Sourdough Einkorn Spelt Oat Waffles

There are not a lot of baked goods making appearance at our house that haven’t been made with either sprouted flour or leavened through lactic fermentation. I love waffles with sprouted flours, which I make quite often, and use sprouted rye, spelt, einkorn, oats and buckwheat. The sprouted waffles are a bit heavier and substantial, and go great for dinner with chicken or Canadian bacon; while sourdough waffles are lighter in texture and seem to go nicely for breakfast. I normally use two-three different kinds of flour because I always have them on hand. You can use one flour, either whole grain einkorn or spelt with the same results.

HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH EINKORN SPELT OAT WAFFLES

Ingredients
The night before:
1 cup freshly ground einkorn flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
2 cups milk, I use raw
2-3 tablespoons active starter
In the morning:
2 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions
The night before, mix the flours, 2 cups milk and starter in a large bowl. Cover tightly and let rest at room temperature for 10-12 hours.
In the morning, preheat waffle maker.
Whisk the eggs with maple syrup until frothy. Add 1/2 cup milk, vanilla, butter and salt.
Combine starter mixture with egg/milk mixture.
Add baking soda, wait a few minutes for soda to start bubbling.
Cook according to manufacturer’s instructions.

NOTES

• If you wonder why use baking soda if you already have sourdough for leavening, the reason is that baking soda is alkaline while sourdough is acidic. When the two combine, the flavor of the batter will become less sour and more waffle-like. You can skip baking soda, and still get airy waffles; they’ll just be more sour.
• To have waffles come out crispy, use higher cooking temperature and lower time. Basically, crank up you waffler, pour in the batter, and flip it pretty much right away.
• I like to sit down with my family to eat, as opposed to feed them waffles as they come out, so I turn the oven on 225-250ºF and put each batch of waffles on a perforated pizza pan. It keeps them warm while making them crispier. When I’m done cooking, I serve them all at once and get to enjoy mealtime with everyone.