Pear Hazelnut Waffles
I gave up my waffle maker years ago. I never used it—based on an assumption that gluten-free people don’t get to eat waffles—so I KonMari’d it out of my life. Months passed, and my thoughts kept drifting back to it. Why weren’t good gluten-free waffles a thing? Was I intimidated by the assumed need for yeast and separating eggs and other commotion? Or perhaps I wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge what a terrible pancake flipper I was? Whatever the reason, it was the only thing I purged from my cabinets that I regretted. So, I recently made the steep investment into a $18 waffle maker and welcomed crispy yet fluffy, syrupy goodness back into my life. Hence, all the recent waffle recipes. This dish ditches the basic-bitch approach to waffles (seriously, no more bananas and walnuts, please) for citrus, honey, hazelnuts, and peak-of-the-season pears. The waffle batter comes together incredibly quickly in a food processor or blender, so it feels just as easy to pull-off hungover as pancake mix. Not to mention the taste will blow away any allergy-toting breakfast guests. If you’ve Swedish Death Cleaned a waffle maker from your own life, don’t worry, these also make excellent pancakes providing you have a better flick of the wrist than myself.
3 large ripe pears, cored and sliced
1 tsp vanilla
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 c honey
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 Tbsp flax meal
3 Tbsp warm water
2 cups almond flour
1 ½ cups tapioca flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
1 ⅓ cup unsweetened nut milk
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ c hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
Preheat your waffle iron.
Place sliced pears, vanilla, ginger, and honey in a large saute pan. Set aside.
In a small ramekin, combine flax meal and water. Stir well and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture is ready when it has a gel-like texture.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor or blender. Once the flax meal is ready, add it to the mixture. Blend until the batter is moist and well combined.
Divide the batter into 4 scoops and cook in the waffle maker, making sure it’s been oiled or misted with non-stick spray. Cook each waffle 4-6 minutes, or until a crispy, golden-brown. Place in a warm oven until ready to serve. Repeat with remaining batter.
While the waffles are cooking, heat the pan with the pears over medium-high. Add a pinch of salt and stir until ingredients are well combined. Allow the pears to cook until very soft, about 5 minutes, depending on their ripeness. Remove from heat and add lime zest and juice. Stir well to combine.
Top each waffle with ¼ of the pear mixture and as much syrup from the pan as is desired. Garnish with 2 Tbsp of chopped hazelnuts. Serves 4.
Note: You can feel like you’ve beat the week by making a big batch of these and heating them up in the toaster and throwing on some of the pear syrup before tucking them into a tupperware. You'll have the most enviable desk breakfast around.
Waffle recipe adapted from The Real Food RDs.
