Almond Flour Waffles

I spent a significant amount of time on the GAPS/Paleo diet for my allergies, and I know how hard it can be to find carb substitutes that taste like the real thing. While we eat flour in moderation these days, almond flour waffles are absolutely delicious for those that DON'T eat flour. Because I have these recipes at my disposal, it's always good to share them.

These cook beautifully, and taste like the real deal.

I adapted this recipe from Taylor Made It Paleo and am cross-posting from my GAPS blog, Modern Mischief Managed


3/4 cup canned coconut milk
3 Tbs Honey

3 egg yolks (*keep the whites)
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup nut butter- I used hemp butter. Soak your nuts/seeds with boiling water for approx. 30 minutes before blending.
1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
cinnamon, to taste


3 eggs whites- beaten til stiff


-I always begin by melting my coconut solids in a saucepan. Since I use a lot of raw honey, I add that to the pan too. Heat until melted but do not boil.
-Mix ALL wet ingredients except whites in a mixer (egg yolks, coconut milk, almond milk, vanilla, honey, and nut butter).
-With the mixer on, blend in almond flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
-Fold in the beaten egg whites. Most recipes tell you not to overmix your egg whites. I say "to hell with that!" Whisk in your egg whites until the mixture is fully incorporated. If you don't, you're going to have random sections of cooked egg white in your waffles. They will still come out fluffy, I promise.
-Spray down your waffle iron, I use a misto spray bottle filled with olive oil. Cook waffles following waffle iron instructions (Mine has a light that indicates when they are done). These waffles tend to stick so I like to use a chopstick to help remove waffles from the iron.

Drizzle with topping of your choice: Butter/Ghee, Maple Syrup (not GAPS), Honey melted with cinnamon, reduced fruit juice, fresh fruit or fruit puree.
* These waffles aren't super sweet so I recommend toppings.

Scratch Waffles

With a soy allergy, there are a lot of conveniences I simply can't have. One of those conveniences is instant pancake batter. I prefer waffles (i like all the little crevices), but we use the same batter for pancakes and waffles so to each their own. Click here for my GAPS/Paleo version.

Dry:

• 1 c flour (this recipe adapted to cup4cup GF flour like a champ!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbs sugar

Wet:

• 1 Egg
• 3/4 c Warm Milk
• 1/4 c  Melted Butter
• 1 Tbs Vanilla

Mix Wet ingredients in a separate bowl from dry ingredients. Add wet to dry. Makes ~5 Waffles (cuz we cook for 2). There is no reason you can't premix the dry ingredients (mix them well so they are evenly distributed) and store them in a cannister to make this process easier, using 1 cup of mix to the wet ingredients.

The Winston (Street Bagels)

I think every college has that street vendor, the one that all the college kids go to after the bars close for some deliciously addictive food from a cart. My college street vendor was Winston's Bagels and we waited in line many nights and paid $3.75 for a char-grilled bagel topped with:

 butter and cream cheese, apples and onions, cinnamon and garlic, cucumbers, raisins, sunflower seeds, and bacon bits.

 It sounds crazy, but it works. Winston grilled the bagels and sliced the toppings for each order right in front of you, but to make every bite a perfect bite, i created Winston's Bagel Spread, with all the ingredients diced up and blended together. We leave out the raisins and sunflower seeds, So good, you can't eat just one.

-1 bag of bagels- we like mini bagels. (This is one of those things we don't make from scratch, but can still buy soy-free)
-2 large apples- peeled and diced
-2 small onions- peeled and diced
-1 cucumber- peeled and diced
-1 stick of butter- cubed
-1 pack of cream cheese
-Real diced bacon
-Cinnamon and garlic

In a bowl, combine all the diced fruit/vegetables. Sprinkle cinnamon and garlic to coat the surface and stir everything up. Honestly, if you're going healthy, you could stop at this stage and eat it like a waldorf salad. It's yummy.

Stir in the cubed butter and then add the cream cheese. It will take a lot of smearing with the back of a spoon to get everything integrated.

Toast your bagel and top it with the mix while warm and sprinkle with chopped bacon.Eat it as a sandwich. Start toasting your next bagel.

Let's Talk About Eggs

We buy cage-free, hormone-free, certified humane brown eggs in recycled packaging. As simple as eggs sound, there can definitely be a learning curve, so let's talk about eggs:

Scrambling
I am definitely a fan of the omelette. Arguably the easiest way to do eggs, I add sundried tomato and basil to my eggs and add the to a hot pan with a little oil.  I also like to put a lid on it to help them along before flipping. In my experience, a bigger spatula is always better.

Sundried tomato and basil omelette with sour cream and finishing salt

Hardboiling
Hard boiling is one of those things that can be very easy to mess up. I like to follow this method: for perfect eggs everytime:
-Use older eggs (so they will be easier to peel)
-Cover eggs with 1-2 inches of water.
-Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Let the eggs sit in the hot pot on the (off)burner for 10-12 minutes. Longer is ok as it is difficult to overcook the yolks this way. Drain and rinse with cold water. Dry and store covered in the refrigerator. Eat within 5 days.


Poaching
Poached eggs are by far my favorite. Poached eggs are traditionally served runny and are just sooooo pretty on the plate. I have tried ladles, molds, and parachuting (in a deep steamer pot), but my favorite (and the prettiest) is the vortex method:
-Fill a pot with water and add 2TBS of vinegar.
-Bring the water to a rolling boil and then lower the heat to a simmer (so the water isn't churning)
-Crack your egg into a small bowl
-Using a spoon (or i like to use a chopstick) begin stirring circles around the edge of the pan, creating a vortex
-While keeping the vortex going with one hand, Pour the egg down the middle of that tornado and stop stirring. The vortex will keep the whites centered in the pan as they cook for 1-2 minutes.
-Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Fluffy Poached egg on a bagel with Old Bay Seasoning and Balsamic Caviar.

We don't use teflon in our house, but they do make special poached egg pans that put out a beautiful poached egg if you want to take the skill set out of the equation