These are listed on page 39 of Vegan with a Vengeance, alongside the 3 other excellent waffle recipes Isa offers, and on the PPK site. We’ve made them twice now, and have been pleased with them both times.

What really sets this waffle recipe apart for us is the different texture, the slight crunchiness that they have. Also, the cornmeal does add a flavor very distinct from that of any other flour/grain we’ve used. It seems to take on a more “toasted” flavor. And the lemon and blueberry do go really well together.

The only downside is that we don’t always have soy yogurt in our fridge; I haven’t tried this but you could probably substitute  1/4 cup worth of banana and additional soy milk if absolutely necessary.

We have yet to make them with fresh lemons (including the zest) rather than just using lemon juice out of a bottle. As they’re already quite tasty, I can only imagine how much better they’ll be then! Also, for the blueberry sauce, we were “lazy” (and very hungry) the second time we made them, so we just microwaved syrup and frozen blueberries, leaving out the dissolved arrowroot and vanilla extract. It was still very good, but the arrowroot does thicken the sauce and slows the “waffle sogginess” process.

It would be interesting to try these with the fresh lemons and zest as the recipe suggests, and to experiment with blue cornmeal instead of regular cornmeal. Alongside the blueberries, that would make for some very blue waffles!

We’ve now made the pumpkin waffles from Vegan with a Vengeance (page 40, or also available at the PPK site) roughly 3 times, so I figured it’s time for a review.

These waffles have consistently ranked well on a number of dimensions. The combination of flavors/spices is great. They’re both moist and slightly fluffy on the inside, and the brown sugar alongside the pumpkin provides a slight carmelization to add the firmness on the outside. These are great for both breakfast or dessert, and the spice combination is aromatherapeutic (is that a word?).

I wasn’t quite as happy when we tried them at a friend’s house near Thanksgiving, but that was because their waffle iron doesn’t flip and isn’t as high-powered as what we’re accustomed to. They didn’t have the fluffiness on the inside and slight crispiness on the outside that I crave. I can’t emphasize this too much, though, because we’re the ones who bought that item for them from their wedding registry a few years ago!  However, the three other people present gobbled them right up, and I still enjoyed them.

I like them best with just a little bit of heated maple syrup, although we’ve also had them with some vanilla soy yogurt on top. I find that using freshly grated nutmeg makes a big difference over pre-grated. We do generally follow Isa’s suggestion for halving the recipe when baking them just for two of us, unless we want to freeze several for the upcoming week.

These are so tasty that you could almost eat them plain. I might try them with little or no brown sugar in the future, so that I can add a little more maple syrup without oversweetening them.

If you don’t already have Ener-G egg replacer in stock, try the below “wonderful vegan waffles” posted by Mercy for Animals , which also work as a pancake batter. As with the “healthful waffles” recipe on this site, add a tablespoon or two of canola oil if you prefer a slightly richer flavor. I usually replace at least half of the water with soymilk or almond milk. They have a slighly different texture that incorporates oatmeal with the flour and utilizes a banana base. Also, you can simply omit the cinnamon and nutmeg if you prefer a neutral waffle, or you can add a little ginger if you prefer additional “zing.” Others have posted the same recipe with additonal tips.

I find that these, like other banana-based waffles, need a slightly longer cook time so they’re not “mushy” in the center–but they’re still very tasty. Using a  potato masher to mash the bananas very well seems to help, and the oats help to provide additional structure and binding.

Mix together the mashed banana and water. Add dry ingredients and mix, leaving lumps in the batter. Cook on a waffle iron, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

The batter also works well for pancakes, and is especially tasty when you add small berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.) to the mix. To make pancakes, pour 1/2 cup of batter into a hot, lightly oiled frying pan. When bubbles rise through the middle of the pancake and break on the top, flip the pancake and cook until browned underneath. (Note: Test the pan before cooking the pancakes by throwing a few drops of water onto it. If the water jumps around and then disappears, the pan is at the correct temperature.)

Top with margarine, syrup, fruits, or preserves.

(Originally posted at fatfree.com by D. Lachman.)

For basic and relatively easy waffles, with a “neutral” flavor good for accommodating a range of toppings, I modified this “healthful vegan waffles” recipe slightly  by replacing a tablespoon of the water with canola oil to give it a slightly “richer” flavor (this optional substitution is noted below). When using a recipe with minimal oil, just don’t forget to coat your iron with some type of non-stick spray–we usually use some type of canola oil spray regardless–you can even put regular canola oil in a small spray bottle and use that, rather than purchasing disposable cans.

This isn’t quite as exciting on its own as some of the other vegan waffle recipes we’ll be reviewing here, such as the pumpkin waffles, but is probably the closest approximation to a non-vegan waffle with a “neutral” flavor. It works well as a “base” for a variety of toppings.

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sweetener of choice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer (or another binding alternative, as noted above)
1 1/2 cups fat free rice milk (or 3 tablespoons Ener-G soy quick + 1 1/2 cups water)
1/2 cup water (optional: replace 1-2 tablespoons of the water with canola oil)
1/3 cup applesauce

Combine all dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and mix well,
but do not over beat. Batter tends to thicken as it stands, so I
usually end up adding a bit of water to it between batches.
Serves 3-4.

Other variations we’ve tried on the above that have worked pretty well include utilizing 2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses as the sweetener, and replacing the entire 1 3/4 C flour with buckwheat flour.