Breakfast Blitz Day 1: Paleo Belgian Waffles- Overnight Recipe!

Over the next three days I am doing a Christmas morning breakfast blitz! I will give you guys a delicious breakfast recipe, fit for Christmas morning, that takes into mind that none of us want to be slaving over a stove while everyone else is reveling in the magic of Christmas morning. These recipes will all be recipes that you prep the night before and only do a little work in the morning. This particular recipe will involve cooking the waffles in a waffle iron in the morning, but since you can just hand out waffles as you cook them you can wait to start cooking until after the morning traditions are over.

I LOOOOOOVVVVVE waffles! Specifically with fresh, whipped cream and strawberries. Paleo waffles have only ever been, "just ok" to me. I love the way my pancakes turn out as pancakes, but the recipe as waffles is only mediocre. I have tried several bloggers' version of waffles and they're all yummy, just not the light and fluffy waffles I long for. I was remembering back to a Christmas morning before we had kids where I made an overnight, yeasted Belgian waffle recipe that was just amazing. I definitely can't make things like that anymore with Brant's allergies, and honestly eating grains and refined sugar leaves me feeling like a wreck--- the last time I indulged in my favorite classic cinnamon buns for William's birthday breakfast, I had a headache and anxiety flare up for a few days after. So I found my old recipe for the Belgian waffles and I got to work reworking it into something we could use.

You're first going to heat your almond milk and butter until everything is melted and steaming, but not boiling. You'll add honey, vanilla, and salt then allow the mixture to cool.

Then you'll need to bloom the yeast, you're essentially checking that it is alive and well.. because a dead yeast will not help your waffles get crispy and delicious. You'll mix the yeast with warm water, allow to sit, and you're looking to make sure it gets nice and foamy after 5-10 minutes. You will add it to the milk and butter mixture, but you need to make sure that mixture cools down to a luke warm temperature. If you add yeast to the hot milk, the heat will kill the yeast.

I used a blend of four grain-free flours here. My goal was to emulate the all-purpose Paleo blends that are available on the market. Using a bit of each gives the best of each flour, without the negatives... think the dry and crumbly texture of a lot of Paleo goods out there. You'll mix your dry ingredients with the wet, cover and put in the fridge overnight. If you don't want to wait overnight you'll need at least 2-3 hours of it covered on the counter top, or until the mixture doubles. I like to cover doughs with a warm, wet towel if I'm letting it rise on the counter.

When you're ready to cook them, you'll heat up your waffle iron, and stir in two eggs and baking soda into your risen batter. Then you're good to go! My waffle iron proved finicky in cooking the waffles, I have a cermaic Oster brand, Belgian waffle maker. It took a few messed up waffles, but I figured out a method to make them pretty: Put 3/4 C of batter on hot waffle iron, close and wait 30 seconds, turn waffle maker and cook on one side for 2 minutes, turn waffle maker back and cook another 2 minutes. Then the waffles cook perfectly. If you don't follow that method, the waffles don't cook together nicely and you end up with your waffle ripped in half. They still taste good, just don't look pretty.

If you're using a waffle maker that doesn't flip, I would say just cook for 4 minutes and don't you dare try to peek at it until that timer runs up!

Actually, no matter what waffle iron you are using, DO NOT open it up to take a peak until it's done cooking. :) You've been warned!

Here is the recipe, I hope it makes the cut to be a part of your Christmas morning!