These pumpkin sourdough waffles taste so much like a pumpkin roll that I almost feel guilty eating them for breakfast! It’s also a great way to use up your sourdough discard!

I love to bake sourdough bread and I tend to have extra starter on hand. Since I don’t like to discard it, I have spent the last few years figuring out how to use sourdough starter discard. I’ve created sourdough recipes to add the discard to pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, crepes, and now pumpkin waffles! It’s an excellent way to add a fermentation process that helps to break down the gluten and sugars in the recipe.

Most people feed their sourdough starter before bed, making breakfast a great time to use up the sourdough discard. I tested so many recipes and often the waffles tasted too dense or too bread-like. Once I figured out how to create a fluffy, soft sourdough waffle that was easy to adapt, I was completely hooked. I actually now prefer sourdough discard waffles over the basic variety!

Now that the temperature has dipped and we are met with crisp mornings, this is the perfect breakfast! The warm spices will take your fall mornings to a new level!

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How to make Pumpkin Sourdough Waffles:

These crispy waffles have a hint of pumpkin pie spice, rich pumpkin flavor, and I think they will quickly be your new fall go to sourdough pumpkin waffle recipe!

The typical way to make waffles is to separate the eggs, whip the egg whites and fold the whipped egg whites in to the completed batter. Unfortunately, those extra steps make it feel like it’s something I can only do on a lazy Saturday morning.

If waffles were as easy as pancakes, I’d make them all the time! I decided to keep these ones basic and see if there was any noticeable difference in the fluffiness. Would you believe that there wasn’t? I am completely convinced that it’s not an essential step, and that you can make the best waffles with just a large bowl and a whisk.

These pumpkin sourdough waffles are full of whole foods – eggs, whole milk, pumpkin, all purpose flour, melted unsalted butter, spices…no preservatives and no artificial junk! Just real food for the most important meal of the day!

Wet Ingredients

Begin by mixing the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl – egg, buttermilk, melted butter, sourdough discard, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree. You could also use active sourdough starter if you have some that is fed and bubbly. With this recipe, we are adding the sourdough for additional flavor, not to act as leavening agents. Because of that, you can really use any type of starter you have on hand, whether it’s bubbly sourdough starter or sourdough discard. I just love to make sourdough discard recipes so it doesn’t go to waste!

Dry Ingredients

The easiest way to make sure you don’t get clumps of dry ingredients in your waffles is to put them through a sifter into a small bowl and then add them to the wet ingredients. I don’t usually use a sifter, so after I mix my wet ingredients in the large bowl, I set a large mesh strainer over the bowl and whisk my dry ingredients through that strainer directly into the bowl. I find that to be super simple!

Whichever way you decide to do it, sift and combine your dry ingredients – brown sugar, salt, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk in with your wet ingredients.

Mixing the pumpkin sourdough waffles

One big tip for making pancakes and waffles light and tender is to not overmix them. All purpose flour has gluten in it that is developed when you work the flour. The reason you knead bread dough is to develop the gluten and help it to rise. With something light and soft like waffles, stirring too much makes them tough. This is the reason you’ll never see me using a mixer to make pancakes or waffles. It is SO easy to overmix by doing that. A side benefit is that you’ll have less to clean up without using a mixer. Win – Win!

Cooking the sourdough pumpkin waffles

Preheat your waffle maker – I use a Belgian waffle maker but you can use any kind! I’ve even heard there is a cast iron waffle maker that is amazing! That would be fun to try!

Once the waffle iron is preheated, spray with nonstick spray or brush with coconut oil. Cook until golden brown. It usually takes me one or two to get the perfect setting on my hot waffle iron. Once they are cooked, you can put them on a baking sheet in place them in a warm oven until they are all done. They are so good warm, but I have to say I’ve eaten many of these room temperature and they’re still delicious!

Toppings

Topping the pumpkin sourdough waffles

These waffles could have a myriad of toppings. You could use the homemade pancake syrup from my blog. Real maple syrup is always a delicious option! See how to make your own maple syrup here! In the posts, I show how we harvest maple syrup from our own trees!

You could also top it with Cool Whip or homemade whipping cream. I used a spectacular cream cheese whipping cream and that is for sure one of my favorite toppings. You’ve got to try it – that is what really takes these sourdough pumpkin waffles over the top! A handful of pecans or candied walnuts would definitely not be a bad idea either!

I even think fresh berries or another kind of fresh fruit with whipped cream would be great. They are not really sweet waffles, so they can take some sweeter toppings.

Questions about sourdough pumpkin waffles:

Can I make sourdough pumpkin waffle batter in advance?

This is actually the best way to make these waffles! Because you have baking powder and baking soda as the leavening agents, you don’t need the sourdough to cause the rise, so you can whip up the waffle batter right when you need it. However, sourdough is more beneficial when it has time for the batter ferment. Sourdough discard will start feeding on the flour in the waffle batter and the sourdough begins to eat the sugar and gluten in the batter. The lactic acid bacteria essentially pre-digests the phytic acid in flour, which makes sourdough baked goods easier to digest!

My favorite way to do this is to whip up the sourdough pumpkin waffle batter the night before. I put it in a large mixing bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and give the batter rest time in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, I preheat the waffle iron, spray it with nonstick spray or brush it with coconut oil. Then pour just under a cup of batter on our Belgian waffle iron and a few minutes later we are eating!

The best thing about this method is that breakfast happens as quickly as you can heat the belgian waffle maker!

Can I use something other than pumpkin?

Absolutely! You can replace it with butternut squash puree, sweet potato puree or really any type of winter squash. Those flavors are so similar that you can interchange them without a problem.

I don’t have a waffle iron. Can I use this recipe to make sourdough pumpkin pancakes?

Yes! I tried this as pumpkin sourdough pancakes as I was making them today and they turned out spectacular! I used a cast iron skillet and cooked them in melted butter. They were SO good! I have found that having a double waffle iron on hand allows me to make enough waffles for the whole family really quickly. But you definitely can use this pumpkin waffles recipe as pancakes!

Can I still make these pumpkin spice waffles if I don’t have buttermilk?

I often run out of buttermilk! In waffles, you can use straight milk, but you’ll have to substitute 2t of baking powder for the 1t baking powder + 1t baking soda that is called for in the recipe. The baking soda causes a chemical reaction with the buttermilk, so without it in there, you’ll need to bump up the baking powder portion. Alternately, you can use regular milk, but add a splash of lemon juice or vinegar to give it the acidity it needs to cause the reaction.

Can I use whole wheat flour for this?

Not a problem! I often make my pancakes and waffles with whole wheat flour and also with freshly milled wheat or spelt berries. I find that when you use whole wheat with cultured buttermilk (like in my original pancake recipe), it makes it taste less wheaty.

Can I freeze these?

Yes! My favorite way to freeze pancakes and waffles is to put them in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. A few hours later when they are frozen, store them in a zip top bag or airtight container in the freezer. This is the perfect way to freeze them because they don’t stick together! When you’re ready for a delicious breakfast without the work, just pull one of the frozen waffles out and reheat in the microwave or toaster oven. There’s nothing like a quick breakfast that’s also homemade!

So that’s it! I hope you love this pumpkin version of my favorite sourdough waffle recipe. And if you want to see any other sourdough breakfast recipes, drop a request in the comments!

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