Coconut Waffles

I had a craving for waffles recently. After all, we have a waffle iron that we don’t use nearly enough, and weekend mornings are slow enough that I can swing something like waffle-making while the Engineer plays with the Little Prince. So I looked through my bookmarked recipes and noticed that I had two different ones for coconut waffles. I decided to make both of them (on non-consecutive weekends) to compare, and I took notes on each. However, given the Engineer’s reaction to one of them, notes were hardly necessary. See, this recipe, with eggs and applesauce and fine macaroon coconut, did not get a warm welcome at all. I hadn’t even had a chance to taste my first waffle that morning when the Engineer was already tearing them apart, in the figurative sense. My impression was that they were innocuously bland, but the Engineer had this to say: “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I don’t like them. They’re lifeless. Whose waffles are these? Tell that blogger she is joyless!” Well, tell us what you really think! Sometimes I feel like I’ve created a monster. It used to be that anything I put on the table was met with approval, but now the Engineer is able to not only criticize, but to very precisely articulate what he does and does not like. I choose to see this as a good thing, but thank God this was just a recipe I was trying out, not one I’d vouched for. So anyway, I’m sorry to say that those waffles, from a blog I now do not wish to name, will not be making any other appearances at our table.

The recipe I will share, however, is from Art of Dessert. These coconut waffles are vegan and very easy to make, with only a few ingredients. I used 1 cup of white all-purpose flour and 1 cup of white whole wheat flour and loved the result. They are crispy on the outside and a bit dry, so they are best served with a choice of coconut syrup or light maple syrup, or the fresh fruit you prefer. The Engineer said they were almost like cookies, actually, but in a good way. The batter is quite thick, so use an ice cream scoop to portion it out, and don’t forget to spray the waffle iron again after each waffle (I like to use a natural cooking spray here). This made 10 small waffles; they are best eaten the day they are made, but leftovers can be frozen or kept in the fridge if they are reheated in the toaster or oven to remain crispy.

2 cups all-purpose flour (see note above)
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 can (14 oz.) coconut milk (a little over 1 ½ cups)
(¼ cup sanding sugar, if you’re making sugar waffles, which we didn’t attempt)

Preheat waffle iron. (I set mine to 3 out of 6, but the waffles were still quite pale, so you could go higher.)

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and coconut milk until combined. If you’re making sugar waffles, gently fold in the sanding sugar.

Spray the preheated waffle iron with natural cooking spray. Using an ice cream scoop, put some batter onto the waffle iron and cook until golden brown. Serve with fresh fruit and syrup.