Adventures in Whole Wheat: Blender Waffles

Today I opened one of the #10 cans of wheat that I recently bought and cooked with whole wheat kernels for the first time.

Since I don't have a grain mill, I am limited in what I can do with wheat. The first recipe I selected was Blender Waffles, which is a recipe I downloaded from Everydayfoodstorage.net.

Here are the ingredients. You'll notice that I'm using fresh milk and eggs. I don't have any powdered milk or eggs yet, but if you do, feel free to use them in this recipe.

This could be a completely shelf-stable recipe other than the bananas. Unless you live in Costa Rica on a banana plantation, you'd have to adapt the recipe in an emergency situation. Just leave out the bananas and subtract one tablespoon of wheat from the recipe below, and you're golden.

I opened the can of wheat and took a gander at the contents. Here's a small amount of it in Mini-Me's hand. I was surprised at how dry and unoily the kernels were. I guess that's what makes their shelf life so long.

Being the homeschooling mommy that I am, I proceeded to ruthlessly quiz the children about whether wheat is a monocot or dicot. We covered that in The Thinker's science lesson today. I told the children that I wouldn't give them any waffles unless they got the answer right.

The Thinker said, "Yeah right, Mom", rolled her eyes and left the kitchen. I've lost her to tweenage cynicism already. Mini-Me just looked up at me sweetly. She knows the power her brown eyes have to get her out of many a situation. Not to mention the fact that no one in my house is anything less than well-fed. So much for my threat.  

Anyway, the first step of the recipe is to blend the wheat with the milk for 4-5 minutes on high speed.

I was afraid my blender would either combust or do a lousy job, but it actually came out OK. The texture was kind of like a thick oatmeal when it was finished.

After the wheat and milk was blended, it was very easy to add the other ingredients, mix briefly, and then make the waffles.

 

As the waffles cooked, they smelled faintly like banana bread. I also made the caramel sauce to go along with the waffles.

When they were done, the family dug in with gusto. The Thinker, who is the pickiest eater I know, happily ate two of them. The caramel sauce tasted lovely with the waffles.

The whole wheat in the waffles made them extremely filling. The recipe made nine waffles, which ordinarily wouldn't go very far since my husband does a remarkable vacuum-cleaner imitation. We ended up having two waffles left over, which will make a fine breakfast for someone tomorrow.   

The Verdict: DELICIOUS! I'll definitely make these again.

Up next: Cracked Wheat Cereal

Blender Waffles, recipe from Everyday Food Storage

1 Cup Milk (3 T. Powdered Milk and 1 C. Water)

1 Cup + 2 Tbs Wheat Kernels, whole & uncooked
2 bananas
2 Eggs (2 T. Powdered Eggs and 1/4 C. Water)
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 Cup Oil
2 Tbs. Sugar

Put milk and wheat kernels in blender. Blend on highest speed for 4 or 5 minutes or until batter is smooth.

Add bananas, eggs, oil, baking powder, salt and honey or sugar to above batter. Blend on low.

Pour batter into hot prepared waffle iron from the actual blender jar (only one thing to wash!). Cook and serve.


Hot Caramel Sauce - makes enough sauce for 2 recipes of waffles–good on many desserts too!

1/2 Cup buttermilk or 1/2 Cup milk with 1/2 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Tbs. Corn Syrup (not essential but it will help your syrup keep longer with out going grainy)
2 t. baking soda
1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix ingredients in a pot and boil for 3 minutes, the sauce will turn to the carmel color towards the end of boiling. Stir in vanilla when syrup is finished cooking.