It hadn’t occurred to us until our little son Gio started eating real breakfasts that a waffle iron is a magical item. You pour cold, lumpy batter into a mysterious machine, leave it alone for a while and open it to find hot nut-brown waffles inside! He just loves them. Now, when Gio wakes up at 7 am, he is ready to begin his day; we are still bleary from a night in the restaurant. He demands to “mix now,” but the last thing we want to do is cook. So we devised a waffle recipe that is improved by being started the night before. Use quick-cooking oats for a tender waffle, plain if you prefer a more substantial, chewy waffle. The light tang of orange juice and buttermilk add a wonderful flavor. Serve with butter and spiced apple butter or maple syrup. With the orange-and-oat flavors of the waffles, plus melting butter and maple syrup, what could be better than cold, fresh apple cider? Garnished with apple butter and whipped cream they taste like apple pie ala mode, only in breakfast form.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for cooking
- Allspiced Apple Butter, recipe follows
- Whipped cream, for garnish
- Fresh berries, for garnish, optional
- 5 pounds apples, like MacIntosh or Ida, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- 1 pound light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice, preferably freshly ground
Instructions
- The night before you plan to serve the waffles, in a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, orange juice, and oats. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg. Add the sugar and mix. Add the flours, baking soda, salt, and the oat mixture and mix well. Stir in the melted butter. The batter may be slightly lumpy.
- Preheat and lightly butter a waffle iron. Spoon a generous 1/2 cup of batter onto the hot iron and close the lid. Cook until no more steam escapes from the iron and the waffle is golden on both sides, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately with the apple butter and whipped cream and garnished with fresh berries.
- Equipment: Waffle iron.
- Put the apples in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over low heat. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice and continue cooking over low heat, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about 30 minutes more.
- To test for doneness, place a spoonful of the mixture on a white plate and let sit 20 seconds. If a ring of liquid forms around the apples, there is still too much liquid in the mixture. Continue cooking and testing until no ring forms.
- Yield: about 5 cups
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 1036 |
| Total Fat | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 237 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 18 g |
| Sugar | 183 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Cholesterol | 60 mg |
| Sodium | 1052 mg |
Reviews
I read some of the comments about this recipe and decided to try it anyway. I wanted to judge for myself… You have to make it your own. This recipe is a must try! I started with adding rasins, roasted pecans, cinnamon and fresh blueberries and strawberries on top with low fat yorgurt. It was a home run with my family… When you make it right.
I had to thicken the batter a little to prevent them from being to thin. The flavor was really good and the kids ate a ton of them.
After reading the reviews, I made the following changes. I upped the oatmeal to 1 cup, I ommitted the orange juice, and I added a second egg. Even the doubters liked them!!
I didn’t have any problems with gooiness. The first two waffles came out too dark though, almost burned, but I just used less batter for the rest of them. They weren’t perfect-looking, as using less batter meant not completely filling in the iron, but they tasted good. If I didn’t have kids I probably wouldn’t make them again, but having found a relatively healthy recipe my kids love, I’m sure I’ll be making these frequently. I didn’t make the apple butter, and I was out of wheat flour, so I used al white; I also added cinnamon and vanilla. Served them with butter and maple syrup.
After reading the reviews for the oatmeal waffles, I was a little nervous to make them… however, I really wanted a waffle recipe that used oatmeal (lowers cholesterol) and this was the only one on Food Network or Epicurious sites. I made them this morning and they turned out great! Didn’t make the apple butter, but the waffles came out light and crispy. I didn’t have problems with sticking or lumps or anything. The taste was a little basic – maybe I would add cinnamon next time. But the texture was great, and they weren’t heavy like some recipes. I followed the recipe exactly (mostly because I was nervous about all the previous reviews). In any case, if you are interested in a simple waffle recipe with oatmeal and whole wheat flour, this is a very good one.
I should have listened to the other reviewers before wasting organic buttermilk and other quality ingredients on this recipe. I own a top rated waffle maker, and this recipe didn’t work with it at all. The waffle stuck to both sides of the waffle maker and split in the middle when I attempted to take it out. I got the idea to salvage the batter by making pancakes from he other reviewers. They turned out mediocre at best. If anyone has a good overnight waffle recipe, please let me know.
I should have looked at the other reviews before I tried this recipe. The batter seemed very runny, but I still tried it in my waffle maker. I used the melted butter in the waffle maker, but I had a very hard time getting the waffle out. I’m not sure if this recipe is missing an ingredient or the proportions aren’t right.
I properly buttered my waffle iron and the waffles came out gooey and in pieces. It tasted great but the appearance was not appealing. I also used the leftover batter and made some really good pancakes.
I was hesitant on fixing this waffle. It didn’t sound right…sounded good, but just not the way I knew a waffle to be. Well, it is easy and delicious and everyone just loved them! The only thing I left out the second time was the allspice in the apple butter….I added more cinnamon because everyone liked that better. These are good with just syrup…my favorite way to eat them.