Easy 15-Minute Blue Corn Buttermilk Waffles

These Easy 15-Minute Blue Corn Buttermilk Waffles are a breeze to whip up and oh, so delicious! Buttermilk, lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar add layers of sweet and citrus notes to this sophisticated and satisfying breakfast.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Print

Top these beauties with fresh blueberries, crisp Granny Smith apples and a drizzle of warm agave nectar or maple syrup. This easy blue corn waffle recipe is sure to become your new favorite for summer outdoor brunches or cozy winter breakfasts. You may even find they make a fine dinner in the fall and spring.

And if you really want to takes these waffles to the next level, serve them up with my Thyme Infused Blueberry Sauce. This sauce is delicious served warm or chilled and over these waffles, it’s absolute heaven!

Blue corn flour – healthy, flavorful, versatile

I love blue corn tortilla chips, but there are so many more ways to integrate this gluten free flour into your kitchen quiver. Blue corn flour is also great for baking!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Print

Blue corn flour comes from blue flint corn, a type of Native American heirloom corn grown primarily in New Mexico and Arizona. The taste is often described as sweeter than its yellow or white corn counterparts, but blue corn has a healthy, little secret. It has a higher protein content (20% more protein) and lower overall starch content thank other corn. As a result, baked good prepared with blue corn are both healthier and more filling. It’s also what gives this Easy 15-Minute Blue Corn Buttermilk Waffles recipe it’s unique flavor.

Blue corn is also high in natural antioxidants. This makes it a more friendly option for anyone striving to better manage weight, diabetes and even heart disease through their daily nutrition. If you’ve been working to reduce your carbohydrate intake, but still crave a good tortilla chip or slice of corn bread every once in a while, reach for recipes or products made with blue corn.

There are many health benefits to making the switch from yellow corn to blue corn and I encourage you to check out the post, The Real Reason You Should Be Eating Blue Corn, by Ben Fisher, of Mashed, for a deeper dive into this whole grain.

What makes these Easy 15-Minute Blue Corn Buttermilk Waffles so tender and delicious?

There are three key areas that I focused on while developing this easy buttermilk waffle recipe – maintaining a light texture through the blend of flours, finding the right leavening agent for the job, and developing layers of flavors.

• The right blend of flours. Most traditional recipes for a corn-based waffle call for a blend of corn meal and either bread flour or All Purpose (A.P.) flour. Most bread flours have a gluten content of 12 – 14 percent, while A.P. flour has a gluten content that ranges from 9 – 11 percent. I used these higher gluten flours in early versions, but the texture was too dense and heavy. In this recipe, I use corn flour, which is finer than corn meal. And since the corn flour is gluten free, I still needed some gluten to provide the necessary structure to the batter. Cake flour (7 – 9 percent gluten content) provided a nice light crumb texture and didn’t make these buttermilk waffles dense or heavy.
• Baking soda and buttermilk. Baking soda is 100 percent sodium bicarbonate. When you add an acid and a liquid to baking soda, it works to neutralize the acids and creates air bubbles in the process. Baking powder is a blend of baking soda and an acid (usually cream of tartar). It only requires the addition of a liquid to kick its leavening into action. Baking soda is also three times stronger than baking powder. Since I wanted a quick, big lift on the waffles, I found that adding the baking soda to the buttermilk produced the most lift and best texture overall.
• Layers of flavor. The blue corn flour gives these buttermilk waffles a familiar, earthy, corn flavor. The buttermilk and lemon juice bring bright citrus notes and the warm spice notes of cinnamon tie everything together beautifully.

Although the batter for these Easy 15-Minute Blue Corn Buttermilk Waffles is thicker than a traditional waffle batter, the combination of flours used, buttermilk and baking soda make the finished waffles light and delicate.

For this easy buttermilk waffle recipe, I used Just About food Organic Blue Corn Flour.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Print

Easy 15-Minute Blue Corn Buttermilk Waffles

Recipe by Maria Ostrander Course: MainCuisine: BreakfastDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

This recipe yields ten 4-inch waffles (depending on your appetite, 2-3 waffles equal one serving). Although this recipe is developed for small batches, it can easily be doubled.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup blue corn flour

• 1 cup cake flour

• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1/2 cup cultured low fat buttermilk

• 1 large egg

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

• Heat and prepare your waffle maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
• In a stand mixer or medium-size bowl, sift together the cake flour and blue corn flour. Whisk the combined flours into the sugar, salt and cinnamon. Set aside until ready to add the wet mixture.
• In a separate, 2-cup container, prepare the wet mixture by whisking together the buttermilk, egg, lemon juice and melted butter. Add the baking soda and stir to incorporate.
• Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and blend with a paddle attachment over medium-low speed until completely incorporated – approximately 1 minute. Stop midway to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the batter is completely blended. The batter will be thick and smooth.
• Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into the waffle maker and cook until golden brown and done – approximately 2-3 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Keep warm in an oven set to 170 degrees F. until ready to serve.
• Serve warm with fresh blueberries, granny smith apples and maple syrup.

Notes