Poifect Waffles

Waffles have an uncanny ability to take me back to my childhood. Many a Sunday morning was spent sitting around the table eating fruit with my mom while my dad fired up the old waffle iron. We’d enjoy each others company and Dad would inevitably be stuck eating the burned waffles, while mom and I enjoyed the golden brown ones. Once we discovered that replacing half the liquid in the batter with seltzer water resulted in the most light, airy and crispy waffles, every time anyone mentioned making waffles, they HAD to be made using seltzer water. So when I started off to make these waffles, I was quite skeptical, as the little voice in the back of my head went “but where’s the seltzer?” Surprisingly enough, with these babies, no seltzer water is needed to get the perfect waffle.

The trick, I’m convinced, is self-rising flour. For some reason, I’ve never used self-rising flour. I have no idea why. But anyways, you can buy self-rising flour, or you can just make your own: for each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Easy peasy

1 ¼ cups soymilk “buttermilk” (add 1 tbs of lemon juice and then fill up your measuring cup to 1 ¼ cups. Let sit for 10 minutes to curdle)

Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer. I stand by its genius)

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 ¾ cups self-rising flour

Grease waffle iron with earth balance and heat. Mix egg replacer and beat in soymilk, baking soda, oil, and sugar mix until smooth. Add flour and beat the crap out of it until no lumps are left. Pour the batter into the waffle iron and cook until steaming stops and waffles are golden brown. We have the “Flip ‘n’ Fluff” waffle iron, which we affectionately call the flip ‘n’ fuck. It makes us giggle and makes great waffles. Who can beat that combo?

Serve waffles with earth balance and syrup, or jam. I had mine with some locally made peach ginger compote, and it rocked my socks off. This is definitely a recipe I will use for years, and makes me love Fannie Flagg for giving me the poifect waffle.

Vegan Buttermilk Hoe Cakes

 
Vegan Buttermilk Hoe Cakes

Sunday. In mine and Lindsey’s house that means pancake day. Really, what is better than sleeping in, rolling out of bed, and munching on fresh pancakes and maple syrup? So, in the spirit of this cooking project, I opened up the WSCC to page 15 and made the “buttermilk pancakes,” which are really more of a hoe cake, since they have cornmeal in them. Apparently hoe cakes are called such because they were originally made on the blade of a hoe over a campfire. So, there’s your history lesson for the day.

Egg replacer for 2 eggs (I use bobs red mill egg replacer for pancakes)

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 cups vanilla soymilk

2 tbs lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¾ cup self rising cornmeal (or ¾ cups cornmeal plus ¾ tbs. baking powder and a pinch of salt)

Mix soymilk and lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes to curdle. Mix egg replacer and vegetable oil, add soymilk and mix. Mix the rest of the ingredients in order until you have a smooth batter. Pour ¼ cup of batter for each pancake onto a slightly greased griddle. Turn when top is covered with bubbles and cook the other side until golden brown. Serve with syrup or jam. Enjoy your hoe cakes. ;)