Vegan Belgian-Style Waffles
I made these delicious waffles for Christmas morning and they were such a hit, we've had them 4 times ever since. This style of waffles I grew up eating, my mum made a version of these when we were little, they were more for special occasion as they needed to rise for a little while, and we always loved them so much!
If you make these to have on the day, make time for minimum 30-40min to an hour for rest time, you can also make them the night before and keep them in the fridge overnight, this will give them a much deeper yeasty flavour!
Ingredients :(Makes 4-5 waffles in a 7" waffle maker)
1 1/2 cups (340g) of lukewarm milk
6 tbsp (85g) melted vegan butter
2 to 3 tbsp of maple syrup
3/4 tsp of sea salt
2 cups (240g) of all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp of instant yeast
1 tsp of vanilla extract (optional)
This is after a 40min rise before I added the baking powder because I was in a rush!
Method :
Combine your lukewarm milk and melted butter together, and get it to a lukewarm temp before adding in the instant yeast. Mix together and let it sit for a couple of min.
Add in your flour, salt and vanilla extract, mix together until all combined and it has formed a nice batter (don't worry if it's not totally smooth!)
Cover with a clean tea towel and place in a warm spot in your house to let it rise for 1 hour (for us it's in our utility cupboard! I've heard there's methods to proof in your oven with just the oven light turned on or using a bowl of boiling water at the bottom of your turned off oven.. worth exploring if your kitchen is too cold!)
(If you're in a super rush, you can add 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder to the batter after 30-40min. This works perfectly well, you just won't get as much of that yeasty flavour
If you have more time and want to prep this ahead, let it rise for an hour, then place in the fridge overnight and make the waffles in the morning!
If not, just follow the recipe and make them after a 1 hour rise ;)
Preheat your waffle iron, if needed oil it up lightly so it doesn't stick, then follow your waffle iron's manufacturer's instructions. They generally take around 5 min to get golden and crispy on the outside but this will depend on your waffle maker and it's settings!
Eat immediately with maple syrup, vegan butter or vegan yoghurt, fruits like bananas and berries, peanut butter or almond butter, perhaps jam, perhaps not all at the same time..!
ps : we have also turned these into "blinis" of sorts, eating them savoury with carrot lox, vegan cream cheese or vegan creme fraiche, lemon juice, capers and cracked black pepper - DELICIOUS! If you do want to make them savoury I recommend adding just 1 teaspoon of maple syrup to help the yeast rise, that's all.We cooked them in a non-stick frying pan as we would pancakes.
I hope you love these just as much as we do! They are a firm favourite, and perhaps a new Christmas tradition...! Let me know in the comments below if you try them!
I've also been asked a few times about which waffle iron we use, ours is the Cooks Professional one, not sure it would be my first choice, it's very bulky, but it's works ok. I have heard great things about the Breville waffle maker though.
