Natural Yeast Waffles

Well, I'm back, and it's been quite a wild ride.  We've adopted three new children (one is medically fragile), begun homeschooling and had a radical change in our eating. Our family spent one year on the GAPS diet to heal our tummies and brains.  That meant no grains, starches, sugars, processed items including pasteurized milk, chemicals, dyes, or flavorings.  It is a very strict program, but works extremely well (I lost 30 pounds as a nice side effect, and my chronic body pain all disappeared).  Our little girl with severe GI problems (feeding tubes and reflux vomiting) is all better and eating on her own.  She is growing and thriving.  So it was time to start re-introducing natural whole foods (grains and starches).  We introduced Natural Yeast a few weeks ago (after no grains for 12 months).  I attended a class and got a start, and have been caring for my yeast and trying new recipes.  We all seem to be doing well with the Natural Yeast products, so I've been trying to develop recipes that my family loves.  We have missed waffles (the coconut flour ones are ok, but I really missed that waffle crunch!).  I tried the basic waffle recipe in "The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast" by Melissa Richardson, but it wasn't exactly what we were looking for (very sour for my taste).  I kept researching and tweaking and I finally figured out how to make overnight waffles that we can eat!!  These waffles have a slightly sour flavor.  If you're not avoiding sugar, you can lather them in jam or syrup (and you can add a Tbsp or two of sugar to the batter).  We used homemade strawberry-honey syrup or agave for ours.  Here's the recipe:

Overnight Natural Yeast Waffles
(double batch since I'm feeding 9 people)

Ingredients for night before eating:
1/2 c. natural yeast
3 and 1/2 c. lukewarm water
1 c. melted butter (I use salted), cooled to lukewarm
1 c. Greek yogurt (unsweetened)
6 c. whole wheat flour

Melt the butter and let cool to lukewarm temperature (if its too hot it will kill the yeast).  Combine natural yeast, water, butter, yogurt in the mixing bowl and mix until combined.  Add flour and mix until all of the flour is absorbed into the mixture.  I use my KitchenAid to mix the ingredients.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place on counter to sit overnight.  The mixture will rise double or triple in size (so make sure your bowl is big enough to accommodate the volume increase).

In the morning, gather:

4 Eggs
1 tsp. baking soda

Whisk the eggs and add them to your overnight mixture.  Add the baking soda and mix well.  I use a hand whisk.

Pour the batter onto a greased, heated waffle iron.  Follow the manufacturer directions for your specific waffle iron.

Enjoy immediately, save some and freeze on a cookie sheet.  Once frozen, place waffles in a zip-top bag and store in the freezer.  When ready to eat, pop them in the toaster.  Happy eating!