St. Waffles: Whole-wheat Breakfast Goodness

I know, I know, it's a weird name for waffles. But, trust me, these are so crammed with delicious goodness, they really do deserve to be sainted AND given an extra-bright halo.

My waffle and pancake recipes are always healthy because I make them with wholegrain flours. These too were made with whole wheat pastry flour, but I also added a good bit of wheat germ and flax meal to the batter, boosting the fiber and healthy-fats content (I do love those healthy fats because they're great for your brain and your skin. How good is that?)

Then, to boost the protein, I added a few dollops of tofu.

I love using tofu in dishes where no one can detect it. While both Desi and I like tofu, I know some people would rather kill than eat it. But tofu offers immense nutritional benefits and a complete, healthy vegetable protein, so it's a shame to leave it out of any diet, vegan or not.

These waffles are really crispy and taste best right off the waffle iron (they do tend to harden up if left standing for too long, although they are still delicious).

If you don't have a waffle iron, you might try adding more soymilk to the batter to make it thinner, and then make pancakes with it. In fact, I do this all the time: use waffle batter to make pancakes and vice-versa.

Serve these waffles with maple syrup and berries or bananas or with just a dusting of powdered sugar, if you have a less-than-sweet tooth. No matter how you eat them, these waffles will likely make you feel a little saintly yourself!

Flax-and-Wheat-Germ Waffles

Mix together:

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup wheat germ, toasted lightly

1/4 cup flax meal

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

In another bowl, mix together:

1 cup silken tofu, beaten

2-4 tbsp canola oil

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Add the tofu-soy milk mixture to the flour mixture and gently, with a spatula, mix until the dry ingredients are just moistened.

If the mixture is too dry, add some more soy milk so you have a thick but spreadable batter.

Heat a waffle iron and bake waffles according to instructions. My stone-age waffle-maker takes about 1/4 cup of batter for each waffle and has a little green light that goes on when the waffle is ready to be removed and devoured mindlessly.