Apple Cinnamon CRAZY GOOD Waffles (Vegan, Gluten-free)

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Apple Cinnamon CRAZY GOOD Waffles (Plant-based, Gluten-free)

Yield: 1 large Belgian waffle

Author: Abby Steketee, literallyupsidedow.com

Of all the flavors in the CRAZY GOOD waffle series, these apple cinnamon ones are my husband's favorite. They're no-fuss and wholesome, with the comforting vibe of simple apple pie.

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cashew or almond milk (125-130 mL)
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 medium-sized apple with the peel, but cored and chopped (170-200 grams total) - too much fruit leads to soggy waffles
• 1 cup rolled oats (100-105 grams) - also known as old-fashioned oats
• 2 teaspoons maple sugar (yes, that's maple SUGAR, not syrup)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking spray (or oil) for the waffle iron

Instructions

1. Pour ½ cup of cashew milk and 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar into a blender. Let the milk-vinegar sit undisturbed for 5-10 minutes...and then you'll have vegan buttermilk.
2. While the buttermilk sits, wash, core, and chop one apple (no need to peel!).
3. When the buttermilk is ready, add 1 cup oats and blend until the oats are ground into flecks.
4. Add the chopped apple, 2 teaspoons maple sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and blend until smooth.
5. Turn on the waffle iron. Let your batter rest while the iron heats.
6. When the iron is hot, oil the top and bottom with cooking spray. Give the batter one or two gentle stirs with a spoon or spatula, then pour it directly from the blender onto the HOT waffle iron.
7. Close the lid, and follow your iron's instructions. That being said, these crazy good waffles may take longer than regular waffles to cook. Don't open the waffle iron until it has completely stopped steaming. The waffle is ready when the exterior is golden brown and crispy.
8. If you're not serving or eating the waffle immediately, keep it warm and crispy by placing it on a wire cookie rack on a baking sheet in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
9. If you're making more than one waffle, let the iron reheat for approximately 30 seconds between waffles. HOT iron = crispy waffle.

Notes

• Apple varieties: You know what I'm going to do this autumn? Go to the farmer's market and pick out several different types apples. Invite a few dear people over and make one waffle with each kind of apple. Split the waffles with my dears and compare the flavors. (By the way, when I buy apples at the grocery store, I go for Envy or Cosmic Crisp.)

• Nut-free version: Substitute the cashew/almond milk with another unsweetened, non-dairy milk.

• How to freeze waffles: Completely cool the prepared waffles on the counter. Once cooled, place the waffles in a single layer (not touching each other) in the freezer for 1-2 hours. After 1-2 hours, remove the waffles from the freezer; stack them between pieces of parchment paper in an air-tight, freezer-safe container; seal the container and store them in the freezer.

• Craving fancy apple pie? Top the waffle with baked apples, chopped pralines, and whipped cream.

Here’s an icebreaker that got the undergrad students talking when I taught at Virginia Tech: If an alien landed on earth and wanted to experience eating, what would you feed it? In other words, what food would most encapsulate our human experience of eating?

Pizza and fast food were the most common answers.

Despite the students’ (often) astute and funny justifications for Dominoe’s, what I would feed the alien is my grandmother’s applesauce. We call it “Ali applesauce.” Ali, nearly 99 years old and retired from the kitchen, says it was the specific kind of apples that made it taste so good. She used apples that grew in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Bedford, Virginia. They were small and hard and green. Ali applesauce was more yellow than green, and smooth and sweet-tart. We hoarded jars of it in the freezer. Oh, the delight of eating a frozen bit if you were too impatient to let it completely thaw! Not a single drop could go to waste. I have spent many a glorious moment with a long-handled ice tea spoon scraping every dribble of Ali applesauce from the bottom of a mason jar.

Sitting with Ali back in 2022 on my parents’ back porch in Danville, Virginia.

If an alien ate Ali Applesauce, it could taste the mountains, and the sun on the mountains, and the long time ago when someone planted a seed that grew into an apple tree. The alien could taste the basket the apple was gathered in and the light from the window above the kitchen sink where Ali washed the apples while watching cardinals visit her bird feeder. The alien could taste the sugar and the laughter and the way my grandfather said, “bless this food to our health and us to Thy service” before we ate. The alien would taste home and love and that “the world begins at the kitchen table,” as the poet Joy Harjo wrote.

These days I don’t have Ali applesauce at hand. The alien might have to settle for an apple cinnamon Crazy Good waffle. The apple might have to come from the store. I’d probably go with Cosmic Crisp, even though SweeTango apples are the number one apple according to the witty Apple Rankings website.

Cosmic Crisp or not, based on my husband’s reaction to these waffles, the alien would taste love.

Other recipes in the CRAZY GOOD waffle series—gluten-free and vegan:

Banana Oat (the original CRAZY GOOD waffle), Ginger Pear, Spiced Clementine Chocolate Chip