Waffles are awesome.  All the taste of pancakes with no time in front of the frying pan (the waffle iron does the job), and fun tire-treads to hold toppings.  They can also be frozen and popped into a toaster for fast week-day breakfasts.  And best of all, they use up the endless amounts of starter that are generated when you keep an active sourdough culture on the counter.

These are golden, crispy, and studded with wild blueberries.  The tiniest hint of lemon brings them from ordinary waffle to wafflawesome.

Last note before the recipe: since the culture can be thinner or thicker depending on the flour used and the water to flour ratio, particularly if you aren’t super-rigorous in feeding quantities and eye-ball it like I do, you may need to adjust the batter to get the ”perfect” waffle.  You want something pretty identical to pancake batter before you add the soda.

Yield: 4 Belgian (round) waffles

What you need:

• 3 cups starter (whole-grain starter preferred)
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/3 cup brown rice syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon organic lemon flavour
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (wild blueberries preferred)
• 1 scant teaspoon baking soda whisked into 1 tablespoon sunflower oil

What you do:

1. In a bowl mix together all of the ingredients except for the blueberries, baking soda and sunflower oil dilution. If desired, leave to ferment overnight.  While not absolutely necessary, it will make for a fluffier waffle.  (If fermenting overnight, make sure to use a non-reactive glass or ceramic bowl.)
2. Preheat a waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s directions.
3. If the batter is too thick, add filtered water, a tablespoonful at a time, until desired consistency is reached: thick but fluid.
4. Fold in the frozen blueberries and baking soda/oil slurry. The mixture will start to bubble up as the acidic sourdough reacts with the basic baking soda.
5. Oil the waffle iron with a bit of coconut oil.
6. Use the amount of batter recommended by the manufacturer of the waffle iron for each waffle, using the back of the cup or a small spatula to spread the batter a bit as you pour it.
7. Cook according the directions for the waffle iron.
8. Serve immediately or transfer to a plate in a warm oven (170F) until ready to serve.