Grain-Free Waffles

When my body starts feeling totally out of whack, I’ve learned that changes in my diet can do wonders for my overall health and well-being. For ME, this means eliminating all grains and processed sugar. It takes quite some time for my system to reset, which can be a struggle. You guys know just how much I love food. I love to make food, I love to eat food, my husband and I enjoy trying new restaurants and food together – it’s just such a big part of our lifestyle. So when I have to make drastic changes to my diet, like I did in the new year, it’s important that I have delicious recipes that fit this restrictive diet. Today, I’m going to share a really yummy recipe for hearty Grain-Free Waffles – this recipe is for anyone interested in reducing grains or sugar from their diet, but more importantly, I want to share a new appliance that has been absolutely life-changing for this current food/lifestyle repertoire!

Vitamix sent me this incredible 780 blender and I have been absolutely floored with its performance. You might think I’m adding fluffy words to a promotional post, but I assure you, this is so much more than a promotional post. I received the blender around Christmas and we started using it right away. I use it every day – not even kidding. Most days, I use it two or three times a day. I’ve made so many of my tried and true recipes with the Vitamix 780- German oven pancakes, breakfast crepes, blueberry kale smoothies, and so much more. It outperforms my old, standard blender every time. It’s easy to operate and much larger so that it can fit a doubled or tripled recipe when feeding a large family. I’ve also found that it takes my grain-free recipes to a whole new level.

  Because blanched almonds/almond flour is my primary grain substitute, most of my recipes have always turned out… well – grainy, for lack of a better word. The almond flour just never seems to grind down to a fine enough powder to mimic other flours such as wheat. With the Vitamix, however, the ingredients transform into a smooth, thick batter and I couldn’t be happier. I used to feel like I was eating sub-par waffles, but that is no longer the case.

After blending up the batter, I pour it directly onto a lightly buttered waffle iron, and the waffles cook up smooth, moist, and relatively fluffy (grain-free waffles aren’t generally all that fluffy, but these actually hold a nice shape). Good stuff right here!

Grain-Free Waffles

• 4 eggs
• 1 medium banana
• 1-2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup almond flour (I grind blanched almonds by pulsing in the food processor)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:

• Place ingredients into Vitamix blender in order listed. Set on pre-programmed “smoothie/liquid setting” and turn on to allow the program to run (or blend, increasing the speed up to high, for 30-45 seconds or until smooth.)
• Use a pastry brush to grease heated waffle iron with a thin coat of butter. Pour half of batter onto waffle iron and allow to cook until lightly browned. Remove from waffle iron and serve with melted butter, honey, or homemade blueberry syrup.

Makes 2-4 servings.

You can put all your regular fixings on these waffles, but I’ve been making a quick berry syrup. I put about a cup of fresh berries, a tablespoon of butter, and a bit of honey into a saucepan. Cook over low-medium for five minutes or so, until it reduces down into a nice, thick syrup. So easy and a great way to eliminate all that sugar we usually dump over our sweet breakfast plates!

You can use this recipe in any blender, but I really can’t say too many times that the Vitamix makes a huge difference for this batter. And if it can make smooth batter out of ground nuts, imagine what it can do with all those leafy greens you debate adding to your smoothies! Know what I’m saying? It’s a miracle worker.

And finally, here’s the BEST part of all – THE VITAMIX BLENDER CLEANS ITSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know. Now you understand why I use it so many times a day – because I don’t even have to clean it. When you’re done blending, you just add some warm water and a dot of dish soap to the container and run the pre-programmed “clean” cycle. Pour out the dish water, give it a two second rinse and you’re ready for your next recipe! Game changer.

Thanks for stopping in, friends! I’d love to hear your favorite dish that you make in your Vitamix!!