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My approach to waffles is a little casual. I measure the starter (75 grams), because that is the amount that I typically “discard”. To that, I add 2 cups of buttermilk and enough flour to make a stiff batter. I let that ferment on the counter at room temperature.
In the morning, I add two eggs, 2 T oil and some honey (about 2 T). Then, I adjust the thickness, typically adding some more flour. Just before cooking, I stir in 1 t of baking soda.
The flour that I use typically is a blend of whole grain flours. But, recently, I have been using “Kodiak Cakes”, a packaged pancake mix that I get at Costco.
Hi, Eric. Beautiful receipe, thanks for sharing. Could you also share where you got the mold machine to make this beautiful shape? Thanks a lot. Best wishes, Caroline
I love the idea of oil-free waffles! But how do you keep your waffles from sticking to the waffle iron without adding oil? I make sourdough whole grain waffles with soy milk, but my initial efforts to decrease the oil resulted in waffles sticking to my waffler. I now have an electric duraceramic waffle maker, which is supposed to not require oil, but – my low oil waffles stuck, even after pre-heating the waffler, which I always do. Thank you for any suggestions.
ps: I currently use a 50/50 mixture of hard white and einkorn, but I’m going to try all einkorn. Also, perhaps a runnier batter. But the sticking problem continues to haunt me.
Hi Caroline. Are you asking about the heart shaped waffles? That’s just the design of the waffle iron itself…
https://breadtopia.com/store/chefs-choice-five-of-hearts-waffle-maker
Hi Jaen. The Chef’s Choice waffle irons I use have a non stick surface that actually works pretty well. I have 2 of them. One is many years old and has lost some of its non stick properties. For that one I apply a little butter directly to the waffle iron cooking surface between about every 2nd or 3rd waffle. I would think brushing or spraying on a little cooking oil would work as well.
In the email I received from BreadT this morning, Eric mentioned wild yeast. So . . . where is it in this recipe? Also, can instant yeast be substituted for the sourdough starter? Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Wild yeast is just the sourdough starter. Synonymous.
You could use instant yeast but I don’t think it would be very good. MTJohn mentioned buttermilk and eggs.
Thank you for sharing this family heirloom of a recipe!
This is my favorite kind of weekend breakfast cooking – do a little work at night and less work the next morning. I can’t wait to try it. I have a bag of bolted einkorn flour that now has waffles written all over it.
Made these super simple, super easy, super good waffles this morning. They were super great, thank you!
I used 50% all purpose flour and 50% hard white spring wheat flour (ground in my Nutrimill) and whole milk. Other than that, followed Eric’s formula/method, exactly. They taste better than my complicated, multiple ingredient, sourdough pancakes! Thanks, Eric!
Fabuloso! I used what I had which was kamut. Starter I usually keep in rye so that bit of rye in there too. Waffles came out super light and fluffy; perfect. Thank you, Eric!
Awesome.
Got my waffle iron at thrift store though nearly new. I wait until hot, then paint on very thin layer of coconut oil. Seems to work well and adds nice flavor while being very minimal amount, maybe 1 tsp of oil. Lasts for several pours i.e. entire batch of these at least.
Have a savory batch set up for tomorrow with caraway seeds. Caraway is surprisingly good with many fruits (topping) but also savory foods. Savage truth is these will likely get sardines and a little mustard on top when ready to eat WOOT!
Just found this online in manual for my cooker but it likely applies to any and all of them:
Conditioning grids
The grid surface being used requires conditioning before each
heating that follows cleaning. To condition, lightly coat the grid
surface with vegetable shortening. Plug into any 120 V ~ 60 Hz outlet.
The yellow power on light will come on. When green ready light
comes on, unit is preheated. The grids are ready to use.
The grid surface being used requires conditioning before each
heating that follows cleaning. To condition, lightly coat the grid
surface with vegetable shortening. Plug into any 120 V ~ 60 Hz outlet.
The yellow power on light will come on. When green ready light
comes on, unit is preheated. The grids are ready to use.
To protect the premium quality non-stick surfaces, use only plastic,
nylon or wooden utensils. Carefully follow suggested cleaning
procedures. After time, if waffles show signs of sticking, carefully
recondition your unit.
Lightly coat grids with vegetable shortening and close lid.
come on. Allow to preheat approximately 5 minutes. Initially, some
smoking may occur. This is normal for newly manufactured
appliances and will not occur after the first few uses. When
preheated, the green light will come on.
(Model 287) of batter on lower grid using an “X” pattern. Close the
lid; do not latch. The green ready light will stay on for a few
minutes and then go out. The amount of batter required may vary
with recipe or brand of mix. Any waffle recipe or mix may be used.
While cooking, the yellow or red power on light will be on and the
green ready light will go off.
Gently lift the lid to check for brownness. If lid shows resistance to
lifting, the waffle may not be quite done. Close top and watch for
steaming to stop before checking again.
Delicious! My family had breakfast for dinner tonight and the waffles were a huge hit. The einkorn flour provides a lovely flavor.
My problem with all these recipes that claim to answer the question of what to do with cast-off starter: they all use so little starter – and so much fresh flour – that it’s hardly worth the effort to save the starter in the first place. [Eric’s waffles don’t make that claim.] So I now make my sour dough waffles with a quart of cast-off starter and one cup each of whole wheat and bread flour, 1.5 cups of oat milk, 4 eggs, half cup of oil, baking powder, baking soda and salt. The result: 11 great waffles from my century-old Griswold cast iron waffle iron. Ten went directly into the freezer, the 11th into my stomach. Topped with shredded apples, fresh blueberries, strawberries and bananas.
Awesome!
Inspired by this, I made this recipe with my rye starter to the letter a few weeks ago. This weekend, I made it again, but… (of course) with some alterations. 
Like @Jules_D_Zalon, I had more left over starter, so I just used nearly all of it. Or 80 grams, so my scales told me. Because I hardly use any milk, and when I do, need very little, I now have little 200 ml packs of long lasting milk in my pantry. So I used that amount, and 60 grams of water. (So in total a bit more than the 240 total that Eric uses.) For flour I lazyly took T65.
Mixed it all up at 8 pm, covered it and left it till the next morning 9.30 am.
Because baking powder gives me a tingly, gritty mouthfeel that I do not like, I omitted that. To compensate, I mixed up 2 eggs really well with salt and peper. Yes, peper, because I’m a savoury kind of person. The the first time a made these waffles, they screamed Cheese to me, so this time I added that in. Some 150 grams of grated Jong Belegen Goudse kaas (the most common cheese here in the Netherlands). And for a bit of extra kick, I also added 1 finely sliced spring onion. Mixmix, preheated my iron to it’s highest setting (6) sprayed* it with some olive oil and spooned in 3 gravy spoons. Distributed the cheese more evenly, baked for 10 minutes, and they were perfect! Cooked through, well done but not to dry. And the taste was, for me, the perfect mix of tang, savoury and fresh.
This amount gave me 5 double waffles** and 1 single. That last one I baked on 5 (still for 10 minutes) so that one and the last double will go in the freezer. Let’s see how they toast.
First waffle picture is the bottom side, 2nd is the top. You can see where the cheese meets the iron, and that not all of the batter reaches the lid of the iron. Guess which way up I’m serving them? 
*) In a little travel pump spray bottle I put 50/50 olive oil and water. Shake a bit (not too well) before use, and spray. Saves me buying a big can, and it’s environmentally friendly.
**) My iron is the shape of so called Belgian waffles.(upload://h2DjMmkFtjDRpsQAnWR8dmqEYLo.jpeg)
My new favorite–I start with Eric’s recipe but next day, before adding baking soda, I add one medium banana+1Tbs peanut butter that has been mashed to total smoothness. Whisk that into the batter then add the baking soda and pour it on the waffle iron. I like the flavor so much that syrup seems to detract a bit and that’s coming from someone who as a kid used to sneak slugs of maple syrup right from the bottle.
