Have you signed up yet for the Virtual Vegan Potluck?? It’s easy to do – just visit the VVP page to get the details, then send me an email at anunrefinedvegan@gmail.com or leave a comment letting me know you’ll be participating and to what course you’ll be contributing. I’ve added a Board to my Pinterest page for the event and will pin a photo from each blog that signs up for the event. You can find me at: http://pinterest.com/unrefinedvegan/. I’ve also added an Events page on Facebook here and you can also keep track of things at An Unrefined Vegan’s Facebook page. While I’m at it, you can find me on Twitter at @AnOlive.
So far 25 bloggers from all over the planet have signed on – thank you! Thanks also to Lidia at VeganBloggersUnite! for posting about VVP today – and – thanks to those who have Tweeted about it, mentioned it on Facebook or have written about it on their blog. I really appreciate your help in spreading the word. I’d love to get 100+ (gulp!) to participate, so if you are so inclined, please invite other food bloggers to join in.
Phew, okay. It’s Monday morning and in my household, waffles help ease the sting of the first day of the week. I pop frozen homemade waffles in the toaster oven and for the time it takes us to consume them, it’s Sunday morning redux. Especially if they are chai-infused waffles. (Yep, chai again.) If you didn’t know by now, I just adore the complex and rich warm flavors that are “chai.” This time I’ve created a waffle around the flavors of cinnamon, anise, cardamom, cloves, a tiny smidge of black pepper all complemented with roasty banana flavor. And then I topped the waffles with homemade cocoa-coconut butter, but the usual waffle-toppings would work just dandy, too.
Banana-Chai Buttermilk Waffles with Cocoa-Coconut Butter
Makes 3+ 8″ waffles
1 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup oat flour (I used regular oats and processed them in a food processor)
1/2 cup almond meal (I used the meal left over from making almond milk, dried and processed in food processor)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. powdered stevia
1/4 tsp. anise seeds (ground in coffee grinder)
1/4 tsp. powdered cardamom
2 pinches ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp. egg replacer + 6 tbsp. water (whisk together until frothy, then let sit for a minute)
1 large, very ripe banana, mashed
1 1/2 cups vegan buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Combine the flours, almond meal, baking powder, salt, baking soda, stevia and spices in a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg replacer, banana, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Let the batter sit for about 15 minutes. (Turn the oven on to 200F so you can warm the plates and keep the cooked waffles crispy – and heat up the waffle iron, too.)
Lightly spray waffle iron with cooking oil and ladle on the batter. Cook for about 4-5 minutes and gently remove waffle and place on oven rack to keep warm while you prepare the rest of the waffles.
Top with a dab, slab or slice of Cocoa-Coconut Butter and your other favorite waffle toppings!
