Multigrain Buttermilk Waffles

A huge thank you to Audra from The Baker Chick and her mother for the inspiration for this recipe!  A few weeks back, Audra posted a pancake recipe that would make her mother proud.  Given my current obsession with my waffle maker, I was curious to see if the batter would waffle. Sadly, the batter as is didn't waffle so well.  After some poking around, I came across a recipe of Martha Stewart's that uses a similar flour to buttermilk ratio.  I thought I'd give it a try using Audra's multigrain base.  Plus a few extra twists.

They are not quite as healthy, given the amount of butter added (I've already halved the amount Martha used, without any terribly ill effect).  But the multigrain base is a wonderful change of pace from plain flour.

Inspired  by The Baker Chick and adapted from Martha Stewart

yields 4-6 eight-inch waffles

The Ingredients:
2/3 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup whole wheat  flour
1 Tbsp wheat germ
1 Tbsp flax meal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup applesauce
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

The Process:
Preheat oven to 200 and heat up the waffle iron.

In a food processor or blender mix the oats, cornmeal and whole wheat flour until finely ground.  Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar until well combined.  

In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg yolks, and melted butter until smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture and whisk until just combined, do not overmix.  There should still be some lumps in the batter.  This will yield a much more tender waffle.

In a separate mixing bowl with an electric beater, or by hand with a strong wrist action, whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.  Fold the whites gently into the waffle batter, until just combined.  Again, do not over mix!  The batter should retain as much air as possible from the whites.

Brush or mist the waffle iron lightly with oil and spoon batter into waffle iron, spreading quickly with a spatula to cover the entire griddle surface (amount varies depending on waffle iron, mine uses just over 1/2 a cup). Cook according to iron manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer finished waffles to rack in oven to keep warm and crisp. Make more waffles in same manner.

Serve warm with toppings of your choice.

The Review:
These waffles had the nuttiest flavor and most interesting texture to date.  The myriad of grains provided a wonderful mouth-feel, the little flecks of grain made their presence known.  Yet the waffles were soft and spongy throughout...a pillow made for sopping up whatever sweetness you poured on top.  They didn't become soggy, per say.  But I doubt they would hold up to any toppings heavier than syrup and butter.  The exterior did not have that wonderful crispness.  At least the first day.  Frozen and re-heated in the toaster, the waffles achieved the best of both worlds.*

I suspect the lack of crispness was due to the use of applesauce.  The applesauce is heavier and moister than the oil or butter typically used.  I wanted to try to keep these on the healthier end, so had substituted 4 Tbsp of butter from the original recipe for 1/4 cup of applesauce.  For a crisper waffle  increase the butter to total 8 Tbsp (1 stick/ half a cup) or use 1/2 cup oil instead.  An extra Tbsp or 2 or sugar may help as well.

As to flavor...the 1/4 tsp of cinnamon provided just the slightest hint of warmth to play off of the nuttiness of the grains.  Feel free to add 1/2 tsp of vanilla, or any combination of baking spices to your preference.

These waffles, while not the best of those I've tried to date, were wonderful considering the health content of all of the grains included.  Who says healthy waffle need taste like cardboard?

*Even though only two of us typically enjoy Sunday morning waffles, I have gotten into the habit making a full recipe and freezing the leftovers to eat for breakfast throughout the week.  To freeze and reheat:

Allow the waffles to cool completely in a single layer...stacking the waffles may cause some to flatten or become dense.   Once cool, portion out the waffles into single serving sizes and store in sandwich or quart size ziploc bags (we usually do 2 quarters of a waffle per bag...1 quarter fits nicely into each slot on out toaster).  Label each bag with the waffle type and date (I make waffles almost every other Sunday...at times I'll have as many as 4 varieties in my freezer!)  Freeze.  Will keep for 2-3 months.

To reheat, toast in the toaster as you would any other freezer waffle.  Instant homemade Eggos!