Sprouted Oat Blender Waffles (GF)

 

For this Sunday Funday, we are looking at food made with sprouted legumes or grains.  I love bean sprouts and my mom always had alfalfa sprouts in the fridge for sandwiches and salads when I was little.  I liked the crunch of those bitty little sprouts and while we got them from the store, they are so easy to sprout at home!  Today, I am using sprouted oats which are now available at Costco.  I really appreciate that, since unsprouted oats can be hard on the digestion due to high levels of phytic acid.  Sprouting and/or soaking/souring grains and legumes makes them so much easier to digest since it lowers levels of anti-nutrients and raises bio-availability of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.  Pretty much back then, (15 years ago), the only way to get sprouted grains or legumes was to sprout them yourself or to sour or soak the recipe, which I did a few times! And while I absolutely love the sourdough waffle recipe I use just about weekly, it was time to come back to these for fun.  The soak for the millet is optional but again, makes them easier to digest and blend.  I used to buy sprouted millet, but the company closed, booo.  It's okay if you forget to plan ahead once in a while though and are just craving waffles.  Speaking of planning ahead, these chocolate sourdough waffles are getting started tonight...

I used to make these wonderfully light and tender waffles all the time when we were first going through food allergy elimination.  Today when I made a batch of these, my eldest was coming down the stairs to figure out what to do for lunch. "What do we have to eat?  And what are you making right now because it smells amazing!"  She doesn't often go for waffles, but eagerly took a couple from this batch to nibble on.  Maybe it's the nostalgia of childhood that worked this time.  I love the flavor from the millet.  It's like a corn cake (corn pancake).  Today I was just a little short on millet, so I added a few tbsp of sprouted amaranth to top it off which added a lovely bit of additional texture.  Youngest actually prefers her waffles totally plain, just to nibble on, and grabbed one as well.

Today I did soak the millet for a couple hours because I have used up all my sprouted millet.  It's a bummer that the company I used to buy from went out of business because they sprouted and dried all sorts of grains, and it made life so much easier having that step taken care of.  I will have to look for another source.  I did see that One Degree has sprouted wheat and spelt in addition to the sprouted rolled oats.  And I do see options for things like millet out there, hooray!  That's a relief, sprouting and drying tiny amaranth seeds would have been a pain and a half. (They make wonderful porridge.)

 

These waffles freeze wonderfully and we reheat them in the toaster on the warm setting.  Warm once, flip, warm again, butter and top as desired. 

Sprouted Oat Blender Waffles
makes 14-16 standard waffles

1½ cups carton coconut milk, oat milk, or diluted canned coconut milk (anywhere up to 50/50 with water)
¾ cup sprouted rolled oats
¾ cup whole millet
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted butter, or avocado oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp maple syrup or sugar or rice malt syrup or 2 tbsp malted milk powder* (malted milk is not 🚫gluten free!)
2 eggs (preferably pastured farm fresh)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp baking soda

Directions:

Soak the millet in enough water to cover for 2 hours to overnight.  (Optional, to aid in digestibility.)  Drain millet when ready to make the batter, discarding soaking water.

In a strong blender, combine coconut milk, water, oats and millet, oil, syrup, and vanilla extract.  Blend on high for 1-2 minutes until the grain is broken down into tiny little bits.

Cover and let sit for at least 10-20 minutes to hydrate the grains.  (The shorter time is fine if you pre-soaked the millet.)

After resting, add the eggs and blend again for a minute or so, until the batter is smooth.  (If the batter is too thick to blend well, add 2-4 tbsp water to get the batter blending in a vortex.)

Add the baking powder, salt, and baking soda and pulse briefly just until blended.

Heat and grease a standard waffle iron.

Cook for approximately 3 minutes in the waffle iron, or until steam stops escaping from the edges.  You should grease lightly about every other batch and they come up with a fork on the edge just beautifully.

* For a malt like flavor without the gluten, maca powder is a great superfood add-in, or some rice malt syrup for the sweetener.  (Red maca is great for women, black maca is generally best for men, and yellow maca is budget friendly and good overall for daily use; there are also blends.)  I have always ordered from the Maca Team, (not sponsored), but maca is readily available on amazon as well.

These are NOT stodgy waffles!

 Check out these other recipes featuring sprouts and sprouted grains:

• Egg Foo Young:  A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sprouted Moong Salad:  Mayuri's Jikoni 
• Sprouted Oat Blender Waffles:  A Messy Kitchen
• Sprouted Spelt Everything Bagel Crackers:  Food Lust People Love 
• Sprouted Vaalachi Bhaji With Fresh Coconut:  Sneha's Recipe 
• Stir-fried Cilantro with Bean Sprouts and Shrimp:  Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Vegetarian Ramen Bowls:  Amy's Cooking Adventures