"Everything-free" ~ "Buttermilk" Waffles (dairy-free + vegan + gluten-free)

 Happy National Waffle Day!

 

I celebrated by mixing up a batch of my "everything-free" waffles, and they were delicious! I am always tinkering with my recipes, aiming for the best possible texture and taste. This is a revised and updated version of the waffle recipe I shared before. 

These are crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. My husband, who does not live gluten-free, enjoys them. They're not just "okay for gluten-free," but actually good, normal waffles. Enjoy!

"Buttermilk" Waffles  (vegan + gluten-free)

free of: dairy, eggs, gluten, soy, almonds, nightshades

Makes about twelve 3-4" waffle sections/ three batches in my waffle baker

*Make egg replacer ~ flax gel: 

Combine in a small saucepan~

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon flax seeds

Bring to a boil; keep at a low boil for 1 minute. Strain gel into a bowl and let cool.

(the flax seeds can be saved & added to another meal, such as hot cereal or muffins, to boost nutrition)

*Make "buttermilk"

1 cup alternative milk (I use coconut milk- SoDelicious Unsweet Original coconut milk)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice  (doesn't need to be fresh- the bottled kind is fine)

Combine and let sit to curdle until needed

 

Dry ingredients: combine in large bowl and whisk thoroughly

2 cups gluten-free flour mix

~ I use 1 cup each of millet flour and arrowroot starch

3 Tablespoons coconut sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

(You can use another starch, like tapioca, but arrowroot seems to give a lighter texture)

(I'll be doing a post soon on different brands of millet flour and which I prefer)

Wet ingredients: combine in a small bowl

*the "buttermilk" mixture

*3 Tablespoons of the flax gel

1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil (such as canola or grapeseed)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional, but yummy)

Stir or whisk to combine, then add to dry ingredients. Start mixing, then add:

1 teaspooon melted butter-flavored coconut oil

(If you add the coconut oil to the wet ingredients first, the cool milk will cause the oil to harden into little granules. It mixes in better if you add it after the milk is partly combined with the dry mixture.)

Continue whisking or stirring until well combined. You will be able to tell when the xanthan gum has been activated, as the batter will suddenly thicken. Let batter rest while the waffle iron heats.

Gluten-free batters are notorious for sticking, so I spray the waffle iron lightly with baking spray before every batch. Bake for 3-4 minutes, or until a nice golden brown. Remove to cooling rack, to keep them crisp. Store airtight in the refrigerator. I like to reheat mine in the toaster. The microwave doesn't revive the crisp like the toaster does. Use with 3-5 days.

 

Notes: 

-You can certainly use plain coconut oil, rather than butter-flavored. I just like the subtle flavor boost that the buttery kind gives. If you skip the coconut oil altogether, the waffles will tend to be more crunchy and hard, rather than crisp.

 -The xanthan gum is important. I know it's expensive to buy, but since you only use a tiny amount per recipe, it lasts a long time. Xanthan gum mimics gluten in baked goods, lending them structure. It is activated by motion and hydration. I whisk the dry ingredients together thoroughly, until I see the texture change. It's pretty interesting to see that shift. Once I add the liquid, I make sure to stir or whisk until the xanthan gum is further activated, and the batter thickens. You don't want to overmix, but that's  not as big an issue as it would be with gluten-bearing flours. Gluten-free flours are more forgiving.

-I use coconut sugar as part of my over-arching scheme toward lower-glycemic eating and fighting inflammation. Millet flour and arrowroot starch are resistant starches, and are supposed to be lower on the glycemic scale (meaning that they have a lesser impact on blood sugar levels). They are also, according to what I've read, non-inflammatory. Not that these waffles will not impact your blood-sugar at all, but the effect will be less than with standard flour and sugar. I rarely use any topping on them; just a bit of non-dairy butter substitute. They're so tasty that I rarely miss syrup. If I'm wanting that extra touch of sweetness, I'll drizzle them with a little bit of coconut nectar ~ also supposed to be lower on the glycemic scale, from what I've read.

-I use millet flour and arrowroot/tapioca starches...because they're the only ones my body will currently tolerate. Millet flour can be hard to find, but is often available from health food stores, and can be found online through Amazon. It's quite likely that other gluten-free flour blends would work well in this recipe, but I'm not able to test that theory as most of them contain things I can't tolerate. If you try a variation, I'd be interested to hear how it works out.

 

~ Thanks for stopping by and happy eating!

 

   

"Everything-free" Waffles ~ New and Improved!

These are so good!

And~ they are: gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, rice-free, nightshade-free and refined-sugar-free. Did I miss any? :)

For a while now, I have been tinkering with my waffle recipe (originally shared on 5/4/18). Over the past week, I have been pulling together my thoughts on the final tweaks, and tonight I gave them a try. The results are just what I hoped for- crispy, golden, tender and tasty.

See how light and tender they are inside?

Here it is, at long last, my revised and much improved waffle recipe:

(Everything-free) "Buttermilk" Waffles
Makes about eight 4-inch waffles. 

Make flax gel "eggs"
In a small saucepan, combine
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon flax seeds

~Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium. Boil one minute, strain out seeds and save gel. Let it cool while you prepare the other ingredients. Store leftover gel in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. It's easier to measure when warm. Once it's cold, it has the texture of egg white.

I have tried other egg substitutes, but the flax gel really gives the best result.

Make "buttermilk"
In a glass measuring cup:
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
add alternative milk to equal one cup. (I use Unsweetened Vanilla coconut milk beverage)
~ Let this sit and curdle while you move on.

Dry ingredients:
1 Cup millet flour
1 Cup tapioca or arrowroot starch
2 heaping Tablespoons coconut sugar
1 Tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
the milk/lemon mixture, plus...
3 Tablespoons flax gel
1/3 cup neutral flavored oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (optional, but yummy)

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk thoroughly. In a smaller bowl, combine wet ingredients, whisk lightly, then add to dry. Whisk vigorously until batter thickens.

(From what I've read, the xanthan gum requires active movement to hydrate it and to activate its thickening properties.)

Let the batter rest while the waffle iron heats. In my experience, gluten-free batters stick badly. I use a standard baking spray, and spray the iron lightly every time I add batter. We have a big, four-square Belgian waffle baker. I use a medium-sized cookie scoop and drop a dollop of waffle batter in the center of each square. I used to put a big blob of batter in the center of the baker, to make one big, connected waffle, but the center wouldn't bake properly. Once I switched to making four individual waffles, they baked just fine.

Bake until crisp and golden brown. I put mine on a cooling rack as soon as they come out of the waffle iron. This keeps them from getting soggy. Store in an airtight container or bag in the refrigerator.

This recipe doubles well. I've learned, with most recipes, to double everything but the salt. Using about 1 1/2 times the salt works out well.

This makes a delicious Saturday morning breakfast! I used some as a base for Strawberry shortcake recently~ delicious with coconut-milk whipped topping or non-dairy vanilla ice cream. :)

As leftovers, they don't retain their crispness. I don't mind that, but if you want more crisp leftovers, you might try toasting them in a toaster, or even re-heating in the waffle iron. I'd be interested to know how well that works.

Happy eating, and thanks for stopping by!

Cinnamon Applesauce Waffles

This is my current work-in-progress. I think that the texture could still use some fine-tuning, but overall I'm happy with these. :)

I wanted to see if it would work to use applesauce as an egg-replacer in waffles, rather than the flax gel I've been using. This changes the liquid-to-dry balance, so I added more millet flour as well as a bit of flaxmeal. I had thought that they might turn out floppy, but they have a good level of "crisp." As with all gluten-free waffles that I've made, they're fairly hard when they first come out of the waffle iron, but after sitting for a bit they soften somewhat- becoming crisp rather than crunchy.

Cinnamon Applesauce Waffles
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan, soy-free, nightshade-free, corn-free
In our waffle maker, which makes four large squares per batch, this makes close to two batches,
so.....about seven individual waffle squares.

First thing:
3/4 cup milk alternative
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
~combine and let sit

Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
1 Tablespoon flax meal (regular, or golden)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons liquid coconut oil
1/3 cup oil (I used a mild avocado oil)

(2 teaspoons vanilla)
2 Tablespoons coconut sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry, along with the milk-vinegar mixture. Whisk well until smooth. Let sit while the waffle iron heats.

As with all gluten-free waffles and pancakes, I oil the cooking surface for each batch. Currently, I use a standard baking spray to oil the waffle iron.

When the waffle iron is ready, scoop or spoon batter onto the hot surface and bake according to instructions for your particular waffle baker.

I put these onto a cooling rack once they're done. If they sit on a plate, the undersides get very soggy. I actually prefer the texture if they sit on the rack until they're cool, and then I butter them and reheat in the microwave.

If you have any leftovers, they're best stored in the refrigerator. You can reheat in either a toaster or a microwave.

Enjoy!

*I've been steering away from vanilla lately, as it's frightfully expensive right now. Vanilla does make things tasty, but this recipe would work fine without it. I think that next time I make these, I'll leave out the vanilla and add a little coconut nectar instead. Agave nectar or honey would probably be good, too.

"Everything-free" Waffles!!! no wheat, no dairy, no eggs, no soy ~ just waffle-y goodness!

Waffles are a thing of beauty. <3

In the nearly eight years since learning I needed to give up wheat and eggs, I had not had a really good waffle. For several years, I have used a gluten-free baking mix to make waffles. They were pretty good, but not really good. "Good enough" is often what we settle for, in the world of food intolerances. Sometimes, I really want more than just good enough.

Last weekend, I started thinking about yeasted Belgian waffles. I did some research and cobbled together several recipes into something that I thought might work. I mixed up the batter and let it rise overnight. Here's what it looked like next morning:

So bubbly and alive! :)

I cooked up the yeasted waffles, and they got mixed reviews. Our daughter Anna and her sweetie Zach were here, and thought they were pretty good. My hubby Lee didn't care for them so much. The yeast flavor is very strong, almost like a strong sourdough flavor. I won't make them for my hubby again, BUT next time I'm visiting my sweet mama and she makes her amazing sourdough pancakes for people, I will definitely mix up some of this batter for myself! :)

That experiment launched me on a Week of Waffles!

The next morning, I worked out a regular baking-powder recipe for, as we call things, "everything-free" waffles. They were good! :)

Granted, it has been a long time since I ate a "real" waffle, but these made me pretty happy. Gluten-free things tend to be more hard/crunchy than crisp, but after a few minutes they did soften more toward a crisp texture. Outer crunch, soft and moist inside- yum!

In less than a week, I have made waffles four times. First, the yeast-raised batch, then variations on the baking-powder idea. I tried one using a can of full-fat coconut milk (pretty good), one with coconut milk beverage (the one I liked best), one using flaxmeal to replace the egg (more hearty, less even texture)...oh! I guess I've made them five times! This morning, I one made more batch, to re-test the version I liked best. :)

This post will have the baking powder recipe. I'll make a separate post about making flax gel for egg replacement, so it's easier to find, and another day I'll share the yeasted waffle recipe. Because I used (coconut) milk soured with an acid (lemon juice), these are more like a buttermilk recipe, so that's what I'll call them.

"Buttermilk" Waffles
In a large, square Belgian waffle maker, this makes 2 complete waffles, or 8 squares.
The recipe should double well; just don't quite double the salt. 

To:
1 cup alternative milk (I use Coconut Dream unsweetened original shelf-stable "milk")
add:
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
     (I've been using the kind from a bottle. If I wanted to make actual lemon waffles, I would go for
      fresh lemon juice, use more of it, and add some zest. With this amount of juice, the waffles don't
       taste of lemon to me, at all.)

Let the milk sit and "sour" while your mix up the rest of the ingredients.

Dry ingredients:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
     (I feel this cuts down on the gummy feeling you can get with tapioca starch)
2 Tablespoons sugar (I've been using coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
    (I've been taught that any time you use soured milk, you should add a little baking soda to work with it)

Whisk the dry ingredients together well.

Wet ingredients:
 1/3 cup oil (I've been using a light avocado oil. Any neutral oil will do.)
3 Tablespoons flax-gel egg replacer *I'll post separately about this

Whisk together the oil and flax gel, then combine with the soured milk.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together well, until completely combined and smooth. With wheat flour, you'd have to be more cautious in mixing so the batter wouldn't be tough. Gluten-free flours are not so finicky.

Allow the batter to rest while you heat the waffle iron.

When the waffle iron is ready, spray the top and bottom surfaces with baking spray (or oil them, using a natural-bristle pastry brush). Plastic bristles melt. (voice of experience) I have had numerous struggles with gluten-free things sticking to hot surfaces. I oil before every batch, to save on frustration.

I use a large scoop to portion out the batter. (Ice cream scoop/dough scoop. It's the in the picture of the yeasted batter. I think it holds about 1/2 cup. I put one scoop on each square of the waffle iron.

Let the waffle bake, without peeking. If you try to lift the lid too soon, you'll tear the waffle to bits. (Learned from impatient experience!) :)

Most waffle makers have a light that turns on or off, to let you know when it's ready. Another way to tell is by watching how much steam is coming out. If large amounts of steam are still pouring out, leave it alone. When the steam gets noticeably less, it's time to start checking.

If you pull these out when they're too pale a gold, they'll have soggy bits. Leave them until they're a nice, solid golden brown color.

Any that we're not eating right away, we put on a cooling rack so they don't get soggy. They reheat well in a toaster. They would freeze well, too.

Enjoy!