Gingerbread waffles

January 11, 2020

We took a break for a week in January, and spent much of it renting a huge house in the country with a bunch of friends. We watched movies, did jigsaws, read books, and (of course) shared meals. I volunteered to make waffles for breakfast one morning and thought wistfully of some gingerbread ones I had years ago at a cafe. I started researching recipes online, thinking that I'd splice them with a Vegan Brunch recipe for something to suit our group's dietary requirements.

I should have started with Vegan Brunch, because it turns out there's a gingerbread waffle recipe sitting right there for the making! (Now that I'm blogging it's clear I should have checked here even earlier, because apparently I've made this recipe before! This blog so often now outperforms my own memory.) 

These waffles are really nice without quite being a knock-out. They're crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, maybe a touch spongy when I'm looking for cakey. For all their molasses, fresh ginger and spices, their flavour isn't as strong or as complex as I was looking for - I'd happily increase and further diversify those flavourings. The waffles are excellent vessels for berries and coconut yoghurt. I was delighted to watch one tablemate meticulously place one blueberry in each waffle indentation, then carefully douse the lot in maple syrup.

Gingerbread waffles
(a recipe from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz;
this quantity of batter made 8 waffles)

2 cups almond or other vegan milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons grated ginger
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
oil spray

Preheat your waffle iron.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together the milk, vinegar, oil, molasses, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the grated ginger. Sift in the remaining ingredients (except for the spray oil!), and stir well until smooth.

When the waffle iron is ready, spray it thoroughly with oil, and pour in the waffle batter in batches, cooking as directed by the appliance manufacturer.