Ugly Waffles

The rooster's crowing, y'all.

That doesn't always mean it's morning. This rooster is vigilant. Alert.

(Loud)

All day long.

Wake the fuck up.

But today it is morning. Ahhh. 

Refreshing. 

Another Georgia summer morning of relaxation, courtesy of the UGA Board of Regents.

They laid me off. Those bastards.

What are we gonna do with all this free time??

Make a time-consuming breakfast,  o f  c o u r s e.

And what could be more comforting on a still-rainy day than ugly waffles? Mmmm. One of my favorites.

One of my favorite healthy breakfasts, anyway.

I call them ugly waffles because they're sort of ugly. They're floppy. Spongey. Beige.

Moist.

They come out in a big pile, and I love them! It's because of the oat flour, folks. It soaks up liquid like you would not believe, especially if you don't cut it with other types of flour.

Which I don't, really. (well, maybe a little other flour)

Eggy and buttery, despite the omission of both yolks and butter, ugly waffles are always a fun way to start the week!

Ugly Waffles loosely based (& lightened) on a recipe by Alton Brown

Ingredients:::
waffles:

• 2/3 cup milk (for the nutritional values, ysk I used 1%)
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (any acidic liquid will work--lemon juice, white vinegar, &c)
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (ie, your butter substitute)
• 1/3 cup oats (I use rolled, but quick cooking would work as well)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp brown sugar (or white sugar, if that's your jam)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (or cloves, or allspice, or nothing--season with the spices of your life, honey bun)
• 1 tsp baking powder (I actually did not have any, so I left this out)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

topping, recipe from the spaces between:

• 1 peach
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Measure your oats and put them in a skillet on medium heat, toasting them around 3 minutes. Don't forget and let them burn. Infrequent stirring helps with this. 
Turn the heat off and let them cool back down once you're finished toastin'.

While you're up to that, take your milk out of the fridge and pour it into a measuring implement of your choice. 

Proudly displaying how much her bladder can hold.

Add your 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar/acidic liquid to the milk and leave it on the counter to curdle. 

This is how you make buttermilk substitute, folks. 

You can also measure out your applesauce and egg white in a separate bowl at this time if you want. (I think you have time right now?!)

Okay, are your oats toasted? Did you remember to take them off the heat to let them cool down?

good thinking!

(The oats were probably done.)

Now you're going to grind them up into a flour. You can use: a food processor, maybe your blender, a spice grinder, or you can be like me and use your coffee grinder.

You don't use a burr grinder for your coffee? #judging

It ought to look like a fine powder, the consistency of flour.
Speaking of flour, you can now whisk your all-purpose flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl from your wet ingredients.

Now, whisk your curdled milk in with the other wet ingredients & add them to your dry ingredients. Stir until well-combined, and rest the batter for 5 minutes. Also, plug in your waffle iron now so it gets nice and hot. Make pancakes in a skillet if you don't have a waffle iron.

While that's resting, measure out your balsamic vinegar into a saucepan and allow it to boil down over medium heat until it's reduced by half. You end up with a sweet, tangy, mellifluent reduction sauce that is FANTASTIC as a syrup.

Trust me.

Envision this on top of your waffle.

You can now slice up a peach and grill the slices on your George Foreman. If you don't have one, shame on you, but heat the peaches in a skillet I guess.

Whew.

Spray down your waffle iron so it's good and greasy, just how you like it. Pour your batter into the iron, and allow it to cook per the manufacturer's instructions.

You have saved the manufacturer's instructions to your waffle iron, haven't you?

Good. Plate em, drizzle the syrup over top, and then slap those grilled peaches on. On the waffles.

Hearty & delicious

Nutrition Information

Ingredient	Calories	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Protein (g)
Waffles	280	4	50	14
Peach topping & syrup***	66	0	15	1
Total	346	4	65	15

Recipe above makes 1 serving of approximately three 4-inch waffles.

***nutrition for the peach topping & syrup will vary depending on how large of a peach & how much balsamic vinegar you use. This is for 1 medium peach and 2 tablespoons of syrup (reduced by half from 1/4 cup)