Wholegrain waffles are a great healthy way to start the day. When people ask me about simple gluten-free breakfasts, I often point them to waffles. Once you have a good waffle iron the rest is simple.
The basic recipe is this: freshly ground flour from a grain or your choice, ground seeds/nuts, salt, water.
The grains I usually choose for waffles:
- buckwheat
- brown rice
- quinoa (combines well with brown rice flour)
- millet
- fine cornmeal (combined with another flour type)
For the ground seeds I usually go for ground linseeds (gold or brown, doesn’t matter except for aesthetically if you want to disguise!) – apart from being really healthy and a great way to start the day, I find the linseed gelling helps the consistency of the waffle, and it helps it not stick to the waffle iron! With ground linseeds in the mix I don’t need any oil or fat in the mix. The other go-to seed I use in waffles is ground pumpkin kernels – they are high in zinc and iron and a great source of protein. Of course you can use ground nuts (almonds, cashews, hazelnuts etc) with excellent results, but I usually go for seeds in waffles as they are a lot cheaper, full of health benefits and a great thing to include in our daily diet.
Generally I just use water as the liquid, however I do find that if I’m using millet flour the result is better with some kind of milk (soy milk, nut mylk etc).
Baking these kind of whole-grain seedy waffles takes longer than traditional lighter-than-air butter/sugar waffle batters, so allow around 5 minutes per waffle. You can also reheat waffles in the toaster – if you are planning to do this I would bake them for a shorter time initially so they don’t dry out. If you are seriously into waffles (like we are) you may want to invest in a really good quality double waffle iron – I got mine from Germany. Here’s a link to Cloer’s website (sorry it’s in German) the pics give you an idea.
Topping ideas
- unheated organic nutbutter and sliced fresh fruit is hard to beat
- homemade “jam” – that is fresh fruit cooked with 25% sweetening (not 100% like regular jam) and thickened with agar agar. Highly recommend plums, apricots, blackberries. I use 250g sweetener (usually honey or rapadura) per kilo of fruit, and around 2 level tsp of agar agar. I just bring it to the boil, simmer gently for a few minutes (3-5 mins), test a spoonful in the freezer to make sure I like the consistency when cold, then place in sterilised glass jars. Totally delicious 🙂
- sliced avocado and bragg seasoning
- tasty savoury spread made by combining elaion (margarine), yeast flakes and bouillon powder
Here are a couple of specific recipes but don’t feel limited to these, substitute grains and seeds as you like and get a feel for your favourite waffle combinations.
Quinoa Rice Waffles
Tbsp = Tablespoon 15ml, tsp = teaspoon 5ml, cup = 250ml
Ingredients
- 120g or 1 cup organic quinoa flour
- 120g or 1 cup organic brown rice flour
- 100g or 2/3 cup ground organic cashew nuts
- 410 ml cold water
- ¼ tsp salt
Method
- Grind cashew nuts into a fine powder in a blender.
- Mix with flours in a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Mix in salt and water, whisk until free of lumps.
- Heat waffle iron to a medium heat setting, brush or spray lightly with oil to prevent sticking. Pour one ladle of mixture onto waffle iron, cook for 5-7 minutes until golden and thoroughly baked.
- Serve hot with savoury or sweet toppings of your choice.
Buckwheat Waffles
Tbsp = Tablespoon 15ml, tsp = teaspoon 5ml, cup = 250ml
Ingredients
- 240g or 2 cups organic buckwheat flour
- 60g or 1/3 cup ground organic golden linseeds
- 60g or ½ cup ground organic pumpkin seeds
- 540ml cold water
- ¼ tsp salt
Method
- Grind linseeds to a fine powder in a coffee grinder or spice grinder, transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Do the same with the pumpkin seeds. It’s always best to grind fresh and it preserves the nutrients as much as possible. If you don’t have a coffee or spice grinder you could try placing the measured water together with the seeds in your blender and letting it puree for a few mins to make a kind of milk – some blenders do this well.
- Mix in salt and water, whisk until free of lumps.
- Heat waffle iron to a medium heat setting, brush or spray lightly with oil to prevent sticking. Pour one ladle of mixture onto waffle iron, cook for 5-7 minutes until golden and thoroughly baked.
- Serve hot with savoury or sweet toppings of your choice.