A local grocer was recently giving away some starting-to-wilt basil, so I had to find a use for it! Who can turn down fresh basil? I certainly won’t be the one to start that trend!

This waffle is about subtle style. The orange and the basil aren’t excessively pronounced, but they blend with the cornmeal, spelt flour and toasted overtones in perfect harmony.

These are inspired by a few sources: Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s delicious Blueberry Lemon Cornmeal Waffles from Vegan with a Vengeance, a vegan orange pecan cornmeal waffle recipe at Bryanna Clark Grogan’s blog, and this vegan basil ice cream recipe courtesy of the Vivacious Vegan. The latter led me to concoct orange basil ice cream, which led to the idea of applying the flavor to the waffle…

These came very close to remaining stuck to the iron, but a very generous spraying of canola oil resolved the issue. If you try it with a higher-gluten flour like whole wheat, or with a tsp. of Ener-g egg replacer to increase binding, I’d love to hear how that worked for you. Increasing the oil content in the batter from 3 T to 1/4 C is another possibility. One or more of these adjustments may be necessary for a waffle iron under 1,000 watts.

You’ll want to cook these soon after mixing the batter, as the orange juice/baking soda reaction really puffs up the batter initially, and it soon looses some of this added puffiness. They’ll still come out great, just not quite as fluffy.

Orange zest, orange extract or increased basil are other possibilities. As always, your comments and suggestions are much appreciated!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C whole grain spelt flour
• 3/4 C cornmeal
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 C plain soymilk
• 1 C orange juice
• 1/4 C vanilla or plain soy yogurt
• 3 T canola oil
• 2 T sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 C packed finely chopped fresh basil

Sift together the dry ingredients in one bowl, and whisk together the wet ingredients (including sugar) in another. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix just until blended. Cook on a very generously oiled waffle iron.

Jen and I enjoyed these with a dollop of the remaining vanilla soy yogurt on top!

These would also make great waffles for St. Patrick’s day, with the green flecks of basil in them.