Breakfast is, personally, my favorite meal of the day. Pancakes, waffles, French toast, oatmeal, granola, cereal, yogurt parfaits, and eggs in so many different styles! Notice how the first six things on that list are all grains? Yes, as much as I try to curb it, I can't give up my love affair with carbs. To try to eat healthy, however, I generally have the same thing for breakfast every day: 1/2 cup flaxseed cereal mixed with 1/4 cup of another whole grain cereal for some variety, 1/2 cup almond milk, a Tablespoon of nut butter, and coffee--black. I like it. I've gotten used to it. But...it's not pancakes, waffles, French toast, oatmeal or granola. So for a treat, this home cook might occasionally forego her regular bowl of cereal to make something just a little more, well, cooked.
Today I'd been in a great mood all morning, looking forward to a fun weekend ahead. When my mom mentioned she was craving waffles but we were out of her regular frozen fare, it sounded like the perfect opportunity to continue the good mood, treat ourselves, and experiment with a new recipe! Both of us are healthy eaters, so she immediately started searching Allrecipes.com for a whole grain waffle recipe while I prepped the waffle iron we'd bought months ago, but never took out of the box....
Whole grain waffles?? some people might be thinking. Those same people are probably picturing cardboard brown slabs of flavorless carbs and wondering why I'd "waste" my "treat" on that. Um, did they see my tempting photos above and below? Yes, those are all whole grain waffles. Yes, whole grains can be delicious! While many lucky people already know this fact, others do often need a little convincing. Delivering on a whole grain breakfast is one perfect way of showing them the truth, and this newly-tested Whole Grain Waffle recipe may be just the recipe to do it with!
Adapted from this recipe by Allrecipes cook named "What a Dish!" (which received glowing 5-star reviews already), I made a few substitutions of my own to suit my mom's and my own stomach: almond milk in place of skim, all whole wheat pastry flour, and a secret ingredient of malted milk powder in place of sugar. The resulting recipe yielded about six and a half waffles in our waffle iron, perfect for topping with your favorite fruit, maple syrup, or (my choice) a little soy whipped cream!
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 and 3/4 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1/4 cup wheat germ
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 Tablespoon malted milk powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
1.) Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat with a fork. Add almond milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly.
2.) Add in the whole wheat pastry flour, flaxseed meal, wheat germ, baking powder, malted milk powder, and salt, stirring after each addition.
3.) Preheat your waffle iron and brush lightly with canola oil (Using non-stick cooking spray instead is a little healthier and a little easier to coat with, but I found the waffles still kept sticking that way).
4.) Pour about 1/2 cup of batter into the center of the waffle iron and spread around until it fills in all the cracks. Cook approximately 2-5 minutes depending on your setting and desired level of "doneness." Remove with plastic or silicone tongs when the waffle appears crispy and golden brown.
The resulting waffles are crisp on the outside (as long as you don't take too long to eat them), fluffy on the inside, and have such an amazing flavor, you'd never believe they're actually good for you! If you can't find flaxseed meal or malted milk, you can substitute with oats and sugar. But for me, this recipe really took the cake! Er, rather, inspired me to treat myself more often with one simple thought: "in the morning...I'm making WAFFLES."
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