I know many of you are trying to go "Gluten-Free", but have you actually tasted the ready made gluten-free breads? Many of them taste like cardboard. Actually, cardboard would probably taste better. Smear a little butter on there and you might not be able to tell the difference.
A lot of the recipes aren't much better. You are either required to hunt all over the universe for strange, obscure ingredients, or you are doomed to spend your afternoon in the kitchen creating -- cardboard. There has got to be a better way.
Enter this handy little recipe. I have been trying to incorporate more varied grains in my diet lately. If you look at the grain varieties most Americans eat, it pretty much consists of wheat, corn or some derivative of the two. I wanted to branch out a little bit and incorporate some gluten-free recipes in my diet -- something that didn't contain wheat or corn. However, pretty much everything I tried was, well... yucky. Keep in mind that I am already sugar-free (without using weird sugar substitutes found in a chemist's lab). That kind of limits my possibilities, because let's face it, even cardboard tastes good if you put enough sugar on it.
I use this as a waffle (obviously, since they are waffles. I didn't even have to think much to come up with that idea.) But I also use these as a bread alternative. They don't have (or need) sugar, so if you want a sweet waffle, you will get the sweet flavor from your topping choice. But they are not overly sweet on their own, so they work great as a gluten-free bread. You can use it as a sandwich bread, a side of bread, or however you like. Yum!
This recipe is pretty much a dump and pour type recipe (my favorite!) They are fast to throw together. They don't require kneading. They freeze well, so you can whip a batch of these up and stick them in the freezer. When everyone else is slathering their wheat bread with butter, you can pull one of these out, pop it in the toaster and slather right along with them. Life is good.
And did I mention that my kiddos love these? My kids are not gluten-free, sugar-free or anything-free. Their tastebuds are dyed in the wool American, and they like these! That means they pass the taste-test, in my book.
Easy Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Waffles (with Dairy-Free Alternatives)
(adapted from Sue Gregg's Blender Waffle/Pancake Recipe found here.) *You will need a good, strong blender that is able to crush ice. A Vitamix or Bosch is best, but those are still on my fantasy kitchen list. I use an all-metal drive 18-speed Oster. I bought it about 2 - 3 years ago at Walmart for about $30. I use it daily and it's still going strong. My KitchenAid burned up in about 2 months. I don't recommend a KitchenAid for this. KitchenAid Blenders don't like to grind grain. Keep your KitchenAid happy and go get a high powered Oster. Consider yourself forewarned. *I like these best as waffles, so you will need a waffle iron. But if you don't have a waffle iron, you can use the batter to make pancakes. *Although there are alternatives for the dairy in this recipe, I haven't come up with a good replacement for the egg. It is very hard to duplicate what an egg does in a recipe. Feel free to try some alternatives and let us know in the comments!
Get out your blender and pre-heat your waffle iron.
1. Place the following ingredients in the blender and blend at the highest speed for 5 minutes
1 1/4 cup plain yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, or regular milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice added. If you are dairy-free, use unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk.
1/2 cup filtered water (you may need to add a little bit more as you blend. You will want to keep a vortex going in the batter during the first blending stage. That keeps the grains flowing, so they all get ground up.)
2 Tbsp melted butter or olive oil
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup uncooked buckwheat (Despite the name, buckwheat is not a wheat and it is not related to wheat. It actually comes from the seed of a flowering plant. It does not contain gluten. I got mine at the local health food store and it's yumilicious!)
1/2 cup uncooked gluten-free rolled oats (if you don't use oats, just omit the oats and increase the other two grains by 1/4 cup each.)
2. While that is blending, mix the following ingredients in a small bowl and set aside:
2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder (I use Rumfords. The regular stuff will work, though. I just try to eliminate the aluminum.)
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
3. After the blender has run for 5 minutes, add:
1 egg
4. Continue blending for 1 minute.
5. Make sure you still have a vortex going and dump the leavening mixture from the bowl into the vortex. Blend for only a few seconds -- just enough to mix. If you blend too long after you add the leavenings, your waffles will be tough.
6. Spray the waffle iron with cooking spray, pour in some batter and cook as usual. If you can run a blender, you can make gluten-free waffles/bread from freshly ground grains. Enjoy!!
Have a great day!!
Angela
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