on time, but I’m so glad that I don’t have to use toxic materials when we want to enjoy waffles anymore! If you have any questions about this iron, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments!
Cooking Overnight Sourdough Waffles
The trick to getting evenly cooked waffles is mastering The Art of the Flip. I like to preheat the iron for 2 minutes on 1 side between cooking each waffle, flip the iron, add the waffle batter, and cook for 1 minute on the un-preheated side. Then I flip it and cook for 1 more minute on the other side. It’s really easy once you get the hang of it. Just remember: Preheat 2 minutes, flip, add batter, and cook for 1 minute on each side.
Another trick is finding the right balance of heat. I find that a good medium works well. You don’t want it blazing hot, and you don’t want a timid flame. Right in the middle is good.
There’s just nothing quite so sublime as a crispy, golden-brown waffle slathered with butter and drizzled with maple syrup. Am I right?!
More Ways to Serve Overnight Sourdough Waffles:
WRONG. When you add fresh fruit, it gets even better! ? I’ll sometimes get ambitious and add a dollop of whipped cream as well. Heaven!
Mix up a batch of these Overnight Sourdough Waffles on Friday night and enjoy a scrumptious Saturday morning breakfast. These reheat nicely, so you could make a double batch and eat them throughout the week. The kids LOVE it when we have leftover waffles, and I love that breakfast is mostly made in advance.
Many thanks to Pleasant Hill Grain for sponsoring this post! I can’t wait to whip up another batch of waffles in my iron. ?
Here’s a video with step-by-step instructions:
More Sourdough Recipes:
- Sourdough Pancakes
- Sourdough Pull Apart Rolls
- How to Make Artisan Sourdough Bread
- Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Overnight Sourdough Waffles
- Sourdough Cranberry Orange Rolls
- Sourdough Dutch Baby/German Pancake
Overnight Sourdough Waffles
These sourdough waffles can rise overnight so you can quickly cook up a batch the next morning!
Ingredients
For the overnight sponge:
- 1 cup (240 grams) sourdough starter, active*
- 1 cup buttermilk (I used 3/4 cup yogurt + 1/4 cup milk)
- 1 cup organic all-purpose flour (you can use half whole wheat if you like)
- 1 tablespoon sucanat or organic cane sugar
For the next morning:
- 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon unrefined salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
The night before:
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Whisk together the sourdough starter, buttermilk, flour, and sucanat until smooth. Cover and let sit on the counter overnight or 8-12 hours.
The next morning:
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In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, egg, and vanilla. Whisk into the overnight sponge.
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Sprinkle the salt and baking soda on top of the batter. Whisk until incorporated.
To cook the waffles:
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While you're mixing together the batter, preheat your cast iron waffle maker over medium heat on the stove for 5 minutes on each side.
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When you're ready to cook, flip the iron so that the hot side is on top. Spray generously on both sides with avocado oil. Add about 1/2 cup of batter, close the iron, and cook for 1 minute. Flip and cook for 1 more minute, or until the waffle is a lovely golden color.
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Remove waffle with a fork and eat immediately, or keep warm on a cooling rack-lined baking sheet in a 200 degree oven.
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Flip waffle iron and preheat for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, flip again so that the hot side is on top. Add more batter, close, and cook 1 minute. Flip and cook for 1 more minute.
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Repeat the process of preheating for 2 minutes, flipping, + cooking for 1 minute per side until all of the batter is used up. Spray iron with avocado oil every few waffles, or after every waffle if they're wanting to stick.
Recipe Notes
*Active starter simply means that you have fed it about 8 hours beforehand. I suggest feeding your starter Friday morning, mixing up the sponge Friday night, and cooking the waffles Saturday morning.
*You can reheat any leftover waffles in a toaster.
*If you use the higher amount of salt, these waffles are quite salty. I personally prefer this to the lower amount of salt, but you might prefer the lower amount.
* Recipe adapted from NY Times.
These look delicious!
Thank you, Alyssa! We love them. ?
What sourdough starter do you use? Also, that waffle iron!?
I’ve been using one that my sister made from scratch! I’m going to try to make my own soon. ? Yes, isn’t it pretty?
I don’t have a waffle iron so we made these as pancakes and they were delicious! You’re so right about adding fresh berries on top, it takes this from a very good recipe to a great one.
Thank you so much for leaving a review, and for letting us know that this works as pancakes as well! Yes, fresh berries are the best this time of year. ?
Hello, if I need to feed the 1 c. of starter 8 hours before, how much should I feed it? Thank you so much!
Hey Heather,
You want the final weight of the starter to be 240 grams. I would recommending starting with 50 grams of starter and feeding it with 95 grams each of flour and water. I usually just estimate how much starter I have and feed it enough grams of flour and water to get to 240g + a little extra to save for next time. If that makes sense. 🙂
What could I use in place of buttermilk or dairy milk? We can do butter, but not milk or yogurt. I’m thinking coconut milk should be ok and I won’t have the buttermilk waffle taste.
I’m sure you could substitute a dairy free milk and replace a tablespoon of it with lemon juice or vinegar. Hope it works out for you!
This is a fantastic recipe! I used a 100% whole grain rye sourdough starter, which is much easier to work with than wheat starter. ( https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/rye-sourdough-starter-in-easy-steps/) I I used diluted yogurt instead of buttermilk. The taste and texture of these waffles was superb. I’ll never go back to regular waffles! Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the waffles, Christine! That’s good to know that it works with a rye sourdough starter as well!
What type of yogurt did you use? Could I use greek yogurt?
I used regular yogurt. If you use Greek yogurt, you may need to use 1/2 cup Greek yogurt + 1/2 cup whole milk since Greek yogurt tends to be thicker.
Made these this morning!! Thank you for a wonderful recipe. I added mini chocolate chips for the kids, the adults ate theirs plain. This was a perfect recipe to use up starter and turn it into something amazing. It’s been really helpful to make the kids an extra treat these days to keep our spirits up. Finally my Sourdough loving husband has me making something he adores, Sourdough and Waffles!!
Changes: I used a 1/2 Whole wheat and AP Flour Blend and thought they could carry even more Wheat than just half. I used Plain Greek Yogurt and agree with a little more milk to yogurt ratio. Used a AP flour starter from a friend, and used up some less active starter attempt (1/3 active – 2/3 lazy) and still got a really great dough out of it.
Once my Whole Wheat starter kicks up, I’ll have to give it a go with this recipe! (Saved in Family Favorites!)
I’m so glad that you and your family enjoyed them, Sharon! Thank you for sharing your changes. Yes, I think they would definitely work with a higher ratio of whole wheat.
Perhaps all the ingredients should be by weight since the starter is listed that way. 1 cup of starter was listed as 240g so I did 240g of flour and 240g of buttermilk and I think that was a mistake. By volume, the weight would be less. It was stiff, more like a dough than a batter. Ended up adding two eggs and bit of extra butter and still had to coax it into the maker as it didn’t spread. They were tasty but very dense!
Yes, that can be super confusing that different ingredients have different volumes for the same weight! Half a cup of water weighs more than half a cup of flour.
The reason I give a weight for the starter is it can be difficult to get a consistent volume of starter since that can vary depending on how “airy” the starter is. Usually it’s suggested to “stir your starter down” so you don’t get an inflated measurement.
I find it easier to measure the starter by weight, though. Starter can be pretty messy, so not having to dirty up a measuring cup is awesome.
Can I use the disgard from my starter, or must it be the actual starter? Thank-you!!
Hey Michelle,
Is your starter pretty new, or is it well established? I haven’t personally tested pancakes or waffles made with a developing starter, but Lisa from Farmhouse on Boone suggested saving your sourdough discard in a container in the fridge, and then when you’ve collected enough, make pancakes with them. So I assume it would work with waffles as well? I’m sure the texture wouldn’t be quite as good, but it technically should work.
I’ve only made this with discard and it’s fantastic!
Thank you for letting us know, Tasha! ❤
Best waffles EVER! Light, crispy, so flavorful and delicious. I LOVE the use of yogurt (which I always have in my frig) versus buttermilk (which I never have). Thank you so much!
So happy you enjoy them, Karen! Yes, it’s so handy to have a buttermilk replacement that I usually have on hand!
Could I add cocoa powder and make these chocolate sourdough, or do you think the flavor combination would be bad?
I haven’t experimented with chocolate and sourdough as a combination, but I have seen recipes for sourdough brownies, so it’s a thing! I’ve also seen buttermilk + chocolate as a flavor combo, so sour flavors + chocolate seems to work? I think it’s worth a try!
Loved the flavor! I’m not sure if I measured wrong? but my batter was super liquidy and didn’t really work, I had to add more flour to get it right, which that added flour didn’t get to ferment? So I dunno? I’ll try measuring by weight next time! It’s definitely got good flavor! I just need to play around with the amount of flour.I was up wayyyy too late, so maybe I was just tired and missed a step! lol
Hi Katie,
How warm was your kitchen? The batter can get more liquidy if it’s really fermented. So over fermentation could be an issue.
These were so geat. I added cinnamon and a ripe banana as well. YUM.
Mmmm…that sounds delicious to add a banana and cinnamon!
Hi!
I love this recipe – thanks so much for sharing it! I just prepped the sponge again yesterday morning to cook the waffles last night, but got called to work and didn’t get a chance to make them.. do you think the sponge is still useable? It has sat for 24 hours instead of 8-12..
Thanks!
I would personally still use it. The waffles might be quite sour, though. You could try cooking up one, give it a little taste, and evaluate if you think it’s worth it to make them all.
This is one of the first sourdough recipes that I tried wheni first got a starter from a friend last year. Since then we’ve made it a dozen times! It’s always so light and fluffy and crunchy – my husband and I love these!!!!!
Aw, that makes me so happy that you’ve been enjoying them, Kathleen!
Hey, I want to make this recipe but I have a question about it. This may be a stupid question, but is a cast iron waffle maker necessary to make this or can I just use a regular one?
Not a stupid question at all! I’ve used a nonstick electric waffle iron to make this recipe, and it works really well! The waffles were thicker than the ones made with this iron.
Made this for breakfast this morning and they were SO GOOD! So light and fluffy, but crunchy on the outside! I was a little concerned mixing it up the night before, thinking it wasn’t going to make very many waffles, but we ended up with 5-6, it was the perfect ammount!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! Yes, that’s what I love about them – light and fluffy, but crispy!
These are hands-down the BEST sourdough waffle recipe I have tried, and I have tried many! Thank you so much for sharing this. These will be a new staple.
I used equal part of white whole wheat flour in replace of all-purpose and 1/4 C regular 2% yogurt with 3/4 C 1% milk.
Through this post, I discovered stove top cast iron waffle makers, which I’m definitely going to be getting! The link to the one you used does need to be updated though.
Thanks again for this delicious recipe!
That makes me so happy, Kristen! Thank you for letting us know that part ww flour works! And thank you for the heads up about the link – I’ll update it!
Great recipe, most recipes I find are using discard which often is too strong a flavour for my liking. I like the ratio of dairy too, just a really good recipe with good flavour and texture. Thank you!!!
Ever tried using a milk substitute, like almond milk? I can’t do cow milk…