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From:	Bryanna (NewVeggies.vegsource.com)
Subject:	Re: what makes a crispy waffle?
Date:	June 23, 2008 at 5:52 pm PST

In Reply to: what makes a crispy waffle? posted by frances on June 23, 2008 at 2:14 pm:

I am finding it harder and harder to find a decent waffle iron these days! They are so fancy, but often don't seem to do the job as well as the old-fashioned ones. I've heard that the krups can be uneven. I still have an old one I use. I prefer the oirdinary kind to the thick Belgian waffle irons.

Cook's Illustrated magazine wrote: "Topping the list were two VillaWare models (Uno Series Classic Waffler 4-Square, $89.95, and Classic Round, $59.95); the Cuisinart Classic Waffle Maker, $29.95; and the Black and Decker Grill and Waffle Baker, $56.99."

That said, vegan waffles lack beaten egg whites, which make waffles airy and crisp, so does oil. One expert I read used a little cornstarch with the flour-- I simply use some low-gluten flour instead.

But you CAN make crispy lower-fat vegan waffles. I even have one without added oil that is nice and crispy. Below are my 3 favorite vegan waffle recipes.

BRYANNA'S LIGHT, CRISP VEGAN "BUTTERMILK" WAFFLES
Makes 15 four-inch waffles

I used to bake alot with buttermilk when we had a cow (many years ago!). I found that baking with buttermilk and baking soda made light wholegrain baked goods. You can still do this and stay vegan-- just add some lemon juice or vinegar to soy or nut milk!

I worked on this recipe for many weeks. I was aiming at a more traditional recipe, veganized, which would include at least some whole grain flour and less fat than usual. One recipe I saw contained cornstarch for crispness (and 6 T. of oil for 5 four-inch waffles!!), but cornstarch isn't very nutritious, so I tried using some corn flour instead, which worked well. Then I looked at the labels of some pancake mixes and saw that they include corn flour and rice flour! So I also added some brown rice flour.

Anyway, after many permutations, this is the one that I thought was a winner-- tasty, crispy, fairly low-fat, mostly whole-grain.

VEGAN "BUTTERMILK"
2 T. lemon juice or white vinegar PLUS soymilk (or nut milk) to make 3 c.

VEGAN "EGGS"
3/4 c. water
3 T. EnerG egg replacer or Orgran No-Egg (if possible-- though I did try this with Celimix, which doesn't get at all stiff, just fluffy, but the waffles still worked!)
3 T. golden flax seed, ground to a powder in a dry coffee/spice grinder
3 T. vegan sugar

DRY MIX (whisk together in a dry bowl)
1 and 1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. unbleached white flour
1/2 c. corn flour
1/4 c. brown rice flour
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda (press through a fine tea strainer to eliminate lumps)

WET MIX
Vegan "Buttermilk" (above)
1 T. soy or rice protein powder
1/3 c. oil
1/2 T. vanilla

1.) Put your waffle iron on to heat (nonstick waffle grids are best).

2.) Mix the "buttermilk" ingredients and set aside.

3.) For the "eggs", beat the water and egg replacer in a stand mixer for 7-10 minutes, or until almost stiff like beaten egg whites.

4.) WHILE THIS IS MIXING, YOU CAN MIX TOGETHER THE DRY INGREDIENTS, GRIND THE FLAXSEED, AND ASSEMBLE THE OTHER INGREDIENTS.

5.) When the mixture is almost stiff, add the ground flaxseed and sugar and beat for a minute.

6.) Mix the "buttermilk", soy protein powder, oil and vanilla (I do this with a hand immersion blender to get the soy protein mixed up well, but a whisk will work, too).

7.) Whisk the Wet Mix into the Dry Mix just until mixed. Scoop the "egg" mixture over this and fold in with a spatula, using an over and under motion until you can no longer see the "egg" mixture.

8.) Spray the waffle iron with oil from a pump sprayer each time you make a waffle (top and bottom). For two 4" waffles, I use a heaping 1/3 c. of batter for each one and spread it out evenly. In my waffle iron, 7 minutes seems to be the optimum cooking time. They should be golden and crispy. Loosen gently and lift the waffles out with a fork. serve hot immediately, or place in a 200 degree F. oven on a rack to keep warm and crisp until needed. Freeze leftover (cooled) waffles and toast them for a quick breakfast or snack!

BRYANNA’S CRISPY VEGAN WHOLEGRAIN, LOW-FAT, HIGH-PROTEIN WAFFLES
makes about 10/ 4” waffles

From my book “The Fiber for Life Cookbook”

You can make wholegrain waffles from an ordinary waffle recipe—but why spoil a good thing with all those eggs and melted butter? Try these crispy, ultra-nutritious homemade waffles.

It’s a great recipe for anyone with food allergies because there are so many choices. (Don’t use spelt flour , though—it makes a very heavy waffle.) Of course, there’s no dairy or eggs to worry about, and you can totally avoid wheat or gluten of any kind, if necessary.

Don’t be put off by having to put the beans on to soak the night before. This takes just minutes before you retire for the night and then, in the morning, the batter is quickly made in the blender while the waffle iron heats up. These waffles take a little longer to bake than ordinary waffles (about 8 minutes), so you might want to make them ahead of time, or have two waffle irons going at the same time. They can be reheated quickly in a very hot oven for a short time (you just want to crisp and heat them, not dry them out), or in a toaster.

Keep some ready-made in the freezer for quick toaster snacks—they are great eaten out of hand with a little low-sugar (ultra-lite) jam. My favorite version is made with soybeans and half wholewheat flour, half stoneground cornmeal.

NOTE: And, don’t worry, no one will suspect that there are beans in these waffles!

1/2 c. dry soybeans OR chickpeas or white kidney beans
2 and 1/4 c. water
1 and 1/2 c. rolled oats OR 1 and 1/4 c. wholewheat flour, brown rice flour, or stoneground cornmeal, or a mixture
1/4 c. wheat or rice bran
2 T. unbleached sugar OR maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or fruit concentrate syrup
3 T. flaxseeds
1 T. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
OPTIONAL FLAVORINGS: You can add about 1/2 T. of vanilla, lemon, or orange extract, if you wish. You could also add some grated (organic) citrus fruit zest. You can substitute fruit juice for some of the water, if you wish. You can add 1/2 c. finely chopped toasted nuts or unsweetened shredded coconut.

The night before:
Soak the soybeans or chickpeas in plenty of water. The beans can soak in water in the refrigerator for up to a week with no fermentation, if you aren’t sure when you’ll make the waffles.

In the morning:
Drain the beans. Place them in the blender along with all of the other ingredients. Blend until smooth and light and foamy. This may take several minutes.

Let the batter stand while you heat up your waffle iron.
NOTE: Even if you have a non-stick iron, this recipe will work better if you spray the grids well with oil from a pump-sprayer or with a commercial non-stick spray. If you have an older iron, you may have to grease it with vegetable shortening (you can sometimes find a non-hydrogenated version at health food stores) to keep the waffles from sticking. If using that much fat is a problem, then you should probably get a newer, nonstick waffle iron—there are some very inexpensive models.

When the iron is hot, pour on about a heaping 1/3 c. of batter for each 4” square waffle . Close the iron and set the timer for 8 minutes. Don’t check before 8 minutes is up. If the iron is hard to open, let it cook a couple of more minutes.
COOKING NOTE: Spray the iron with pump-spray oil or commercial cooking spray before you make each batch of waffles.

Blend the batter again briefly before pouring out each waffle. If the batter gets thicker on standing, add a LITTLE water, just until it’s the consistency you started out with.

The waffle should be golden-brown and crispy. Serve immediately, or let cool on cake racks. When they are cool, they can be frozen in plastic bags or rigid containers. Serve with your favorite toppings.

If you don’t use up all of the batter, and you don’t want to cook the waffles ahead of time and freeze them, just refrigerate the batter in the blender with the lid on. You can re-blend the batter (adding a tiny bit more water if the batter has become too thick) just before cooking the waffles.

VARIATION USING WHOLE WHEAT KERNELS OR BROWN RICE: If you prefer, you can soak 1 c. wheat kernels (soft or hard wheat), or brown rice, in the 2 and 1/4 c. water overnight. In this case, drain the beans, but NOT the grain. Use the water you soaked the grain in for the waffle batter. DON’T USE SPELT—it makes a very heavy waffle.

VARIATION:
BRYANNA’S SPUR OF THE MOMENT WHOLEGRAIN AND NUT WAFFLES
If you forgot to soak beans for the other waffle recipe, or decided to makes waffles on the spur of the moment, or you’re allergic to beans, try these!

The recipe is the same as the one above, but, instead of using the beans that you’ve soaked overnight, use instead 1/3 c. chopped nuts or seeds (or 1/4 c. nut butter). You can use raw or roasted nuts, seeds, or nut butters. You can use cashews, almonds, pecans, filberts or hazelnuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.—even peanuts. Mix and cook just as for the basic recipe.

BRYANNA'S YEAST-RAISED VEGAN WAFFLES OR PANCAKES (BATTER CAN BE MADE OVERNIGHT)
makes 10/ 4" waffles or 20-24 3" pancakes
(CAN BE SOY-FREE)

You'll be surprised how light and crispy these eggless, nearly fatless waffles (and pancakes) are. They are similar in texture to sourdough, but with a milder flavor.

NOTE: You can experiment using different wholegrain flours with this recipe, but use at least half wheat flour.

Ingredients for Sponge:
(Start this night before, if you wish, or, if making them in the morning, use boiling water instead of just hot.)

1 and 1/2 c. hot water
1 and 1/3 c. cold soymilk (or other non-dairy "milk")
1 T. sugar, OR 2 T. maple syrup
2 and 1/2 tsp. (1 packet) regular baking yeast
1 and 1/2 c. unbleached white flour
1 and 1/2 c. wholewheat pastry flour
1 T. nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp. salt

Morning Additions:
1 T. oil
1 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. baking soda mixed with 1 T. water
1 tsp. vanilla or orange extract
OPTIONAL: 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 to 1 c. berries or chopped fruit

The night before:
mix together the hot water and soymilk in a large bowl. The liquid should be lukewarm. Add the sweetener and the baking yeast and let it dissolve for a few minutes, then stir in the flours, nutritional yeast and salt. Cover and let stand at room temperature (not in a very warm place) overnight.

NOTE: If making them in the morning, let stand in a warm place 25 minutes.

In the morning or just before baking, preheat a nonstick waffle iron (you may have to spray or oil the iron for the first waffle, since the batter has no fat) or pancake griddle, or skillet, and stir the oil, lemon juice, and vanilla or orange extract (and opt. cinnamon, if using) into the risen batter. Fold in the dissolved baking soda (and optional fruit, if using).

To make waffles,
when the waffle iron is hot, pour in batter just to cover the iron (about 1/2 c. batter for a 4" square waffle). Close the iron and remove when the waffle is no longer steaming, and is crisp and golden (if you peek too soon, you may split the waffle). If the lid resists being pulled up, that means the waffle is underdone. Cooking usually takes 4-5 minutes. Remove and eat immediately, or cool on a rack, then freeze in bags.

To make pancakes,
bake on a medium-hot nonstick skillet or griddle as for any pancakes, see above.

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