A little insider tip: you can make these into breakfast-friendly waffles by nixing the pepper and scallion, using fine sea salt instead of smoked sea salt and switching from cornmeal to 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat pastry or all-purpose flour instead. They’re so crispy and great with fruit and maple syrup! Otherwise, I serve this as is with homemade chili, fresh salsa or even hummus. If you’d like, you could use a pepper and some pineapple from the Pique instead of the jalapeño pepper, if using. —CS
SERVES 6
1 tbsp (8 g) organic cornstarch
½ cup (120 ml) water
1 cup (235 ml) unsweetened plain plant-based milk of choice
1 tbsp (15 ml) apple cider vinegar
½ cup (120 ml) vegan lager beer
¼ cup (60 ml) grapeseed oil or olive oil
1 generous tsp smoked sea salt or fine sea salt
2 tbsp (24 g) organic light brown sugar
1 jalapeño pepper, trimmed, cored and minced
1 large scallion, trimmed and minced
1 cup (120 g) whole wheat pastry or all-purpose flour
1 cup (160 g) organic medium-grind cornmeal
2 tbsp (10 g) nutritional yeast
2 tsp (7 g) baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Nonstick cooking spray or oil spray
In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water and whisk to dissolve. Cook in the microwave for 30 seconds, or until cloudy and thickened to a jelly-like consistency. Don’t overcook or the mixture will get clumpy. Use ¼ cup (60 ml) of the mixture. Discard the rest. (Alternatively, do this in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.)
In a large bowl, combine the milk with the vinegar. Let it stand 5 minutes so that it curdles.
Whisk the cornstarch mixture, beer, oil, salt, sugar, pepper and scallion into the curdled milk. Add the flour, cornmeal, nutritional yeast, baking powder and baking soda on top of the wet ingredients, and briefly whisk to combine. It’s fine if a few lumps remain, but do not overmix.
Let it stand for 15 minutes, and then preheat the waffle iron to give extra time to the batter. Once the iron is hot, give a quick stir to the batter, generously coat the waffle iron with spray and cover the entire heating plate with batter (or follow the manufacturer’s specific instructions). I get a total of 12 deep-pocketed, ¾-inch (2-cm) thick Belgian waffles on my iron, cooking those 4 at a time. Cook until golden brown and crisp: it usually takes 8 to 10 full minutes on my waffle iron heated to 400°F (204°C).
Transfer the waffles to a cooling rack and repeat with the remaining batter, making sure to gently stir the batter before making each waffle.
Reheat in a 325°F (163°C) oven until crisp again, about 10 minutes. These can also be toasted to reheat.
*SEE PHOTO INSERT