the pursuit of happiness and being fulfilled has never been a big problem for me, however, the fear of failure and the waves of self-doubt have always been a hurdle to jump - nagging myself with questions like: am i doing the right thing, is this good enough, how can i be better? i know that a bit of self-analysis is good, healthy even, but the delicate balance of it all can be super tricky. i would be lying if i said i never compared myself to another; wishing i could be, or think differently, that certain things wouldn't feel like such obstacles or that i could put it all out there without the fear of being judged. but then there's a flicker of reflection where i realize i'm wasting too much time not being in the here and now, making the most of my time in this lovely, complex, sometimes crazy, world; that people will be people, and all you can do is surround yourself with positivity, a healthy dose of skepticism, laughter, creativity, and the feeling of being known and appreciated.
these waffles were totally inspired and adapted by kimberley's pumpkin buckwheat waffles post from last fall. at the time i didn't know what i was more touched and excited by, her words or the recipe. she recounted her feelings on being gluten free, her fear of being judged for it, and deserving a chance at thriving in this world. i totally empathized with her and quickly thereafter made her incredible waffles! this time, i swapped the pumpkin for banana, and made them a little more dairy-free friendly. the mixture of flours used give them a complex, wholesome quality, while the banana puree holds it all together and offers a banana bread-like flavor (when you press these gems in your waffle maker you'll think you're making banana bread, fo' reals!)! and i topped it all off with my maple blue-barb jam from the other day - the best part about the jam is that it's maple syrup based, can be warmed up on the stovetop and used as a fruity syrup that's perfect for topping just about any breakfasty baked good.
make sure you check out kimberley's new cookbook, vibrant food, which will be released on june 17th! i've had mine pre-ordered for months, and from what i'm hearing it's a total gem (not surprising)!
banana buckwheat waffles w/ blue-barb syrup (gluten + dairy free)
adapted from The Year In Food
| makes 8-9 waffles |
ingredients
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 3 small/medium bananas, pureed in a food processor
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, extra oil for greasing waffle iron
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
toppings
instructions
- in a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients; set aside. in another large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients; whisk the wet ingredients into the dry and set aside
- heat your waffle iron on a medium-high setting (for instance, my waffle iron has 5 heat settings, so i heat the iron on 4). also, preheat oven to warm and place a baking sheet with foil inside
- using a pastry brush, brush the hot iron with oil; then ladle batter onto iron (i used approximately 1/3 cup worth of batter each time), cook for about 3-5 minutes (this depends on your waffle maker), and transfer to baking sheet - keep waffles warm while you repeat this process with remaining batter
- while your waffles are keeping warm, place a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat. place the 1/2 cup of blue-barb jam into the warm pot and stir until hot; then transfer syrup to a serving dish
- serve waffles warm with syrup and toasted almonds
enjoy!