UPDATE 9/23/16: Since writing this post, I've begun to steer away from whole wheat. Although it's more filling, it also makes me feel lousy. The good news is, you can use this same recipe to make white flour waffles. Just substitute the wheat flour with your favorite unbleached white flour.In my quest to alter all my baking to include whole wheat, I was surprised and disappointed to discover my most trusted sources for baking with wheat flour suggested not making whole wheat wafflest. For example, the King Arthur Flour: Whole Grain Baking cookbook says to only use a Belgian waffle maker with their rather complicated whole wheat waffle recipes. Since I have a traditional waffle maker, and I wanted a quick and easy recipe to whip up for the kids, this was discouraging advice.
However, with a little experimentation I discovered that you can make whole wheat waffles with a traditional waffle maker. Here's how I do it.
What You Need:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup all purpose flour*
1 cup whole wheat flour*
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Spray on olive oil
Waffle iron
Small, microwave-safe bowl
Whisk or fork
How to Do It:
1. Preheat the waffle iron.
2. Place the butter in the microwave-safe bowl and nuke it a few seconds at a time until it's melted. Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flours, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Stir in the milk.
4. If you have time, separate the eggs and beat the whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form; add the egg yolks to the flour mixture and stir, then fold in the egg whites. This will make for lighter waffles. However, I usually stir in the whole eggs, without bothering to separate and beat them.
5. Stir in the butter and vanilla.
6. Pour some batter into the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is golden and cooked through. Cooking time varies according to the waffle iron, but this usually takes about 3 minutes. Repeat until all the batter is used up.
One batch makes 4 to 6 servings; I freeze the leftovers for a quick breakfast later. Simply break the waffles into serving sizes and pop individually into freezer bags. Alternatively, you can place layers of waxed paper between the waffles and put them in one larger freezer bag. To reheat, toast for about 1 minute in a toaster or toaster oven.
* If you're not used to eating much whole wheat, you can ease into this recipe by using 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour instead.
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