Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles
As we seek to improve our health in different areas this month, we all know an important aspect of that is starting each day with a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is an important meal, and an opportunity to start off the day right by feeding our families fruits, whole grains, protein, and healthy fats (and even veggies!), and avoiding overly processed and high sugar conventional breakfast foods. Eating a well rounded and healthy breakfast is often easier said than done though, especially on busy mornings.
It’s also really easy to fall into a rut when it comes to breakfast. I know there are times that I feed my kids oatmeal and blueberries everyone morning for a week (or more!) because it’s easy and convenient. This year, I’ve decided to start start planning our breakfasts, the same way that I meal plan for our dinners each week, so that I can plan variety into our breakfasts, while still being quick and easy.
Some of my family’s favorite breakfasts:
- Homemade yogurt with fruit and raw honey
- Omelets or scrambled eggs with veggies
- Green Smoothies (this is another great way to sneak veggies into breakfast)
- Oatmeal with blueberries
- Homemade Granola
- Hard-boiled eggs with fruit
Waffles are also one of my family’s favorite meals. We love them for breakfast, brunch and even dinner. My mom makes the BEST waffles ever (partially thanks to an amazing vintage waffle iron), and she passed down the recipe from my grandmother she uses, to me. I made a few changes to make it a little healthier (the original called for shortening), and also adapted it for soaking, and I still think that these are exceptionally good waffles.
Like my mom, I love to serve these waffles with just a drizzle of maple syrup and peaches that were frozen in season. Scrambled eggs, sausage or bacon make this a complete and filling meal.
The great thing about these waffles too is that they freeze beautifully for quick and easy breakfasts later. You can make an double batch, or just use whatever batter you may have left over, cook them until they are light brown (not too dark), and then line them up on a cookie sheet to freeze. Store them in a freezer bag and then just pull out as many as you need for a quick breakfast and pop them in the toaster.
Also, if you’re like my hubby and don’t like maple syrup (which isn’t a terrible problem because it is a little pricey), instead of using store bought imitation syrup, try making your own syrup at home.
Honey Butter Syrup Recipe
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, turn the burner off and add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined and smooth. Serve warm.
We can serve our families a variety of healthy, yummy and quick breakfasts with a little planning ahead and by using wholesome ingredients. For more inspiration, also check out Anne’s post for great real food breakfast ideas!
What your family favorite breakfast? What do you do to make getting breakfast on the table quick and easy?
This sounds great! Just got my first waffle maker for Christmas.
Mmm….. that first picture looks amazing! 😀
I am about to make breakfast so that is pretty inspiring right now!
I’ve been wanting to get a waffle iron, but all I seem to find are those with nonstick coatings. Are there any good ones out there that don’t have a Teflon or similar coating? I love the idea of making a big batch of waffles to keep in the freezer!
@Kristen,
You know, I hadn’t thought of that before. I would suggest looking for an old fashioned or vintage waffle iron at a thrift store or estate sale or something like that. But they may not be that easy to come by. I’ve been looking for one for a while with no luck so far. The waffle iron my mom uses doesn’t have Teflon on it, it was made before Teflon came around, but it is kind of “seasoned” the way a cast iron pan would get.
@Emily @ Live Renewed,
You can buy a cast iron waffle Iron at http://www.castironheadquarters.com/products/bakeware/rome/waffle-iron.html
It is the same one I have. Mine is about 50 years old or more. Works great! I have taken it camping and a short trip overseas so we didn’t have to worry about current exchanges.
GOOD Luck
You HAVE to try waffles made from sourdough starter. Amazing! I’ve done soaked, but the sourdough is so light!
@Jules, I haven’t tried waffles, but I have made sourdough crepes and they were delicious!
I regularly serve fruist crisp for breakfast. Lots of fruit (apples and frozen berries in winter) and then I cut together oats, coconut oil, and a wee amount of brown sugar. I put it together the night before and bake in the morning. I serve it with plain, full fat yogurt. It’s everyone’s (Incl. mine) favourite breakfast.
I agree about the sourdough waffles. Much more moist and chewy and fluffy than regular ones.
Thank you for this recipe! I am always on the look-out for soaked grain recipes…I think my family will like this one. 🙂
Many blessings,
Camille
Can’t wait to make these! Our family loves pancakes…. But, I’m still looking for that perfect healthy but still “fluffy” pancake recipe :).
Well, I thought I would look up and then link my waffle iron. It is cast iron, but it looks like now it is made with nonstick! Drives me nuts how they try to “improve” the good old product. So, if you see a chrome Black and Decker waffle iron at Goodwill, check it out. It might just be cast iron like mine is. (Mine is about 10 years old.) It works beautifully!
I also agree about sourdough waffles. They are so quick and easy. Also, they are the fluffiest and most crisp waffles I have ever had. Yum! Gotta look how good, old-fashioned, nutritious foods are better!
@Tanya,
Oops, that was supposed to be “Gotta LOVE how good, old-fashioned, nutritious foods are better!”
These were amazing! Got a new waffle iron for Christmas and have been looking for a good, healthy recipe. Thanks for sharing. The syrup was great too. Will definitely be making often!
Wow, that breakfast looks truly delicious, although I’ve always been very skeptical about mixing sweet and savoury. I’m a traditional fry-up man; lots of sausage, lots of hash browns, and lots of baked beans. Unfortunately it can be very tricky to keep it healthy 🙁
I just made these. Only difference is I used 6 Tablespoons coconut oil, no butter and added 1/3 cup agave syrup. They turned out AMAZING! This is now my go to whole wheat waffle recipe! Thank you so much! Oh, I have a newer waffle iron made by “Waffletone” and it worked great! DELICIOUS!
Hey! I soaked my flour in buttermilk on Thursday night hoping to make them Friday morning. But I woke up in the middle of the night with the flu. It is now Monday and I still havent made them. Would it be okay if I still made them? I think I am going to give it a try anyway, just wanted to see what your thoughts were. If not, I can just throw it away and try again soon : )
Thanks!
Courtney
It would be nice to have the nutritional content per waffle for this recipe although I can figure it out myself. I notice you don’t have it for any of your recipes.
Hello again. I just made these waffles and they are amazing. So light and tasty. However I substituted the coconut oil with melted butter. It’s a great recipe.
Wow! Loved these waffles. I used the America’s Test Kitchen technique for mixing the waffles. It is a foolproof method for preventing the melted butter from separating from the batter. It’s super easy. Just seperate the egg whites and yolks. Melt the butter and coconut oil and then let them cool a bit. Stir together the yolks and the fats. This forms an emulsion and it helps the butter to stay mixed uniformly in the batter. Stir the whites into the buttermilk. Now combine the egg mixtures together. Proceed with the recipe. I also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of white whole wheat because that’s all I had. Perfect waffles! Thanks so much for this terrific recipe!
What happened to the waffle recipe? ?