A few vegan waffle party guests and hosts have asked whether we’ve considered catalyzing other types of vegan food parties. This might include, for example, a Global Vegan Ice Cream Party, where guests bring a range of toppings for store-bought or homemade ice creams. Because of this, a few months back I sought input on whether you’d like to see one or more additional types of global vegan food parties, and if so, which type(s) you’d be most likely to participate in. But worry not; WaffleParty.com certainly isn’t going anywhere…

A small but enthusiastic group of individuals (16) completed all or part of the survey. Of those, 6 said you’d like to see similar vegan food events alongside the Global Vegan Waffle Party, 8 noted “maybe” or didn’t respond, and 2 replied “no.” Of the ideas listed on the survey, the most popular were  vegan pancakes, cupcakes, and ice cream. Vegan pizza parties also got a bit of attention. Other great suggestions included vegan sausage parties, vegan brownie parties, and parties related to more of an event type than a particular food type (vegan barbecue parties and vegan brunch parties).

Overall, our impression is that the volume of interest in this type of expansion (and thus necessary people-power to make it happen) is still relatively small. Because of that, and because the Global Vegan Waffle Party is still a pretty new concept that appears to have promise and additional possibilities, we believe we can have a greater positive impact by focusing primarily upon vegan waffles for now–with your help and energy, of course! We’ll see where we’re at after this coming spring’s events, and then decide what  may make sense to add next. I’ve also been hard at work on an information resource that I’m hoping many of you will find helpful–much more on that in upcoming months.

At least two of the concepts mentioned–vegan ice cream and vegan pancakes–already blend very well with the vegan waffle party concept. Perhaps next spring will see some vegan waffles ‘n’ ice cream parties, and more people without waffle irons will join in and have vegan pancake parties. It will be very exciting to see. Whatever the case, ease of guest contribution/participation will continue to be key–i.e., the option to bring something very simple for those who are less familiar with vegan food preparation.

Thanks again to those of you who provided feedback!

It’s a very warm summer day here in the ‘Burgh, as I know it is in many other parts of the world. To be honest, I’m slightly less enthusiastic about hot foods in July and August than I am other times of the year. Hence, my fewer postings during the summer months. Lately, cereal with some nice cold soymilk and some fresh fruit have been a common breakfast food. However, another Pittsburgh Vegan Meetup member recently requested ideas for cold breakfast foods, triggering a few neurons.

While waffles themselves aren’t generally good when they’re cold, they can go very well with cold toppings. Here are a few easy suggestions for making your vegan waffles a cool and refreshing dairy-free summer treat.

• When making waffles in the summer, make them in larger batches and freeze them. Next time you’re craving a waffle, you don’t have to spend much time in the kitchen near the hot iron. Just pop them into the toaster. If your iron makes round waffles, just don’t forget to break them into quarters before freezing so they fit into the toaster.
• If you’re craving a waffle with fruit, don’t bake the fruit into the waffle or cook it into the syrup. Keep it cool and fresh. Make a big bowl of fruit salad, and chill it to make a delicious waffle topping. This is particularly great to do this time of year, when fresh fruit is in abundance in many more locations–and local usually means fresher and tastier. The fresh blueberries from our local CSA farm share have been excellent this year!
• Use soy ice cream or sorbet, if you want it to be a little healthier, cold soy yogurt on top of the waffles. What I really enjoy is a “waffle ice cream sandwich”–two waffle quarters with some vegan ice cream in between. This is particularly good with some of the dessert waffles on this site.
• If you like chilled avocado, guacamole, or hummus, those can also add a cool twist to a waffle.
• The other day I even had the crazy idea of making waffle-shaped ice cubes or frozen orange juice-sicles! Yeah, I know I think about waffles a bit too much sometimes. However, none of our waffle makers have removable grids, and we don’t have one of those old-fashioned waffle makers that you use over a gas flame or campfire. The latter probably wouldn’t fit into our freezer with the long handle anyway. Oh, well… If you’re feeling adventurous and give this a try, let me know!

This vegan waffle recipe goes well with a modest topping of vanilla soy yogurt or applesauce.

I decided it would be fun to have a “recipe for two” because the avocados and pecans seem somewhat decadent. Perhaps you could even hold a romantic candlelit waffle dinner. Also, because it doesn’t use the cheapest ingredients, it’s probably best to try a small batch first to make sure you like them as well as we do! And even if you don’t have a date, you can always make up a big batch of them for your friends on St. Patty’s day alongside some of the Vegan Orange Basil Cornmeal Waffles. Can’t pinch these waffles!

These were inspired by a homemade crafts and food fair where a local vegan bakery offered avocado cupcakes. While somewhat hesitant at first, I bought one and found it pleasantly taste-bud-popping. Just like any average person, I then thought, “Hey, avocados would be great in a waffle!” After exploring which ingredients had been combined with the mighty green avocado in various other recipes, I settled on pecans, cinnamon and fresh nutmeg. They seem to complement one another quite well.

Although I often utilize healthier whole grain flour, I used plain old white all purpose flour for these so that the more subtle flavors would come through, and so the waffles wouldn’t be too dense given the avocado. However, I still used some whole wheat flour because I find waffles “cardboardy” if they don’t have a little bit of texture. If you try other flours, I’d love to hear how it worked for you!

Ingredients (for two round belgian-style waffles)

• 1/4 C finely chopped raw pecans
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground or grated nutmeg
• 1 ripe avocado, mashed until smooth (Haas other variety)
• 1/2 cup soymilk or other nondairy milk
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons lime juice

Directions

Chop the pecans and set aside. Combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl and stir with a whisk. Mash the avocado in a medium bowl, and thoroughly mix with the soymilk, sugar, water oil, and lime juice. Pour into the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in the pecans.

Preheat the waffle iron for 3 to 5 minutes and spray both grids with oil. Pour or ladle the batter into the center of the iron, covering no more than two-thirds of the iron’s surface for the first waffle. Adjust the amount as needed for subsequent waffles. Bake each waffle for 4 to 5 minutes, or until it can be removed easily.