breakfast friday >> cornbread waffles
/I decided to start something shiny + new over here in blog-land!
You are all aware of my breakfast obsession. This has been well known for years. And from what I've seen you're all pretty big fans of this morning meal as well. So just yesterday I came up with the idea for, Breakfast Friday. We can think of it as our own little breakfast club. A Friday breakfast lovefest, if you will.
And! I want this to be an interactive club that you all get to be a part of as well. Hopefully you're down with this idea!
I figured Fridays were the best day for the breakfast club, since A] You may have a flexible Friday schedule allowing you more time in the morning to make something delicious. B] It's almost the weekend and you're always on the hunt for weekend breakfast/brunch ideas. C] I just thought of the idea yesterday and had to tell you today. Friday.
Friday it is!
So what do we have this week? A recipe that was entirely worth the 12 trials it took to perfect.
A recipe that compiles 1] breakfast 2] cornbread 3] waffles into one lovely meal.
I can barely comprehend the idea of cornbread breakfast waffles. You are familiarwith mycornbreadproblems. And by problems I meanaddiction. I also am currently hooked on making a waffle every single day. I kid you not. It takes about 2 minutes of active time in the morning to get it ready and then 5 minutes to cook up to a golden brown perfection while I'm doing other things. Even oatmeal takes longer to make than morning waffles.
Now, you may by wondering why on earth it took so many trials to reach the perfect cornbread waffle. And of course I'm going to tell you.
I wanted to keep this recipe as simple as possible. Something easy to make even if you're not gluten-free using a simple combination of flours. My trials last week left much to be desired. Some were okay upon the first bite but most ended up dry after they slightly cooled. I was using finely ground cornmeal and oat flour but was out of masa harina, my go-to cornbread flour. I knew that had to be the problem. I tried adding almond meal for moisture but the resulting flavor was not corn-y enough.
I finally got to restock my supply of masa harina--I use Bob's Red Mill--and got to cooking. I wanted this to have a true cornbread flavor and texture, but I was also after a crispy exterior. I finally realized you can't make cornbread waffles crispy or they dry out and get stuck in your throat as you try to swallow. No bueno.
I also figured out that a little more butter made a big difference--go figure--and that I needed more milk. If you've ever made cornbread you know after mixing the batter you let it sit to activate the baking powder. It becomes much thicker and quite puffy, as the cornmeal + corn flour absorb a lot of the liquid. And that's exactly what happens with this recipe.
Not having a fully crisped waffle turned out to be the key! It's by no means mushy or too soft. As you're digging in to the waffle it firms up a bit and has a slight buttery, crispness around the edges. The waffle is thick but fluffy. The texture was just what I was looking for. About as close to cornbread in waffle form you'll ever find. It may take a little testing with the temperature of your waffle maker to get it just right. I set mine to setting 4 of 6 and cooked it for just under 1 1/2 cycles.
This led to a tender, cornbread-like waffle, that didn't crumble or dry out while you were eating it.
Finally! Cornbread waffle mission complete!!
Along with a simple berry topping, butter, and honey.
adapted from: cornbread
Cornbread Waffles
gluten-free // yields 2, 6-inch Belgian-style waffles
- 1/2 cup masa harina
- 1/4 cup fine/medium ground cornmeal
- 1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk, or 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted + slightly cooled
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
*Best to use wet ingredients that have come to room temperature.
- Preheat your waffle maker to just over medium heat + grease if necessary.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Whisk the egg until pale yellow, then whisk in the milk, melted butter, and honey.
- Pour the wet into the dry and whisk until just combined. Do not over stir.
- Let sit undisturbed for 7 minutes. The batter will thicken and puff during this time. After sitting the batter will be very thick [not really pourable] and airy.
- Scoop half of the batter onto the hot waffle maker and gently spread around with a spatula or butter knife.
- Cook until golden brown. I like to cook just over a medium heat and let it cook for about 1 1/2 cycles. The resulting waffle will be golden brown and soft [but fully cooked through] to the touch but it will firm up a bit as it cools. If your waffle maker is too hot the exterior will become very crispy and the inside won't fully cook.
- Serve immediately with the fruit topping, butter + honey, or both.
- To store: Let fully cool before storing in an airtight container. Keep in the fridge for 1-2 days and reheat in the toaster or oven, or freeze and reheat the same way.
notes/subs: To make this dairy-free use unrefined coconut oil in place of the butter. It will lead to a mild coconut flavor but will lend the same buttery texture. If you cannot tolerate oats in your diet sub in a high quality all-purpose GF flour blend only for the oat flour at a 1:1 ratio. If you try subbing a gluten filled flour like spelt or whole wheat pastry flour let me know the results!
Berry Topping
- 1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries
- 1-3 tablespoons honey
- Heat in a small pot over medium-low, stirring frequently and lightly mashing for about 12-15 minutes until thickened.
- Taste and add more honey if desired.
- Remove from the heat, let cool for about 10 minutes, then serve. Will thicken more as it sits. If you want it smooth, place in your blender and puree.
- Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
edited to add: I haven't attempted a vegan version of this yet, but I wouldn't recommend using a flax-egg. I don't typically like the texture texture results using them in gluten-free/vegan baking. My best guess would be: Add 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ground flax to the dry ingredients + and extra 1/4 cup milk to the wet, while leaving out the egg. Sub maple syrup for honey and earth balance for butter. Use all the same flours as specified above. You can also check out my vegan-gf cornbread recipe + my vegan buckwheat waffle recipe as another alternative.
So!
Here are the details I've come up with so far for the Breakfast Friday club. You in?
- I will post a new breakfast recipe every Friday from here on out. Or until I run out of breakfast ideas. Highly unlikely. If I miss a week don't kill me.
- You can suggest breakfast ideas or ingredients you'd like to see featured.
- The recipes will range from super healthy, to savory, to dessert for breakfast, to brunch, to quick weekday breakfasts, etc.
- You can play along! I'm creating the hashtag #bfastfridayclub for Instagram + Twitter so you can share your Friday breakfast, whatever it may be! I'll also post my Friday creations using that hashtag.
- Or, use the hashtag to post a photo of a recipe that you've made from one of my Breakfast Friday posts.
- Eating out on a Friday morning? Post it!
- Feel free to get creative with the hashtag use.
- Every so often, I'll include some of your photos on the Breakfast Friday posts at random.
Happy weekend!
Ashley
