Roasted Kabocha Sourdough Oat Waffles

Mini science lesson: Sourdough is pretty awesome. I would imagine it has been around since the advent of agriculture (about 12k years ago), but is recorded at least around 3700 B.C. There is so much more I want to know about it. I actually proposed a hypothesis and am going to do some research in the lab this term to see what is going on with the sourdough bacteria under certain conditions. TBD… but hopefully I will have some interesting insight in the coming months to share with you.

Last term, I wrote a research paper on celiac disease, and found interesting studies that showed tolerance of sourdough by celiac patients. The lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in sourdough starter has also been shown to prevent glucose spikes in diabetics, and reduce hypertension (Diowksz et al., 2020). I won’t completely bore you with the science (I’ll include a citation below if you’re interested), but basically the lactic acid changes the enzyme composition and breaks down gluten so that it is less immunoreactive in sensitive patients.
I personally try to lacto-ferment anything I can. I love that tangy funk, and the process of fermenting offers hosts of enzymatic, micronutrient, and bacterial benefits. For this recipe, I wanted a very low gluten profile, with a sweet tangy vibe. If you roast a Rainshadow pumpkin, and puree it with just enough water to make it smooth, its high sugar content will increase LAB in about 5-7 days in the fridge. I also keep a wheat sourdough starter going all the time, so I wanted to incorporate that. There are about a billion ways to start sourdough, and I trust your googling skills to figure that out 😉 This takes a day to make, but the health benefits are worth it, and it is so good to wake up on the weekend and have it all ready to go. I hope you enjoy!
Probiotic Pumpkin Oat Sourdough Waffles
Serves 8ish
Ingredients:
Waffles:
350g fermented pumpkin puree
100g wheat flour
150g oat flour (put oats in the blender until powder)
100 g sourdough starter (unfed)
1/2 cup avocado oil
3/4 cup plain kefir (I use goat)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda

Syrup:
3 tbspn butter
2 tbspn real maple syrup
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn pumpkin spice
fresh thyme leaves

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients of the Waffle batter except eggs and baking soda. Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap or something that can let pressure out, and let sit out overnight to further ferment.
  2. Next day: add eggs and baking soda. Let sit for a little and get bubbly.
  3. Mix together syrup ingredients
  4. Make waffles in a well oiled waffle iron and serve with butter and spiced syrup. Oh, and add bacon on the side, because you just did all that other heart healthy stuff. Haha
Cheers!
-@theprimalfocus
*Disclaimer: I am a pre-medical student, not a doctor. These statements made were not evaluated by the FDA. Sourdough is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you suffer from disease, please consult your doctor before executing a course of dietary action that could be harmful for you*
And if you were interested in the LAB article, here it is:
Diowksz, A., Malik, A., Jaśniewska, A., & Leszczyńska, J. (2020). The inhibition of amylase and ace enzyme and the reduction of immunoreactivity of sourdough bread. Foods, 9(5), 656. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9050656