Baby Led Weaning Meal Prep: Sweet Potato Sourdough Discard Waffles

You had me at sourdough! A healthier alternative to store bought waffles with added nutrition from sourdough discard and sweet potatoes with only six ingredients!

These were intended for my baby, as part of my weekly BLW meal prep. But they’re so delicious, I always eat some myself too. If you’d like to see more baby led weaning recipes, check out:

I also have an adult version of these that are so decadent and delicious! They’re also great for using leftover Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole! You can take a look at that recipe here:

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links while at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.

I’m guilty of offering my baby sourdough bread – probably too much…and he loves it a little too much. I decided to make these waffles as a slightly healthier alternative for him, and he can still get the sourdough flavor and benefits. They are also super easy to make ahead!

Easiest way to cook sweet potatoes

My favorite way to cook sweet potatoes is in the Instant Pot. If you don’t have one already, it’s time to add it to your Christmas list, now! I end up using my instant pot more to make ingredients for recipes, like this one, than the actual recipes themselves!

Back to the sweet potatoes….

I like to wash them, cut them into 2″ sections, and throw them straight in the pot. Add a cup of water and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. When done, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then manually release the rest.

This method allows the skins to fall right off in one piece, it is so handy!

A Note On Waffle makers

Waffle makers come in so many different sizes and shapes.  There are mini waffle makers, square waffle makers, heart waffle makers, etc.  The list goes on!  Obviously the amount of batter that will go into each recipe will be determined by your specific type of waffle maker.  I used a normal Belgian Waffle Maker for this recipe for reference!

Ingredients for sweet potato waffles

Sweet Potato – Sweet potato in this recipe offers a little bit of sweetness for baby without it being too sweet. We don’t need to add any other sweetener like bananas, but you can if you’d like. Just replace a small amount of sweet potato with banana.

Eggs – Eggs help keep our ingredients together and give them a little fluff. They’re also an excellent source of protein and nutrients for baby!

Sourdough Discard – Sourdough discard is sourdough starter that is left over from feeding or using to make a different recipe.   Discard normally refers to sourdough starter that “has not been fed” which just means it’s already eaten all of the food available to it.  It has a more sour flavor that offers baked goods a wonderful complexity and added moisture.

You can use any time of starter for this, active or not.  There is still baking powder in this recipe, so we don’t need it to help leaven.  Alternatively, you can make these without sourdough discard all together.  Just replace with equal parts flour and water by weight to replace the 60g

Flour – Flour helps the waffle keep its shape. Other flours can be substituted just fine.

Baking Powder – The little bit of baking powder helps add a little bit of fluff to our waffles.  This can be left out if you don’t have it on hand.

Cinnamon – Optional, but cinnamon just helps add flavor and more of a breakfast waffle profile. And cinnamon is great with sweet potatoes!

Can you Replace the flour with gluten free options?

Yes! I believe it would work just as well to substitute pretty much any flour you wish. I think oat flour would work pretty well! I have not tested it yet though, so I will update the post if I try them with an alternative. Please let us know in the comments if you have tried a flour alternative as well!

Can I make these waffles without Sourdough discard?

You can forego the sourdough discard, but it will definitely have a different flavor. That is okay though, just replace it with another 30g of flour and 30g of water or milk! This is the proportions that the sourdough discard is made of, essentially.

What Can I use instead of sweet potatoes?

No sweet potatoes on hand? No Problem! Any food with the same consistency as mashed sweet potatoes would work just as well. Butternut squash, banana, and pumpkin would all be good alternatives!

How to store Sweet potato waffles for meal prep

These are perfect to make ahead. They store well and are easy to grab and go. They don’t necessarily need heated either! These will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can also store them in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. I like to wrap individual portions in parchment paper first so they don’t stick together in the freezer. That way you can pull single portions out without having to thaw the whole bag.