Vegan Sourdough Waffles with Spelt Flour
I make waffles a handful of times every month, often with some seasonal variations tossed in – blueberry, pumpkin, apple (see page 115 of my first cookbook) – but these sourdough waffles are hands down my favourite. They’re so easy, always bake up perfectly, and, best part, they’re prepped the night before.
This recipe uses spelt flour (see below for subs), so the taste is more complex and a little nutty. They’re overall much more interesting than normal waffles. The outside is still crisp, with a nice soft inside, and a slightly chewy texture. Serve with classic maple syrup, applesauce, or something like a quick blueberry compote.
There is a fairly significant flavour difference from the sourdough, but it’s pleasant rather than overwhelming. If you’re looking for diner style waffles, though, this is not that. The taste is more mild than with a long-ferment sourdough bread, but there is a bit of tanginess. If you don’t have a starter, don’t worry. You can make my spelt yeast waffles instead, adapted from this recipe and very similar.
If you tend to get a bit bloated or some slight stomach upset from normal waffles, you might be able to digest sourdough waffles a bit more easily, much the same as with bread. I usually have a bit of trouble with waffles but these ones are easy on the stomach due to the fermenting process.
I first shared this recipe in 2018. It’s been updated with improvements to the recipe instructions and slight improvements to the recipe, new photos, including step-by-step photos, and more helpful information.
I don’t use affiliate links. Any links you see here are to other recipes or related information, not paid links.
One reader, Amy, commented: “I have tried numerous times to make plant based waffles in the Belgium waffle iron and they always stuck to the iron. This recipe worked! No stick! Plus my husband and I really enjoyed them. They are airy, crisp and tasty! This is now the only waffle recipe I will use! Thank you for sharing!“
Another reader, Frizzle, said: “I’ve really gotten into sourdough this year & I found a brand new waffle iron at goodwill so I needed a vegan sourdough recipe- this is the first one I tried because I didn’t want to mess with flax eggs. It is SO good! I’ve made it several times now. I am cooking for one, so I love that the batter can sit in the fridge multiple days & I can just scoop out as needed (I do add a little more water or soy milk if it gets too thick). Last time I accidentally added twice the amount of sourdough discard and it turned out great.“
Ingredients You’ll Need and Why
You only need a handful of ingredients for sourdough waffles this way, with no added baking powder or soda and no eggs. These are my notes from recipe testing – I’ve been making these for years – and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.
- Starter: use any kind of sourdough starter, ideally active, but discard can work too if it’s fairly fresh. I usually use my rye starter which does make the waffles a little speckled but only improves the taste. This has been tested with starter that’s around 100% hydration (often more like 85%).
- Spelt flour: this can be either light or whole grain. All purpose white flour, whole wheat, or other ancient grains like khorasan or einkorn all work well but note that will absorb the liquid at different rates so you’ll have to play around with that a bit. I haven’t tried making these gluten-free.
- Milk: any kind of dairy-free milk with the exception of canned full fat coconut milk can be used here. Dairy milk, as is the case 99% of the time, can be used as well if you don’t need them to be dairy-free. The waffles will have a slight yogurt scent if you use dairy milk.
- Oil: any light-tasting oil is good. I have made them with melted (non-dairy) butter and it turned out well too.
- Cinnamon: you can use cinnamon or vanilla extract. When I originally developed this recipe I couldn’t afford vanilla so I used cinnamon instead and it’s great either way.
How to Make Sourdough Waffles
Couldn’t be easier! You can see the process more clearly in the video or in the step-by-step photos below. Everything is mixed in one bowl, there are just 7 ingredients with no weird additives or hard to find ingredients.
After mixing, simply cover to rest overnight at room temperature (no need to clear out a shelf in the fridge) and then bake the following morning. The batter can rest for anywhere from eight to 16 hours so there’s a flexible time frame if you need it.
Step 1: whisk everything together into a smooth batter. I recommend mixing the wet ingredients first and then whisking in the dry ingredients to avoid any streaks of flour in the mix.
Step 2: set aside to rise, covered, overnight. It should be bubbly and light but not have doubled in size. It’ll be more like a soft sponge than typical waffle batter.
Step 3: don’t mix the batter again. Pour into a hot waffle iron and bake until golden, following the instructions on your waffle iron. I use the Belgian waffle setting on this iron, just under four minutes bake time.
Step 4: keep baking the waffles until all of the batter has been used. The waffles will be mostly golden when ready, but will be lighter around the edges. That’s normal.
Starter or Discard for Waffles
If you have an active sourdough starter and only use it to make bread, you’re discarding a lot of useable starter. This is a great recipe to make use of some of that discard! When you feed your starter, use the discard to mix up a batch of waffles instead of tossing it in the compost or whatever you do with it.
It does need to be quite active, though! If you’re storing your starter in the refrigerator, the discard from feeding it that first time won’t be strong enough to give these waffles a good rise. If that’s the case, you’ll want to use a starter that was fed about 12 hours beforehand, just like you would to make a loaf of sourdough bread.
What I’m saying here, is that if you feed your starter daily, the discard from that will work well. If you only bake once a week or so, use a starter that’s been fed and is active. Need a good recipe for less active discard? Try these sourdough crackers.
Expert Tips
- Know your iron: how you bake the waffles will vary between irons; I fill mine 90% full or it doesn’t reach the edges. Baking time will depend on the kind of iron you have. They should be golden but not overly browned as they’ll lose the softness inside if overcooked.
- Don’t whisk again: once the batter has risen, don’t whisk or mix it a second time before baking into waffles. You don’t want to beat the air out of the mixture.
- Use a hot iron: most electric waffle irons will have a light on top that changes colour when it thinks waffles are ready. Ignore this, it’s always wrong. Make sure the iron has really preheated before starting to bake the waffles, and take them out when they’re ready, not when the iron thinks they are.
More Ancient Grain Sourdough Recipes
- Spelt Sourdough Pancakes – with whole grain spelt flour and a vegan buttermilk mix, these are also made without eggs or dairy but use a different method.
- Whole Grain Einkorn Sourdough Bread – with 100% whole grain einkorn flour this is a very flavourful, hearty loaf of bread.
- Honey and Oat Sourdough Bread – the method here couldn’t be easier, with a rise and then transferring the dough to a bread tin with no shaping needed.
- Sourdough Rye Bread – with a mix of spelt and rye flour and no white flour in the mix, it’s a slightly dense, German-style bread.
If you make these Sourdough Waffles or any other vegetarian breakfast recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Spelt Sourdough Waffles
Description
Ingredients
- 500 ml (2 cups) non-dairy milk
- 100 grams (~½ cup) sourdough starter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil**
- 340 grams (2 ¼ cups) spelt flour*
- 2 tablespoons sugar any type of granulated sugar will work
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon or vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Add the milk, starter, and oil to a large bowl and whisk until combined. If using vanilla instead of cinnamon, add it with the milk too.500 ml (2 cups) non-dairy milk, 100 grams (~½ cup) sourdough starter, 2 tablespoons olive oil**
- Add the flour, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk again until just combined and no streaks of flour remain in the bowl.340 grams (2 ¼ cups) spelt flour*, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon or vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Cover with a a tea towel and large plate and set aside to rise at room temperature overnight, from 8 to a maximum of 16 hours.
- Once the batter has rested overnight, it should be visibly risen and bubbly, but not doubled in size. Heat your waffle iron and bake the waffles as usual. Repeat until all of the batter has been used.
- Serve hot with desired toppings. These are best eaten fresh and will lose their crisp texture if stored. If you do have leftovers, toast briefly before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
I’ve really gotten into sourdough this year & I found a brand new waffle iron at goodwill so I needed a vegan sourdough recipe- this is the first one I tried because I didn’t want to mess with flax eggs. It is SOO good! I’ve made it several times now. I am cooking for one, so I love that the batter can sit in the fridge multiple days & I can just scoop out as needed (I do add a little more water or soy milk if it gets too thick). Last time I accidentally added twice the amount of sourdough discard and it turned out great.
I have tried numerous times to make plant based waffles in the Belgium waffle iron and they always stuck to the iron. This recipe worked! No stick! Plus my husband and I really enjoyed them. They are airy, crisp and tasty! This is now the only waffle recipe I will use! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
so happy to find this. After I made my levain at midnight for baking sourdough bread tomorrow, I put this together for breakfast. I’ve made similar before, but this recipe has everything I would like!
I made this up and had it for dinner last night, almost everybody loved it : ) My friend decided she doesn’t like mixing “sweet” and “sour” (she also won’t cook savory dishes in coconut oil, she’s weird like that :)) I did have a question though. There were six of us eating, and since we wanted about two each, I double the recipe. Unfortunately, it only made 7 waffles. Was this because I doubled it? I know some recipes don’t like to be increased. I also didn’t have enough spelt flour, about 3/4 of one recipe, so I subbed in a bit of gluten free all purpose for the first and rye flour for the doubling. Is that why it didn’t make the expected number of waffles? If I use all spelt can I double it ok? I’d like to make it again now that I’ve been able to buy spelt flour. Thanks again for the awesome recipe.
I’m glad you liked the waffles! I think it’s probably just that your waffle maker is much different from mine. I have a small-ish Belgian style waffle maker but can’t get the big American style ones over here (I’m not sure where you are). It does seem a bit crazy that it still only make seven with doubling, but I don’t think using different flours in the same amounts would’ve caused that. In general you should be able to double it no problem! You can see in the pictures the number I ended up with for one batch so I think it’s just differences in irons.
I’ll try again to double it. To me the iron we used was very small, but I think not as small as yours. In the iron we had growing up your recipe would probably make two or three : ) Maybe you should add the dimensions of the iron to the number of waffles made so people with bigger irons think about it : ) like “makes 8 2×3″ waffles” or something like that. Looking forward to trying it again soon.
Made these this morning, delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe, even my 3 year old daughter enjoyed them, will definitely be making again.
I love working with spelt flour and these waffles sure look great and would be a huge hit for breakfast in our home.
They look so pretty!
I'm sure it will! It might smell a bit yogurt-y in the morning but that's normal.
Will this still work with dairy milk?