Is your waffle iron suffering from neglect? A lot of us have acquired a waffle iron on a whim (or perhaps a hand-me-down from someone else who acquired one on a whim), but we don’t actually make waffles very often. Savory waffles are a great way to make more regular use of a waffle iron and to add a little flair to your presentation at lunch and dinner.
Most waffle recipes fall a bit short nutritionally due to their use of refined flours (as opposed to whole grain) and melted butter (high in saturated fat). Also, classic recipes fall short in terms of simplicity, because they typically call for beating egg whites separately and using at least three bowls to combine ingredients in stages.
Here’s a best-kept secret…waffles can be a reasonably healthy, one bowl proposition! Waffles made with 100% whole grain flour are just as enjoyable as those made with all purpose flour, and the butter can be omitted altogether. Also, I find that waffle batter can be made in one bowl with excellent results. Perhaps my waffles don’t stand quite as tall as those made with separately beaten egg whites, but let’s just say they don’t ever seem to last long enough to be measured.
Use this basic recipe as a starting point and adapt it to suit your individual taste!
Whole Grain Waffles
Prep Time: 10 minutes
10 minutes
20 minutes
Number of servings: 8
Per Serving 130 calories
Fat 4 g
Carbs 20 g
Protein 5 g
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Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, for greasing waffle iron
Instructions
- In a bowl, stir dry ingredients together.
- Add egg, 3/4 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon olive oil to dry ingredients and gently stir until the mixture is well-mixed.
- Add additional milk as needed to achieve a thick but pourable batter.
- Heat waffle iron.
- Brush waffle iron with 1 teaspoon of olive oil (or cooking spray, if preferred).
- Ladle 1/3 cup of batter onto each section of iron.
- Cook until waffle is crispy and lightly browned, about 4 minutes.
Notes
If you need a little savory inspiration for your waffle making, this slide show ought to get your creative (and salivary) juices flowing.
I planned two menus involving savory waffles for this past weekend — a birthday dinner for a good friend and our usual Sunday family dinner.
For the birthday dinner, I made a mashed cauliflower and dill waffle, topped with boursin cheese, cold-smoked salmon, and a mustard-dill cream sauce.
For the Sunday family dinner, I made cornbread and roasted red pepper waffles, topped with pulled pork in a gingered plum bbq sauce and cilantro.
The components of these dishes were inspired by published recipes, but the combination of elements in each dish was my own idea, and I had a lot of fun with them. Alas, I was caught up in socializing and didn’t take photos of either meal!
Not to worry though, because it just so happens that the leftovers of savory waffles are pretty wonderful too, and I did get a picture the second time around!
For breakfast on the morning following the birthday dinner, I toasted the leftover cauliflower waffles in the toaster to re-warm and re-crisp them, then topped them with poached eggs, salt, pepper, a few drops of truffle oil and a few sprigs of fresh dill. Yum! I’m honestly not sure which presentation was more fun — the original birthday dinner version or the leftovers-for-breakfast version!
So, start dreaming up fun flavorings for waffles, and make extra. Leftover waffles can be stored in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat one, just pop it in the toaster for a couple minutes.
