Homemade Sourdough Pumpkin Waffle Recipe

Start your fall mornings with this delicious and nutritious sourdough pumpkin waffle recipe. Packed with only healthy ingredients, these are an easy win for your family’s breakfast.

The mornings here are starting to get a little chilly and that means, it’s time to start baking more. Breakfast is the most enjoyed meal in my household so whipping up some delicious fall recipes in the kitchen is the perfect way to start our day. Whether it’s a warm stack of sourdough pancakes or a fresh slice of sourdough bread with homemade apple butter, we love getting a sliver of fall in every meal we can. Especially when it involves pumpkin or apple.

There’s nothing like sitting down at the breakfast table to a plate of golden warm waffles. Particularly when they have that crisp on the outside and fluffy center. Drizzle with some real maple syrup and slather on the butter. These waffles are seriously the best. Add the healthy sourdough batter factor in and it’s even better.

Why Does Sourdough Need to Ferment?

Sourdough needs to ferment so the phytic acids can be broken down. This is the key factor that makes sourdough so much healthier than regular breads. During this process, the gluten and carbs present in the dough are also broken down, making sourdough recipes a great option for the gluten sensitive bread lover. Even though it’s kind of inconvenient to wait on the dough to ferment and rise, it’s a lot easier on your digestive tract.

How To Get Fluffy Sourdough Waffles

I seriously struggled with this while making this recipe. My first two trials consisted of very flat, rubbery waffles. I was trying to make a waffle recipe work with sourdough discard only, adding in no extra flour. That was a mistake. I did not like the texture of the sourdough discard waffles, so I decided something needed to be switched up.

To make sourdough pumpkin waffles fluffy, the batter needs to be thick and it needs to ferment as a dough would. This means, you will combine the flour and water together and let it sit for 4 hours to overnight. While the fermentation process is taking place, the batter will rise a little and get fluffier. The end result of this method is a very light waffle that is crispy on the outside and airy on the inside.

Best Way To Store Sourdough Waffles

Sourdough waffles can be stored in an airtight bag in the freezer for up to 6 months. I love this method of storing because it’s so convenient for those mornings where I don’t want to whip up fresh waffle batter. I’ll simply open my freezer, pull out the saved waffles, and pop them in the toaster. They taste just as good as they would fresh.

The Ingredients & Supplies

The ingredients I used for these waffles can be altered to your needs. If you like a more spiced batter, add more pumpkin pie spice. If you are dairy free, substitute the milk for water. The same goes for sugar. If you don’t mind conventional white sugar, use that instead. This recipe is pretty forgiving in these three areas. The only tip I have for substituting liquids is to make sure you gauge the consistency. You want it thicker than pancake batter but not so thick that it’s like a paste.

1. 1 Cup of Sourdough Starter
2. 2 Cups of Flour
3. 1 Cup of Milk
4. 1/2 Cup of Pumpkin Purée
5. 2 Eggs
6. 1/2 Tsp Salt
7. 1 1/2 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
8. 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
9. 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
10. 3 Tbsp Coconut Sugar
11. 3 Tbsp Coconut Oil
12. 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
    

For the supplies here, I used a Belgian waffle maker. This type of waffle maker is much preferred over a regular one because it gives a thicker and bigger waffle. The iron uses about a cup of batter for each waffle. I also recommend a batter bowl. I use mine for everything batter related including my Simple Sourdough Pancakes. It makes pouring out such a breeze

Belgian Waffle Maker

Large Batter Bowl

How To Make Sourdough Pumpkin Waffles

Making these sourdough pumpkin waffles isn’t complicated at all. They just require a little planning ahead. To start, I stirred together the sourdough starter, 2 cups of flour and the 1 cup of milk. This dough will need to ferment from 4 hours to overnight. For those who are gluten sensitive and consume sourdough for that reason, I recommend letting the dough sit out for the four hours and then putting it in the fridge overnight to use in the morning.

The next morning (or after the 4 hours), start by melting the oil or butter on the stove. While this is melting, combine the salt, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, cinnamon, and coconut sugar. Once these are combined, add the pumpkin, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix this wet mixture up really well then add to the dough.

I want to warn you that this dough will feel very thick, and this is normal. Too thin of a batter leads to rubbery puck like waffles. Mix as well as you can, but just until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Once incorporate, you will then add the batter to a preheated waffle iron. Cook for roughly 8 minutes or until you have your desired crispiness. I prefer a semi crispy waffle, so 8 minutes worked like a charm on medium high heat. Serve with fresh butter and warm syrup!