Starting the Year Right.

Waffles have always been, to me, a bit of a special occasion brunch; something that required a bit more of a reason than just because to bring out the (oft neglected, I must admit) waffle iron.

Seeing as how we just entered a brand new year slightly more than a week ago (and also, mostly because I couldn’t resist picking up one too many super cheap punnets of blueberries that had popped up at the supermarket), it seemed like the perfect reason to whip up some waffles for brunch.

And that is how I found myself in the kitchen, preheating the waffle iron, whipping up some batter, filling and closing said waffle iron with said batter and spearing each golden brown waffle out of the waffle iron this morning- all very therapeutic, I must add.

Made with a mixture of oats (both in the form of oat flour and oat bran) and plain flour and then lightened with some baking powder and whisked egg whites, these waffles were as flavourful- nutty from the oats with a subtle sweetness imparted by the maple syrup- as they were crisp and light.

Served with a bit of salted butter, fresh blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup, these sure made for hearty and delicious way to start our Sunday morning- and the perfect first brunch for the year.

And as if having some seriously good (and healthy to boot!) waffles wasn’t enough, accomplishing two items on my to do list for 2012 – cooking out of a previously unused cookbook and dabbling in some whole grain goodness- at one go with this one recipe?

I seriously can’t think of a better way to start the year.

Maple Oat Waffles [Adapted very slightly from Kim Boyce's Good To The Grain]

Notes: I’ve been intrigued by Kim Boyce’s Good To The Grain, a book all about whole-grain baking, for as long as I’ve had it so I was thrilled to finally try this waffle recipe out and even more thrilled by how delicious they turned out. I certainly would never have guessed how healthy they really were if I didn’t make them myself. My only minor adaptations to the recipe was to use vanilla sugar and skimmed milk in place of regular caster sugar and full fat milk because I had them on hand. Oh and if you don’t have oat flour, just blitz one cup of rolled oats in the food processor until you get ground oat and voila, oat flour you have. I really can’t define the depth of love I have for these waffles (I even had them with sausages for dinner!) so I will say one thing- I can’t wait to check out the rest of Kim Boyce’s book! Oh and I really need to kick the habit of making waffles only on special occasions and start making them on a regular basis.

 

Ingredients
1/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup oat flour
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup milk, divided
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup maple syup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp vanilla sugar
A knob of butter, softened, to butter the waffle iron

1. Turn the waffle iron up to the highest setting and let it heat up while you prepare the batter.
2. Put the oat bran into a small bowl. Heat 1/2 cup of the milk until just below boiling point before adding it to the oat bran. Stir the hot milk and oat bran together and set aside to let it soften.
3. Whisk the oat flour, plain flour, baking powder and salt together into a large bowl and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, maple syrup and vanilla extract together until combined. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of milk to the oat bran mixture and whisk the milk mixture into the maple syrup mixture.
5. Whisk the combined milk and maple syrup mixture into the flour mixture until just combined, resisting the urge to whisk the lumps in the mixture.
6. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the vanilla sugar and continue whisking on high speed until firm peaks form.
7. Fold the egg whites gently into the batter in two batches, until just combined.
8. Brush the heated waffle iron generously with butter. Using a ladle, spoon 1/2 cup of batter onto the waffle iron. Close the iron and cook the waffles till golden brown. Remove the waffles with a fork and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve warm. Makes 6 waffles

Posted by thecoffeesnob on January 8, 2012

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