Waffles with the addition of farmers cheese (Russian tvorog) are the only kind of waffles I’ve been making recently. Well, maybe I did make my sourdough waffles a time or two as well… Farmers cheese, which is another name for Quark is unriped unpressed cultured cheese. It contains mostly protein from milk casein, and only a negligible amount of lactose, or milk sugar, making it suitable for folks with dairy sensitivities. It takes longer to digest in the stomach, and is a perfect food to keep you feeling full longer. In addition to increasing protein content of foods combined with it, farmers cheese adds great texture and flavor to baked goods while making it possible to use less flour. Buckwheat is one of the healthiest grains you can eat, and even if you are not avoiding gluten, it’s worth including it in your diet. Sprouting buckwheat brings out a lot of additional nutrients.
I use the same recipe for making waffles with einkorn or spelt flour, and I have also made it with sprouted oat flour. My kids prefer the einkorn version but my husband and I like the buckwheat waffles a lot. With cocoa and hazelnut flour, drenched in melted ghee or coconut oil, they taste like cake.
HOW TO MAKE BUCKWHEAT WAFFLES
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
1 cup (230g) farmers cheese or ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons (55g) butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup, or sugar (use more for sweeter waffles)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup milk
Dry ingredients:
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I use raw cacao powder)
1.5 cup sprouted buckwheat flour (how to sprout buckwheat; then grind it in a coffee grinder, or grain mill)
1/4 cup hazelnut flour (optional, but adds a nice flavor)
2 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
Instructions
Combine wet ingredients in a blender (I use Blendtec) and mix until smooth.
Add dry ingredients and blend until everything is incorporated. The batter will be fairly thick, but that’s what you want. I use this long and thin spatula to help with the batter and scrape the bottom of the blender.
Pre-heat your waffle maker, and cook waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions.
I use this Waring Pro waffle iron on 4.5 setting of darkness. I pour 1/4 cup of batter into the middle because I like star-shaped waffles like on the photos here.
If I’m serving waffles right away, I pre-heat oven to 250ºF and place buckwheat waffles right after I cook them on the middle rack – it crisps them up and keeps them warm to serve all at once. Otherwise I freeze them, then toast them from frozen when I’m ready to eat them.
Tip: if you are serving waffles right as they come out of the waffle iron – keep them there a bit longer after you hear the ‘ doneness beep’, for crispy waffles you want the steam to stop coming out completely.
Chocolate Buckwheat Waffles ~ GF
Ingredients
WET INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup (230g) farmers cheese or ricotta cheese
- 4 tablespoons (55g) butter
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or sugar (use more for sweeter waffles)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup milk
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder I use raw cacao powder
- 1.5 cup sprouted buckwheat flour how to sprout buckwheat; then grind it in a coffee grinder, or grain mill
- 1/4 cup hazelnut flour optional, but adds nice flavor
- 2 teaspoon baking powder aluminum free
Instructions
- Combine wet ingredients in a blender (I use Blendtec) and mix until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients and blend until everything is incorporated. The batter will be fairly thick, but that's what you want. I use this long and thin spatula to help with the batter and scrape the bottom of the blender.
- Pre-heat your waffle maker, and cook waffles according to manufacturer's instructions.
Notes
- I use this Waring Pro waffle iron on 4.5 setting of darkness. I pour 1/4 cup of batter into the middle because I like star-shaped waffles like on the photos here.
- If I'm serving waffles right away, I pre-heat oven to 250ºF and place buckwheat waffles right after I cook them on the middle rack - it crisps them up and keeps them warm to serve all at once. Otherwise I freeze them, then toast them from frozen when I'm ready to eat them.
- Tip: if you are serving waffles right as they come out of the waffle iron - keep them there a bit longer after you hear the ' doneness beep', for crispy waffles you want the steam to stop coming out completely.
- Buckwheat tends to produce waffles (or any baked goods) on the drier side because it lacks those elastic gluten proteins that contribute to chewiness and moisture; that's why I like to have some melted ghee or coconut oil ready to drizzle on top.
