Waffles/ Whole wheat oat waffles

Whole wheat, oat, buttermilk waffles

When we planned to move to Canada, I gathered a lot of information about its weather, food, clothing, schools and housing! Even Columbus would not have done that much homework! All in my holy desire to make life livable in an unfamiliar land!

I happened to meet a young girl who had come on vacation to Kenya and among all other things I asked her, ‘What do you eat for breakfast?’ She went on listing things like cereal, toast, bagels, muffin, sandwiches and she also mentioned Waffles. I was indeed curious to find out what it was. She gave a child’s view of it by explaining waffles as pancakes in a pattered mould, crisped up and having a spongy interior.

From then on, I was eager to have an encounter with it at the earliest. Unfortunately, I had my first chance after a year in Canada while we were at a hotel that provided a large selection of complimentary breakfast. At their breakfast lounge they had an appliance I had never seen before! Without a clue, I was hanging around to find out how it would be used! I sat in close proximity, with the machine in my clear view to monitor the process. Slyly, I observed someone pour a cup of batter kept ready at the table on to the gadget.  After a while he rotated it upside down and in minutes pulled out 4 crispy, square pieces of waffles. I was more than amazed and kept yapping about it!

My husband  dared me to try it and introduced me to the Waffle maker and helped me make my first set of waffles. An assistant behind the counter topped it with cream and strawberries and then I sat down to taste it. Man, I was in sheer bliss! That thrill got stuck in my mind as it made a terrific impression! It could be just me…basically it is not even an intricate technique!

Then, I pestered my husband to get my hands on my own Waffle iron. It took quite some time to make the decision to buy one as he doesn’t like eating all those empty calories.

I went through many trials before I perfected waffles and then there was no looking back. This is my modified recipe with whole wheat, oats and buttermilk added to make a better batter to convince everyone to eat it. If a waffle maker is not around, pancakes are perfectly possible with this batter but add more flour like 1/2 cup.

Ingredients

• ¹⁄ ³ cup whole wheat flour
• ¹⁄ ³ cup oat flour
• ¹⁄ ³ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg separated
• ½ tsp vanilla essence

1. Take whole wheat flour, oat flour and all purpose flour in a bowl.
2. Add sugar, baking powder, salt and whisk it well.
3. Whisk egg yolk, buttermilk, milk, oil and vanilla extract in another bowl.
4. Beat egg whites separately in a bowl  with an electric beater until it foams to form soft peaks.
5. Pour buttermilk mix into dry ingredients and blend well.
6. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
7. Allow batter to stand for 5 minutes.
8. Preheat a Waffle maker. (Follow instruction on the maker.)
9. When red light turns on the Waffle maker, pour 1/2 cup batter or enough to cover all the grooves and close lid.
10. Cook waffle until the light turns off or waffle turns crisp on the top.

The popular North American breakfast Waffle is served with different combinations of toppings. They vary from butter, whipped cream, maple syrup, honey, fruit syrups, bacon,  powdered sugar, fresh soft fruits, chocolate spread or vanilla ice cream.

I served hot waffles with berry sauce and whipped cream. Then topped with some blue berries and maple syrup. This berry sauce is made by boiling raspberries and blueberries with sugar and crushing them.

Kids definitely love this kind of fancy food for its texture and toppings. Waffles is your best choice for a delicious brunch.

Breakfast is served everybody!