If your waffle comes out too tough or “rubbery” (THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST COMMON ERROR) , you may have mixed the batter too well–you want it to still be fairly “lumpy” before you pour it into the waffle iron.

If your waffle sticks to the iron, you have several options. If possible, let it cook a little longer before opening the iron. In general, vegan waffles seem to need a little longer to cook than non-vegan waffles. Try adding more oil to the grids–or add at least some oil if you didn’t before, even with a nonstick coating. If you’re going for a particularly light and fluffy waffle, or one that’s very moist on the inside, there’s a greater tendency it will pull apart when you open the iron–you may want to add some Ener-G egg replacer to provide a little additional “binding.” If these all fail, and you have consistent sticking problems, you may need a higher-power waffle iron. If your waffle iron is very old, it’s possible that the coating has pits and scratches in it, especially if you’ve used abrasive or metal items on the grills. To preserve the waffle grid’s surface, use wooden utensils like chopsticks to clean out “stuck” waffle pieces–don’t use metal forks or butter knives.

If your waffle isn’t quite as crispy on the outside as you’d like it to be, try adding some sweetner such as sugar if the recipe doesn’t already call for it, or turn up your iron’s heat (if it has such an adjustment).

If the waffle comes out too soft in the middle, you may just need to set the iron’s heat on a lower setting (again, if it has such an adjustment) and cook it a little longer, or add less of the “mushy” substance–yogurt, banana, applesauce, etc.

If your waffle comes out too dry, experiment with adding a little more of any of the liquid or liquid-containing ingredients: soymilk, applesauce, banana, and/or oil, depending upon what type of flavor you want.

• 3 T cocoa powder
• 3/4 C spelt flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 t Ener-G egg replacer powder
• 1/2 t cinnamon (optional–if you wanted a Mexican chocolate “kick,” you could also add a dash of cayenne pepper)
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 T sugar
• 3 T canola oil
• 1/2 C plain soy creamer
• 1/4 C unsweetened plain soymilk
• 1/2 t vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl (try to break up any cocoa clumps as much as possible) and the wet ingredients in another. Pour the wet into the dry and mix just until the dry ingredients are saturated. Cook on a waffle iron sprayed generously with oil (we generally use canola). Enjoy!