Yeasted waffles (Paleo/ AIP/ Vegan)

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It all started with Instagram.

I was scrolling through the app on a Friday evening and for some odd reason waffle photos were popping up rather frequently.  I wondered idly if waffles could be made gluten-free and grain-free.  Even Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) friendly.  The only issue was that I didn’t have a waffle maker (yet).

So I went to bed and woke up early Saturday morning, shook my husband’s shoulder and went: Shall we have waffles for breakfast today?

He replied somewhat sleepily: Ok, sure…

Me: Yay!  Let’s go get a waffle maker!

One hour later, the boys and I were in a Sears department store, wandering around the kitchen appliances section.  I usually order kitchen appliances off Amazon, but this occasion was an exception.  The Hamilton Beach Belgian style flip waffle maker caught my eye, but I was also lemming for the Breville Smart Waffle Pro waffle maker which I had read good reviews of.  The Breville can make 4 big waffles at a time, which is a major draw for feeding a family!  Unfortunately the Breville was not in stock and so we got the Hamilton Beach waffle maker instead.  Which turned out to be a pretty good choice!

Back home we went, with the waffle maker (and tummies beginning to rumble).

I whipped up a first batch of waffles, which failed somewhat spectacularly.  Gooey and elastic.  I had to scrape it out of the waffle maker.  Not good for a first try!  Thankfully the plates could be removed and washed, which made clean up bearable.  The only issue was that it took slightly over 30 minutes to make enough waffles for the family.  So during the cooking process, I whipped up a maple-cherry sage sauce to accompany the waffles.  I’ve included the recipe below in this post.

Thankfully the boys ate up the gloopy waffles willingly (and even asked for seconds!)  but I was determined to create a better recipe.  Five tries and several weekends later, here’s the lovely result:

Isn’t it lovely?  Crisp on the outside, light and airy on the inside.  Surprisingly substantial too, and we couldn’t tell that it was not gluten-free.  Tiger nut flour can have a gritty texture but it was not apparent in this waffle.

I even brought it with me to school for breakfast and it didn’t get soggy!  How fantastic is that?

As a bonus, here’s a delicious maple-cherry sage sauce recipe.  It’s cherry season now in the US and this would be a fantastic addition for a weekend brunch.  Just add some crisp bacon and a nice salad on the side!  The sage adds a pleasantly herbal note to the sweetness of the cherries:

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen whole pitted cherries
• 1/2 cup Maple syrup
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp ground sage
• 1 tsp dried orange peel

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Lower the heat and allow it to simmer until thickened and syrupy.
3. Blend with a hand-held immersion blender until chunky (or until the cherries are finely chopped, if you prefer).
4. Serve over hot and crisp waffles.

Where to get the ingredients online:

• tiger nut flour
• plantain flour
• Tapioca starch
• active dry yeast
• Sea salt
• Maple syrup
• avocado oil
• organic applesauce
• Vanilla bean powder