Pumpkin Sourdough Oat Waffles

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At my house, we are overflowing with pumpkin right now. And one of my favorite things to make with extra pumpkin is definitely pumpkin waffles!

Yes, I know it’s the beginning of February, but that’s the beautiful thing about it.

Whole pumpkins are a food that stores REALLY well at room temperature. The pumpkins I grew in my garden last fall have been sitting in my pantry all winter.

And since I was able to harvest quite a few, I have made it my personal goal to use them up this winter. So, THAT is why I have an overabundance of pumpkin this year.

The other beautiful thing about pumpkin is that if you are using it in pureed form, you can substitute any orange colored fleshed squash for them. Such as Butternut Squash or Delicata squash or even sweet potatoes (I know, not technically a squash, but they all substitute nicely for each other).

If you’d like to learn how to make homemade pumpkin puree, I describe the process in my blog post on Tamari Roasted Pumpkin Seeds here.

Oh and go ahead and use the recipe for roasting the seeds while you’re at it!

I have also been practicing my sourdough bread making skills this winter. That is something that I have been wanting to learn for a long time and am SO GLAD that I have taken the time to learn.

That has been one good outcome of the pandemic. I now know how to make bread from just flour, water and salt! (Maybe I’ll share my knowledge in a post in the future).

When you maintain a sourdough starter, you end up having a lot of discarded starter that you have to do something with every time you feed your starter.

One thing that I have loved learning how to make with the discarded sourdough starter is overnight waffles. This particular recipe (with a couple of modifications) comes from the book “The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast” by Caleb Warnock and Melissa Richardson.

I really like the fact that the grains in this recipe are all soaked and/or fermented.

According to what I have learned, soaking grains helps neutralize the parts of the grains that can be harmful to our bodies such as phytic acid. Soaking grains also increases mineral absorption and increases the digestibility of the grains. Here is an article on soaking grains from one of my favorite bloggers: Soaking grains from Nourished Kitchen

These pumpkin waffles are a warm, comforting food that you can feel good about because they are made with whole foods that are minimally processed.

They are slightly sweetened but you can adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Plus they have vegetables in them!

Win, win!

A few questions about substitutes:

Q: Can I substitute regular flour for the sourdough starter if I don’t have a sourdough starter and don’t want to make one?
A: Of course. Sourdough starter is basically equal amounts of flour and water so feel free to substitute 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water. Adjust as necessary to get the right consistency.

Q: Can I use gluten free flour?
A: I’m not sure, but I would guess that you can. If you try it, please let us know how it goes in the comments below!

Q: Can I use canned pumpkin instead of homemade pumpkin puree?
A: Yes, absolutely. Use plain pumpkin puree in equal amounts to what is shown in the recipe.

Q: Do I have to use baking powder? Doesn’t the sourdough starter leaven it?
A: True, the sourdough starter does act as a leavener. I have made them both with and without the baking powder and it does work both ways. The waffles are more flat and chewy without it. I prefer the lightness that the baking powder adds so I like to add it to mine. You can do what you’d like with yours!

Q: Can I substitute the sweetener?
A: Yes, I prefer the flavor of maple syrup, but you can substitute for any sweetener that you like to any amount that you’d like. To taste test, add a tiny bit of batter to a skillet and cook on both sides to test for sweetness level. Start with a small amount of sweetener and add more if it is not sweet enough before cooking the entire batch.

Q: Can I make pancakes instead of waffles?
A: Yes, this recipe should work just fine as either pancakes or waffles. You may need to adjust at the end to make the consistency just right, however.

Q: Can I make these without the pumpkin?
A: Absolutely! We make these all the time without pumpkin in them. They are DELICIOUS! When I make them without pumpkin, I simply omit the pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and maple syrup. They are delicious unsweetened but feel free to add a little bit of sweetener if you like sweet waffles.

That is all the questions I can think of but if I missed something, feel free to ask away in the comments below!

And if you are looking for even more delicious pumpkin recipes, check out my pumpkin pie from scratch recipe here.

I really hope you try this recipe for pumpkin waffles. Whenever we make them at my house, they never last for very long.

Nothing like hot fresh waffles to make everyone come flocking to the kitchen, right?

Happy Pumpkin Waffles Making!