Everyday Whole Wheat Waffles with Blueberry Sauce

Everyday Whole Wheat Waffles with Blueberry Sauce | A Sweet Spoonful

The more time I spend at home with Oliver, juggling a quesadilla and baby sunscreen on our way out the door, the more I think about the way we all really eat throughout the day — and what it is we actually want to be eating. With all of the beautifully photographed food blogs and glossy monthly publications, you’d think we were all waking up in the morning and eating black sesame waffles with tahini yogurt and macha dust. Now I don’t know about you, but that is decidedly not what we’re waking up to around here. I’m not sure if it’s because time is stretched thin now that we have a baby or perhaps it’s that warmer weather is on its way — the ultimate encouragement in fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-cooking — but preparing a full meal in the kitchen feels like a luxury more than it ever has, and I find myself craving simplicity. Good, honest recipes. 

Sam recently sent me a Slate article about the huge gap between the food we see in magazines (and, perhaps, even love to talk about) and the food we’re actually cooking at home. It seems you can’t turn a corner without hearing about cauliflower fried rice or poke bowls (for the record I’ve not tried either but am most curious about the former). On a similar note, Tim recently wrote a post about lemon zest, questioning why the heck we all feel the impetus to add it to virtually everything. We claim that it “brightens” up every baked good and salad dressing that comes our way, when really, the result is that the baked good or salad just … tastes more like lemon zest. I have to admit I might be a little guilty of this. But the point is that there’s this constant search for the new trend, the new thing, the next Big way to make a waffle. When really, the old way to make a waffle worked pretty great.

Everyday Whole Wheat Waffles with Blueberry Sauce | A Sweet Spoonful

This whole wheat waffle I’m sharing with you today began with a cut-out of a 2012 recipe from Whole Living (RIP!) that used a bit of wheat germ in the mix, giving them a warm, almost nutty flavor. The waffles were great but I don’t particularly love using canola oil and I had a few other tweaks in mind so I started using warmed coconut oil instead, but when the oil joined with the cold milk, it seized into clumps. Onward: warm the milk first before you add the coconut oil and now we’re in business! So I’ve made many waffles using this formula but then I started to become curious about making them even more accessible for people, selfishly thinking about our trip to my mom’s cabin in upstate New York this summer and wondering how we could make a batch in the country where there’s a definite lack of coconut oil. So I regrouped. If you follow The Faux Martha on Instagram (or read her lovely blog), you know she’s quite a waffle guru, and she uses butter in most of her waffle recipes so I opted for that instead of the coconut oil and the results are, to me, spot on.

This is a great basic waffle that doesn’t feel basic. A reliable traveling companion if you’ve got trips coming up this summer where you’ll be cooking breakfast for a crowd, and special enough for Mother’s Day this Sunday. The Blueberry Sauce recipe is from my cookbook and is an added bonus — an easy way to dress up a perfectly simple waffle if you’re so inclined. If you’re not, a bit of butter and good maple syrup is all you really need. I realize fresh blueberries aren’t in season yet, so I dipped into last year’s frozen farmers market haul. The sauce stained the back of one of my favorite wooden spoons — now a constant reminder about the warm season ahead, everyday waffles, more and more baby sunscreen, and a most probable lack of macha dust.

Everyday Whole Wheat Waffles

Everyday Whole Wheat Waffles

  • Prep time: 5 mins
  • Cook time: 20 mins
  • Total time: 25 mins

This is my go-to whole grain waffle recipe and I’d wager that anyone you make these for wouldn’t guess they’re 100% whole wheat. The batter is light; the edges are crisp; and they have an ever-so-slight fragrance from the vanilla. I love topping them with this fresh blueberry sauce and a big dollop of Greek yogurt, but of course any seasonal fruit is a great stand-in as is whipped cream. See my instructions below for freezing the waffles, if you’d like, for a quick weekday morning solution.

Ingredients

For the Waffles:

1 1/2 cups (180g) whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ (optional)
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 (360ml) cups whole milk
4 tablespoons (58g) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Greek yogurt, to serve (optional)

For the Blueberry Sauce:

1 pound (450g) fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon orange zest (optional)
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup (60g) natural cane sugar

Instructions

For the Waffles: Preheat your waffle iron. Spray with cooking spray if need be.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, egg and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir well until thoroughly combined.

When waffle iron is ready, add batter. The amount varies depending on your machine – for our round model, 1/2 cup of batter makes a perfect waffle, but always err on the side of too little to begin with to avoid a big mess. Cook until golden brown. Avoid stacking waffles on top of each other as they’ll become soggy; instead place in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in a warm oven until ready to serve.

For the Blueberry Sauce: Combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to slowly bubble and boil. Decrease the heat to low and simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. Serve warm or at room temperature, or let cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

To freeze waffles: If you’d like to bake off a big batch of waffles and freeze them for later, prepare according to instructions above. Then lay waffles out on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Next place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and lay a single row of waffles down. Lay a sheet of parchment on top of that layer and repeat, until you’ve stacked all your waffles on the sheet tray. Freeze completely, at least 3 hours. Remove from freezer and wrap individually in plastic wrap or small freezer bags. Store up to 3 months. To reheat / serve: we just use our toaster oven, but if making for a crowd, you could easily place on a baking sheet at 350 F and warm, about 8 minutes.

Comments

  1. Katrina

    Your blueberry sauce sounds so wonderful! And these whole wheat waffles sound fabulous as well. Definitely one of my favourite breakfast choices!

  2. Nicole

    Love this - I'm really into good, honest recipes these days, preferably ones that can be made in 30 minutes or less (or in pieces, like during nap time!). I think I always cooked like this but especially since having a child ... I dunno, fussing around seems so boring. There are many more things to do now, like reading 'Blueberries for Sal' for the fifth time, or going for a walk, or cheering as she goes down the slide ... etc. Enjoy your first summer with your boy.

  3. Sophia

    Last Saturday, my husband was *literally asking* if you had a waffle recipe in your cookbook, so good timing on your end. We just made these for lunch (Don't judge) with whole spelt flour, coconut milk, and coconut sugar and they were delicious! I topped mine with some infused maple syrup, a scoop of Ellenos Raspberry Ginger yogurt, and some lemon curd. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!

    1. megang

      YUM, Sophia! Your tweaks sound incredible. So glad you enjoyed them - now I need to try your version! Have a great rest of the week, Megan

  4. Heidi - Apples Under My Bed

    I will be making these soon, thank you! Kinda of a waffle novice over here, they aren't all that big in Aus, but I feel they should be, and I was gifted a waffle iron last year, so we will waffle more and we will waffle soon. Happy first mothers day x

  5. Leith

    Thanks Megan! Can I make the batter the night before and keep it in the frig ... For an easy morning breakfast? Thanks!

    1. megang

      Hi, Leigh-
      Good question. I've never done it but here's what I think will happen: I think that yes you can. I'd cover it with plastic wrap and the next morning it's going to be a little thicker than you want it (the whole wheat flour will suck up some moisture) so you'll add a bit more milk to thin it out to what feels like a "normal" pancake or waffle consistency (likely probably only need about 2 tablespoons, I'd guess. I hope that helps! ~Megan

  6. sam-c

    Aw man! Don't knock lemon zest! :) I've always been a fan of lemon zest and surprised at how much flavor it adds. Mio posto's Quattro Formaggi pizza would not be as good as it is without lemon zest. We have a couple pasta dishes: linguine with tuna, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, olive oil- that's it and it's great!
    orzo with feta, basil, cherry tomatoes, olive oil- and it just would not be good without lemon zest. So simple and so good!!

    but I will have to make these waffles and blueberry sauce, thank you for the recipe! I am a little freaked about about frozen fruit and veggies in my freezer right now, so i may need to wait until fresh blueberries show up.

  7. Stephanie

    This was so nicely timed, as we're on our second night of leftover curry over here and, even after reading that Slate piece, I was feeling guilty about the gap between what I want to cook and what I'm eating. Looking forward to slowing down for these waffles soon!

    1. megang

      Yay, Stephanie! I'm alllll about leftovers. Truly a lifesaver. Hope you enjoy the waffles ~Megan

  8. Sophia

    It's such an interesting debate - that gap between what we actually cook at home and the dishes we read about in the glossy magazines etc. And I am never quite sure what to make of the whole debate. Simple staple dishes are there for a reason - they can be thrown together even when the fridge is bare and most of us will have a few of those recipes up our sleeves that we can pretty much make in our sleep which is handy when life throws us another curveball. But even if I don't end up making dishes with ingredient lists to equal Ottolenghi's every day of the week, I am still grateful for all the inspiration these types of recipes provide, whether to try out new ingredients (I have Jessica Koslow of Sqirl to thank for introducing me to nasturtium dolmas - finicky to prepare but super delicious) or simply to make the most of what is in our fridge (I think I have Heidi Swanson to thank for adding miso to porridge). And sometimes they even inspire us to tweak one of our staple recipes - I thought I made my porridge recipe perfected, until I tried yours, and I have not looked back! Those waffles look ace by the way - eventually I will have to add a waffle maker to my long list of kitchen appliances!

  9. Nancy

    Found this waffle recipe in a google search. Super easy and delicious! My children and I loved them. Looking forward to checking out more of your recipes!

    1. megang

      So glad, Nancy! Thank you!!

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