Healthy Flax & Egg Waffle Breakfast

Here's the problem with waffles: First, they're a bit too much work to make on a daily basis; and second, they're not especially healthy. With this instructable I seek to solve both of those barriers, and give you a way to enjoy waffles on a daily basis that are both healthy and quick to prepare. If this sounds like something that interests you, read on!

What you need to know about these waffles:

• Gluten free
• unsweetened
• simple, quality ingredients
• dead easy to make

The Ingredients:

• 36 Eggs!
  
• 1 Liter of Milk (or milk alternative)
• 2 Cups of Butter (or coconut oil)
• 2 Cups of Cocoa Powder
• 680 grams of flax seeds (the entire package) *

*If you choose to buy ground flax seeds you'll need about 8 Cups worth

You may be looking at the quantities here and wondering why the heck we need so much. 36 Eggs? Seriously? Absolutely! This is where the "enjoying waffles on a daily basis" is solved. We're going to make 36 waffles and freeze them. That way all you have to do is pop them in the toaster and you're ready to go. No need to get out the waffle iron, mixing bowls and all the other accouterments you usually need for making waffles.

Why 36? Well... for a couple of reasons. First, I like being able to use up the entire package of flax seeds in one shot. And second, because I like to be able to get through a whole month without having to dig out the waffle maker. It really simplifies my morning routine, and keeps me from being tempted to eat something less healthy.

And third, I think, for what you're getting, the price is right. This recipe will yield 36 Waffles for about $20 worth of ingredients (or 56¢ per waffle). Compare this to Eggo waffles which are in the neighbourhood of 30 to 35¢ per waffle (and considerably smaller). Now don't get me wrong, Eggo's are great tasting, but I wouldn't want to fuel my day on them. Not regularly anyways.

• 1 waffle maker (mine cost 10$, works fine)
• 1 really large bowl
• 1 even larger bowl!
• Some kind of grinder (coffee grinder, magic bullet, whatever)
• Spatula, whisk, a big sieve, and a decently large spoon (for scoopin')

For me it goes fastest to grind about a 1/4 cup at a time. And once ground I put the contents through a sieve. Any flax that doesn't pass trough the sieve I re-grind until it does. This process tends to be a noisy one, so it's a great time to get out your headphones and drown out the noise with some music.

Put your 2 cups of cocoa through the sieve next. Then mix the two ingredients together. Set this bowl aside after they are mixed.

Now get your even bigger bowl out and crack all 36 of your eggs into it. Then pour in your liter of milk. Lastly, grab your whisk and beat the eggs and milk together.

Add half of your cocoa/flax mixture to the egg/milk mixture and blend them together. Then incorporate the other half of the cocoa/flax mixture. It's going to get really gloopy and hard to stir. That's normal. Keep at it until you've worked it all together.

Now put your butter in the microwave and warm it until it's just liquefied. Pour this into the bowl with all your other ingredients and mix it in. At first the butter will appear to just float on the surface, but keep mixing and it'll work together nicely. For whatever reason the butter makes the mixture even harder to stir, so expect your shoulder to get really tired. It's a good idea to start warming up your waffle maker about the same time you begin mixing.

Let your waffle iron get up to temperature. My waffle maker's non-stick coating is in decent shape, so for me it is not necessary to grease it at all. It seems the butter in the batter is more than enough, and the waffles pop right out. Results may vary.

For your first pair of waffles I recommend you err on the side of caution and add a little less than what would appear to be the full amount. These waffles tend to rise a fair bit on account of the eggs, and so they will need room to grow. Best to undershoot on the first waffles and then adjust up for the subsequent ones. Also, make note of how long it takes to finish cooking the first waffles. That way you can use a timer for all the others. This'll take the guesswork out of it.

With those first waffles it can be a little tricky to know what done looks like because the batter is already brown, but in my experience they are ready in about 6 minutes and 30 seconds, and they'll have a nice firm exterior. If you tapped on them with the backside of a spoon you'll get a nice "thunk" sound, not something spongy. The inside of the waffle however will be spongy.

2 waffles every 6.5 minutes means it'll take a little over two hours to cook up the whole batch. I keep my bowl of batter in the fridge between uses.

As they finish I pop the waffles on to my oven racks to cool. I leave the oven door half open to let any excess moisture out. If, however, you have adequate counter space and enough cooling racks then by all means let them cool that way.

Once they are mostly cooled down I stack 'em up in a container (with wax or parchment paper to separate them). Then I put container in the freezer.

In the morning it's as simple as pulling a waffle out of the freezer and popping it in the toaster. Then plate it and top it with whatever you choose. For me this is the time to add something sweet on top, being that the waffles themselves are unsweetened. I like putting on a dollop of plain yogurt and topping that with some honey or maple syrup. But really, the sky's the limit.

The only thing I don't recommend is eating the waffles plain. They are healthy enough but pretty bland on their own. Let them be the foundation of something more elaborate! As for the waffle's structural integrity, they hold together quite well. They don't crumble going in and out of the toaster, and they're firm enough to make spreading your favourite topping an expeditious experience.

For me these waffles are all business. A nice mix of healthy protein, fiber and carbs. On top of that it's an unobtrusive way to introduce cocoa into your diet (without sweeteners), which has it's own benefits. I tend not to make a meal out of these in the morning, just one with some yogurt and honey. Maybe a banana and some nuts on the side, and a glass of fruit juice to accompany it all. A nice clean, healthy start to the day. It gets me through till lunch no problem.

For some it may come as a surprise that you can even make a waffle without any flour. This is one of my favourite aspects of this recipe. Nothing against a good flour based waffle mind you, they're great tasting! But again, not something I'm going to kick my day off with on a regular basis.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy making these a part of your breakfast.