Spelt Sourdough Waffles (vegan)

After several, several, unfinished blog entries...I finally planned ahead enough to provide pictures. Equipped with pictures, I am therefore ready to write my first real blog entry. Yay!

A little background: my darling, wonderful husband is egg and wheat free. He suffers from, as so many people in this country, unexplainable digestive trouble. What he does know is that eggs and wheat cause him trouble--so I go to great lengths to prepare him "safe," delicious foods. He does, however, do fine on spelt. This is lucky as spelt is a close relative to wheat, although lower in gluten and higher in protein, and acts very closely to wheat in many products. With most recipes, a slight tweaking is all that is needed to make "normal" treats. Yay for normal (he has it hard enough).

For the last few weeks I have been doing some experimenting with sourdough starter. After a trip home to my native Alaska, we brought back a powdered sourdough starter that ended up starting nothing at all. For the second attempt at healthy starter, I starting out trying to catch a wild yeast, but then eventually gave up and dumped in a packet of organic yeast after 5 days of nothing. Since that time, wildness has taken over, and I have a healthy starter as you can see below:

I attribute my difficulties with starting my starter to the fact that I was using spelt instead of the more conventional wheat. My sourdough just didn't like spelt, but eventually it gave in. Use what you got, if you got it...and here is a good website for reference to gettin' it: http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm

So, to 1/2 cup of my starter, I added 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons of whole spelt flour, 1 tablespoon of unrefined sugar, and 1 cup of almond milk (feel free to use any non dairy milk, or make it butter"milk" by adding 1 tsp. of flavorless vinegar to the ndm). This is the "Overnight Sponge" which does in fact need to sit at room temperature for 8-10 hours (overnight). This is what it looks like, but be sure to keep it covered during that time:

After 8-10 hours, it's time to make the batter! Use your choice of egg replacer for 1 egg. I used 1 Tablespoon of my own alteration, whisked with 3 Tablespoons water (see recipe below). To the "egg", add 2 Tablespoons of oil, a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Add this mixture to the overnight starter, and blend till combined. I then poured the batter into a glass measuring cup for easy portioning:

Then all that is left is making the waffles according to the directions for your wafflemaker. Mine has interchangeable plates, and I was SO tempted use the cow and duck shaped mold...but for the sake of my husband who is hoping for waffles to replace his boxed, frozen variety, I'll save the farm for next time. So that's it! The waffles went straight into a freezer container to become early morning treats for the man. Next time, I'm going to try a gluten-free version...stay tuned!

Enjoy!

Spelt Sourdough Waffles (vegan)

Overnight Sponge:

1/2 cup hungry starter (pull straight from fridge)

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons whole spelt flour

1 Tablespoon unrefined sugar (such as evaporated cane juice -or- sub honey or agave)

1 scant cup non-dairy milk (add 1 teaspoon vinegar for a butter"milk," which works best with soymilk)

Mix in a non-reactive bowl, covered, and let rest at room temperature overnight (8-10 hours).

Waffle Batter:

Egg replacer for 1 egg, recipe following

2 Tablespoons sunflower oil (my preference)

Heaping 1/4 teaspoon sea salt*

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

In a separate bowl, wisk together egg replacer ingredients, then add oil, salt, and baking soda. Add this "egg" mixture to the overnight starter, and it will get bubbly and happy. Follow your wafflemaker instructions to some yummy waffles!

* please don't use regular salt in anything ever, gross! If you still own this creepy stuff, spring the $2 for some sea salt and say goodbye to the past.

Egg Replacer

for light, fluffy, muffiney, cakey things

1/2 Tablespoon arrowroot

1/2 Tablespoon tapioca starch

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

a dash of xanthan gum (be judicious, a little goes a long way)

This gets whisked with 3 T water to make 1 egg, and viola!