From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

I saw the original recipe for cornmeal waffles on the Jones Dairy Farm website (all their meats are certified gluten-free and I actually cooked with them back in my wheat days). The original recipe included sausage, cheese and hot spices in the cornmeal batter. We found that we preferred just the basic cornmeal waffle, and then topped it in different ways.

Cooked waffle in a toaster makes a good base for ham and cheese open sandwich. Cook onions and peppers together with some meat, sour cream and cheese and use the waffle as a base for a fajita-style flat waffle.

This is a very mild waffle, so if you want spice, add it to your liking. My husband and I even enjoyed it with maple syrup on top served with fried eggs and sausage.

Makes about 6 4-inch Belgian waffles.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs or ½ cup (120 ml, 4 fl oz.) gluten-free egg substitute
• ½ cup (240 ml, 8 fl. oz.) buttermilk (or milk with lemon juice added)
• 1 tsp. (5 ml) gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. (3 ml) baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• ¼ tsp. xanthan gum
• ½ cup (2+1/4 oz.) cornmeal (I use Arrowhead Mills gluten-free cornmeal since I think other gluten-free cornmeals are either finer or coarser. Your choice. I think a coarser cornmeal will need more liquid, otherwise it will be too dry.)
• ½ cup (2+1/4 oz.) Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Blend (below)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• ¼ cup (60 ml, 2 fl. oz.) oil (I use regular olive oil)
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml, 1 oz.) sugar
• 1 tsp. (5 ml) gluten-free vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Turn waffle iron on to heat.
2. Beat eggs or egg substitute with electric mixer until fluffy (1-2 minutes).
3. Add rest of ingredients and lightly beat to blend. Leave to stand for 1-2 minutes as batter will thicken as it stands. Do not make batter in advance as baking soda activates (starts to bubble and rise) when it is mixed with liquid, then stops working.
4. Spray waffle iron with gluten-free non-stick spray and cook waffles according to waffle iron directions. My waffle iron cooks in a little over 3 minutes. Go for light golden brown, not dark brown. They are very light and crispy when fresh. New waffle irons need spraying normally with each amount of fresh batter. Often with egg substitute due to lack of fat from no egg yolk, waffles will stick if iron is not sprayed.
5. Serve immediately or let cool, cover, refrigerate and then toast for breakfast.

Note from Oonagh:You can also make tiny waffles by just putting small spoonfuls of batter onto waffle iron so they can take the place of crostini or croûtes. Crisp in oven when guests arrive and serve with peppadew dip, shrimp and peppadew etc.

To make a small quantity of Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix:

• ½ cup potato starch
• ¼ cup tapioca starch
• 2 Tbsp. millet flour
• 2 Tbsp. sorghum flour