Today's brunch brought to you by my good friend: delicious, nutritious and satisfying blanched almond flour. Generally, I eat a high-protein breakfast that sticks with me and lasts until lunch. I either have eggs or yogurt smoothies most mornings. Even before I started following a no-grain diet, I wasn't much of a pancake or waffle girl; the high-sugar, high-carb combination would sit in my stomach, make me feel nauseous, and I'd be hungry again before lunch. With almond flour, I get a high-protein, light and delicious waffle that, when paired with sauteed apples and cinnamon, is reminiscent of an apple fritter.
My favorite recipe is based on one from Eat Well, Feel Well by Kendall Conrad. She has a knack for taking tried and true favorites and altering them to be grain-free but flavorful. When I first tried this recipe, I wrote in the margins of my book, "Delicious! Tastes almost normal!" In my quest for gut-healthy recipes, I've found either, 1) I love the recipe and make it over and over, or; 2) the recipe is nothing like its grainy counterpart (i.e., sandwich bread) and so I never make it again. These waffles are definitely, thankfully, in the first category.
Because I always have a drawerful of apples, my usual topping for these delicious waffles is a handful sauteed in butter, honey and cinnamon. The flavors go well with the light crumb of the almond flour batter. Below is the recipe for the waffles and sauteed apples, as well as a few variations I created while on vacation. I've also included a few tips for getting the best results working with almond flour. Enjoy!
Almond Waffles with Sauteed Cinnamon Apples
Altered, just slightly, from original recipe by Kendall Conrad
Serves 8
Waffles:
2 cups blanched almond flour (I buy 5-lb. bags of Honeyville brand off Amazon)
4 large eggs
8 TBS (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
Sauteed Apples:
4 apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly
1 TBS butter or coconut oil
1 TBS cinnamon (see my post on chai about using good cinnamon)
1 cup honey
To make the waffles:
Preheat a waffle maker. If making multiple waffles, you can preheat your oven to 200F to keep the waffles warm, or just toss them to your family piping hot as they come off the maker.
Combine all waffle ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until well combined. I use a dinner fork but I suppose you could get fancy with a whisk, if that's more your style.
Grease the waffle iron with a little bit of butter. I just grab the stick, holding the papered end, and shmear it all around. Once again, if you're less lazy fancier than me, feel free to apply butter or even grapeseed oil with a paper towel or, even more elegant, one of those oil misters.
Add 1/4-1/3 cup of batter to the waffle maker. Cook it for a few minutes, or until golden brown. Do nto overcook! Almond flour cooks quickly. Set on the oven rack to keep warm (or toss through the air like a frisbee to your waiting child).
To make the apples:
Melt butter or oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add apples and shake the pan a few times to coat well. Cover and cook for several minutes until apples start to soften. Then, add cinnamon and honey and continue to cook, uncovered, until apples are soft and caramelized, or your house smells like apple fritters and you can't possibly wait one more minute to eat.
To serve:
Put a waffle on a plate. Spoon apples with extra honey-cinnamon sauce into the waffle pockets. Devour. Lick your plate clean. Then come back and leave a comment on this blog letting me know how grateful you are that I introduced you to this deliciousness. :)
To store:
Waffle batter will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge. To make additional waffles, you'll need to let the batter sit out for a bit to come up to room temperature, or nuke it for a bit in the microwave. Cold almond flour batter will not cook in the middle and burn on the outside. It needs to be pourable.
Cooked waffles can be stored, wrapped in plastic wrap or sandwich baggies, for a day or two. To reheat, pop in the toaster for a quick crisp- and warm-up.
For a treat, turn leftover waffles or pancakes into sandwiches by spreading peanut butter and sliced bananas in the middle.
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When we went to Hawaii, I brought along a batch of the waffle mix (the dry ingredients, anyway) and mixed up some batter in our condo. Because there wasn't a waffle maker, I tried making pancakes. They were awesome, so much so that I don't hesitate for a minute in offering you these two delicious variations on the waffle recipe:
Almond Flour Pancakes with Sauteed Bananas
Batter recipe same as above
Sauteed Bananas
1 TBS or small pat of butter
2 ripe bananas, sliced
1 cup honey
1 TBS cinnamon (optional)
To make the pancakes:
Preheat a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Slowly pour well-whisked, room temperature (just in case you happened to pull pre-made batter out of the fridge) batter, in 1/4 cup measurements, onto the hot pan.
Watch as bubbles start to form and then begin popping on the surface of the pancake. Carefully slide your spatula under half of the pancake, lift gently, and somersault it over itself back onto the pan. (The first time might be tricky, but you'll see what I mean. It takes a certain finesse. If a little bit plops out and your pancake does not stay perfectly round, it's okay. It will still taste amazing.) Allow the second side to cook for just a minute or until golden brown. You don't want to overcook these lovelies.
Repeat with other pancakes. Like the waffles, these can be kept warm in a 200F oven while you continue cooking with the remaining batter.
To make the bananas:
Melt a pat of butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add 2 sliced bananas and cook until golden brown, flipping over once during cooking. After the flip, pour in 1 cup of honey and 1 TBS cinnamon.
To serve:
Pour the bananas and cinnamon honey over the pancakes and dig in. (These are amazing both with and without cinnamon).
To store:
Batter can keep for 2-3 days in fridge. Cooked pancakes can be stored in plastic wrap in fridge and reheated in toaster, microwave, or 200F oven.
Batter recipe same as above
Caramelized Pineapple
1 TBS or small pat of butter
1 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced
1 cup honey
1/4 cup fresh coconut shavings (substitute dried unsweetened coconut flakes)
To make the pancakes:
Preheat a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Slowly pour well-whisked, room temperature (just in case you happened to pull pre-made batter out of the fridge) batter, in 1/4 cup measurements, onto the hot pan.
Watch as bubbles start to form and then begin popping on the surface of the pancake. Carefully slide your spatula under half of the pancake, lift gently, and somersault it over itself back onto the pan. (The first time might be tricky, but you'll see what I mean. It takes a certain finesse. If a little bit plops out and your pancake does not stay perfectly round, it's okay. It will still taste amazing.) Allow the second side to cook for just a minute or until golden brown. You don't want to overcook these lovelies.
Repeat with other pancakes. Like the waffles, these can be kept warm in a 200F oven while you continue cooking with the remaining batter.
To make the pineapple:
Melt a pat of butter in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add diced pineapple, cover, cook until golden brown, stirring a few times. Remove cover, add honey and turn up the heat slightly, to medium high, stirring frequently as pineapple caramelizes in the honey. Remove when pineapple chunks are soft, caramelized, and/or you can't possibly wait another second to taste the goodness.
To serve:
Stack up your pancakes, pour a healthy serving of pineapple on top, and garnish with coconut shavings.
Honestly, this is my favorite combination. It is so, so good.
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So, which one are you going to make?
Come back and let me know!
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